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LAKEVIEW RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION |
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THIS IS THE LAKEVIEW WE LOVE |
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Contained herein is a brief overview of the history of Lakeview with links and resources. |
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History of Lakeview |
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At the time of the first historical contacts between Europeans and natives in the Lakeview area in the 1600s, the land was occupied by a alliance of Iroquois speaking people whose territory included much of Southern Ontario from the Niagara River to Windsor to Georgian Bay and included the Petun, Tobacco and Hurons. These Iroquois were allied to the French and not politically associated with the 6 Nations Confederacy (also Iroquois) who were allied to first the Dutch and then the English but were independent. and lived south of Lake Ontario in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. In fact these two Iroquois factions were antagonistic towards each other and mirrored the antagonism of their European trading allies. In the mid 1600s the 6 Nations Confederacy launched a multi pronged attack on the northern confederacy and largely eliminated them politically. The Senecas who were the western most group of the 6 Nations and traditionally from around the Buffalo NY area moved into the area around the north shore of Lake Ontario and took over the beaver hunting grounds. The had a number of villages including one in the Baby Point area of Toronto. In response to this occupation, the Mississaugas, a semi-nomadic group of native Canadians associated with the Algonquian language family. who were also allied to the northern Iroquois and the French launched a coordinated invasion of Southern Ontario from their home territory at the north end of Lake Huron and successfully drove out the Senecas. According to Betty Clarksons book about Port Credit, during construction of a basement on a building on Lakeshore Road in Port Credit, they discovered the buried but standing upright body of the Mississauga war chief that accomplished the invasion. The Port Credit area thus has a proud but largely unknown military history. Just prior to European settlement, the area around Lakeview was occupied by the Mississaugas, This large extended culture group includes the Cree, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Chippewa, Micmac and Algonquians with varying degrees of closeness between language and customs. During the warm season, in the Lakeview area the Mississaugas traditionally migrated out of the woodlands and down to the lake where they would escape the mosquitoes and fish the waters of the lake and the river mouths. There was a large annual concentration of Mississaugas at the mouth of the Credit River, where they would group together to share stories, socialize and enjoy the summer months. During the cold season they would break up into family groups and move back into the woods to run their trap lines and hunt. Early French traders from the small French trading fort at the mouth of the Humber River and on the grounds of the Exhibition grounds would arrive at the Riviere au Credite to trade with the Mississaugas of the Credit. This tradition continued when the English absorbed the old French fur trade in the area. The Credit Mississaugas lost most of their land in Mississauga between Burlngton and Etobicoke during the Mississauga purchase but maintained a reserve a mile to the east and west of the Credit River. At this time their main village was on the grounds of the present Mississauga Golf Club and a smaller settlement was on the west side of the river at the river mouth. Illnesses and disease caused by drinking heavily industrially polluted river water so severely imperiled their lives and well being that they were largely forced to cede their treaty reserve lands to the colonists and flee to the Grand River where they were welcomed by their former enemies the 6 Nations Confederacy and given land in repayment to the southern Ontario Mississaugas who earlier gifted them with a new homeland after the 6 Nations stalwart defense of the English during the American revolution had cost them their ancestral lands on the Finger Lakes. |
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Pre-European Settlement |
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The Mississauga Purchase opened up a vast new tract for colonization. Soon the Lakeshore Road and Dundas Road were created to facilitate the new wave of immigrants with new communities and dreams. On Lakeshore Road along each of the rivers, large creeks and cross roads there developed communities in Burlington, Bronte, Oakville, Clarkson, Port Credit, Lakeview and Long Branch. During the 1840s these areas were virtually denuded of their primeval forest cover and turned into farms. Many of these farm owners family names are reflected in the street names we know today. The western edge of the Lakeview area corresponds to the eastern edge of the old Credit Mississauga reserve which became the eastern edge of Port Credit village after the abandonment of the reserve by the Mississaugas. |
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1800s |
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The 1900s brought new challenges to the Lakeview area. At the beginning of the century the areas was largely rural with small communities at the various crossroads. With the advent of World War 1, Lakeview began its shift from a rural economy to a military, industrial and finally suburban one. The first aerodrome (airport) in Canada was located on the present day grounds of the old Lakeview Generating Station. Here pilots were trained for overseas aerial warfare. The federal government had obtained a large tract of Lakefront land in the eastern end of Lakeview that it used during the years for various military purposes including armaments manufacture, weapons training and barracks. During World War 2 the government operated a small arms manufactory. It produced huge quantities of weapons for use overseas. After the war the plant was closed and it largely female work force was laid off. See the newspaper article links below for some contemporary insight into the lives of our citizens at that time |
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1900s |
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Lakeview today consists of a largely suburban economy with light industrial along much of the prime Lakefront land south of Lakeshore Road. There is controversy over the future zoning directions of the community. Currently, city council is developing a secondary plan to address the future development of Lakeview. This is a time of change that will affect us all well into the future. |
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Today |
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Genealogy Links |
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Press Releases |
