Memorial Park

Memorial Park. Roads and Railways. , Dundas Street was the first road constructed (1790s) through Toronto Township. It was laid out one mile from the lake as a defensive measure against the threat of American invasion. The purchase of lands from the Native Mississaugas opened up the Toronto Township for surveying. The 1806 British survey provided a grid of lots and concessions used even to the present day. Shortly thereafter Lakeshore Road was cut through the forests closer to Lake Ontario., By 1819 Lakeshore Road was planked and the Credit River was bridged. The Lakeshore Road Bridge of today is far larger than any previous structure, but hardly less important in the commercial life of the community of Port Credit., Completion of a railway from Hamilton, through Port Credit, to Toronto in 1855 had an immense impact on Port Credit. Most of the village was established on the west side of the river until the railway station was built on the east side, at the top of Stavebank Road, and attracted most of the commercial growth to that side., Another change by the 1870s was the decline of shipping through the port. Sending goods by rail was much cheaper and faster. Rail transport also operated throughout the year unlike the harbour, which was frozen for months at a time., Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, rail traffic grew and by 1900 the Grand Trunk Railway added a second set of tracks and built a larger bridge. This main rail line is busier than ever and you will likely see at least one passenger or freight train pass while you are in the garden.