Residence.

Details of Site Location: Were it to have a modern street address, this Howland home would be listed as 4068 Old Dundas Street; it was set back from that street about 100 metres to the north.

Boundary History: The acreage of the Howland family at this location was bounded on the west side by the Humber River, on the south by Old Dundas Street, and by the upper edge of the old Lake iroquois shoreline. The eastern edge is unclear.

Current Use of Property: The St. Clair Avenue approach to the bridge over the Humber.

Historical Description: The Howland property contained several buildings, and this house was built by Peleg Howland, brother and partner of Sir William Pierce Howland, in 1860. The entrance drive to the house was between the Howland office/general store/ post office and the mill. It led north off Old Dundas Street or the section of the Dundas/Davenport/Kingston Road west of the point where the ancient Indian trail met the trail that became Dundas Street in Toronto. This trail is also called the Governor’s Road, particularly west of the Humber River. Designed by William Tyrrell of Weston, the house was of two storeys in red brick with yellow brick quoins and lintels. It came to be regarded as the finest house in the area and was a social centre. William was a Reformer who served in the Upper Canada legislature’s cabinet, then became a Father of Confederation, and later still Ontario’s first full-term Lieutenant-Governor. William continued to frequent the area despite his other duties, and there is a picture of him on the ice-covered Humber River hauling a log with a horse. The house stood amid extensive grounds and gardens in the midst of what is now the eastern approach to the bridge over the Humber. It had the only piano in the area and the first telephone. In later years, the house was purchased by Dr. Cotton, who used the grounds for garden parties in support of the Anglican church. The house was demolished and the site covered by about 30 feet of fill in the 1928 building of the approach to the present Dundas Street High Level Bridge. Peleg Howland, in addition to being William’s brother, was also his partner in an extensive business that involved many properties throughout the Toronto region.

Relative Importance: The importance to Canada of the Howland site has been marked by a National Historic Sites and Monuments plaque at Lambton House Tavern, not far from the house site. This building is all that remains of the Howland buildings. The house and other buildings remain unknown to the public.

Planning Implications: It is recomended that a plaque be mounted at the pedestrian walk at the east end of the bridge, explaining that it is over the house site, the house, and the other Howland buildings.

Reference Sources: Women’s Institute Tweedsmuir History of Lambton; Kathleen Macfarlane Lizars, The Valley of the Humber 1615-1913 (1913).

Acknowledgements: Heritage York.