John Graves Simcoe - Legacy

Legacy

• Act Against Slavery passed in 1793, leading to the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada by 1810. It was superseded by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 that abolished slavery across the British Empire.
• Simcoe named London, Ontario and the River Thames in Upper Canada.
• He named Lake Simcoe in honor of his father.
• Simcoe named his summer home Castle Frank for his first son Francis Gwillim, who was preceded by eight daughters. (It is located in what is now named Cabbagetown, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.)

• The Ontario Heritage Foundation placed a plaque in Exeter's cathedral precinct to commemorate his life.
• Simcoe's regiment is still called the Queen's York Rangers, now an armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Forces reserves.

Many places in Canada were named in honour of Simcoe:

• The town of Simcoe in southwestern Ontario
• Simcoe County to the west and north of Lake Simcoe
• Civic Holiday, a statutory holiday celebrated throughout Canada under a variety of names by region, was established in honour of Simcoe by the Toronto City Council in 1869. Other Ontario municipalities and then other provinces soon took up the holiday as well, leading to its Canada-wide status, but without any attribution to Simcoe. In 1965, the Toronto City Council declared the holiday would henceforth be known as Simcoe Day within Toronto. Attempts have been made to have the official provincial name—still Civic Holiday—amended, but none have succeeded.
• Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ontario
• Governor Simcoe Public School. Grades K – 8, in London, Ontario. The now closed and demolished school was located at the corner of Simcoe and Clarence Streets.
• Simcoe Street and John Street in downtown Toronto, along with Simcoe Place (office tower) in downtown Toronto, are all located near the fort where Simcoe lived during his early years in York.
• Simcoe Street and Simcoe Street United Church in Oshawa.
• Simcoe Street in New Westminster and Simcoe Park was named by Colonel Moody in reference to the surveying of the area after the city of Toronto.
• The Simcoe Fairgrounds in Simcoe.
• Simcoe Street, Simcoe Street School and the Simcoe Street SChool Tigers Bantam Baseball Team of Niagara Falls
• Simcoe Island, located near Kingston, Ontario
• Simcoe Hall, located on the St. George campus of the University of Toronto

There are two places named for Simcoe with the title Lord, but Simcoe was not made a Lord in his lifetime. They are the following:

• Lord Simcoe Drive in Brampton, Ontario
• Lord Simcoe Hotel, which operated from 1956 to 1981