Don River (Ontario) - History

History

Humans first arrived in the Don approximately 12,500 years BP most likely as nomadic hunters. While there is little archaeological evidence in the Don valley itself, regional finds in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence area have revealed that permanent settlements started to occur about 6000 BP. The most significant recorded find is known as the Withrow Site. It was discovered in 1886 during road building just east of Riverdale Park. It contained human remains and other artifacts dating back to about 5000 years BP.

It is unclear whether the Don River had a native Canadian name. In 1788, Alexander Aitkin, an English surveyor who worked in southern Ontario, referred to the Don River as Ne cheng qua kekonk. Elizabeth Simcoe, wife of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, reported in her diary that another name used was Wonscotanach. This is an Anishnaabe phrase meaning black burnt grounds which could refer to an earlier forest fire. The Don River was named by J.G. Simcoe because the wide valley reminded him of the River Don in Yorkshire.

After the founding of York in 1793, several mills were constructed along the lower Don. One of the first was at Todmorden Mills. These mills initially turned out lumber, flour and paper products. By the 1850s, the Lower Don was becoming an industrial setting. Petroleum storage facilities, poultry and pork processing plants were constructed along the banks of the Don. In 1879, the Don Valley Brick Works opened. Polluted effluent from these factories and the growing city nearby was turning the Don and its marshy mouth into a polluted hazard.

In the 1880s the lower part of the Don south of the former Winchester St. bridge was straightened (east of the original mouth) and placed in a channel to create additional harbour space and industrial dock space for boats. Known as Don Improvement Project, the straightened river was also supposed to divert the polluted waters into the Ashbridges Bay marsh. This proved unsuccessful so the mouth was turned 90 degrees west where it empties into the inner harbour. This short extension of the harbour is known as the Keating Channel. The channel north of Lake Shore Blvd. East ceased being navigable when the Gardiner Expressway was constructed in the 1950s. Boats may still enter the Keating Channel by going underneath a lift bridge at Cherry St.

During the early part of the 20th century the river and the valley continued to be neglected. 31 separate sewage treatment facilities were built along the river. Over 20 places in the valley and adjacent ravines were used as landfills for garbage and industrial refuse. In 1917, the Don Destructor was built beside the Don just north of Dundas Ave. East. It was used as a garbage incinerator for 52 years burning about 50,000 tonnes per year.

After World War II, rapid urban expansion occurred in the northern reaches of the watershed. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck the Toronto area. Intensive flooding affected the lower reaches. Flood waters affected downtown Toronto as far east as Leslie Street and as far west as Bay Street. While no loss of life occurred in the Don Watershed the result of this storm was that the TRCA was given a mandate to construct flood control features as well as acquire property in the Don Valley as well as along its major tributaries. Large tracts of industrial land adjacent to the river were added to the regulatory floodplain. This meant that the TRCA had a veto on any developments that were not floodproofed.

In the early 1960s, the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) was constructed through the Lower Don to serve the growing commuter traffic. The increasing development reduced the natural areas of the watershed. This impacted the Don with increased pollution, heavy flooding, and turbid sediment laden waters. The combined result meant that by the 1960s the river was a neglected, polluted mess. In 1969, Pollution Probe held a much celebrated “Funeral for the Don” to highlight the plight of the river.

Efforts to restore the Don gathered steam in 1989 with a public forum at the Ontario Science Centre which was attended by about 500 people. The result was the formation of the Task Force to Bring Back the Don, a citizen’s advisory body to Toronto City Council. Their mandate and vision was to make the Don “clean, green, and accessible”. Since then they have hosted garbage cleanups, tree plantings, and help to create or restore eight wetlands in the lower reaches of the valley, including Chester Springs Marsh, a 3 ha site south of the Bloor Viaduct. Other groups also became active including Friends of the Don East. The TRCA created the Don Watershed Regeneration Council to coordinate restoration efforts throughout the watershed.

In 1991 Bring Back the Don released a document called “Bringing Back the Don” which laid out plans for restoration, including a renaturalized mouth of the Don. In 1998 a plan to revive Toronto’s waterfront was initiated. One of the four projects mentioned was a natural mouth for the Don River. In 2001 an environmental assessment was started to look into a natural mouth of the Don. The project was also coupled with a plan to handle a major flood modelled on the expected output from a Hurricane Hazel size storm. In 2007, the Toronto Waterfront Development Corporation (now WaterfrontToronto) held a design competition that looked at four different configurations for the mouth of the Don. The winning bid was made by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The environmental assessment is expected to be complete in 2008 and construction is scheduled to begin in 2010.