Yonge Street Construction Begins: Once the World's Longest Street
They called it a military road, but really it was a gamble against swamp and forest. Governor Simcoe needed a route north from Lake Ontario — 34 miles through wilderness so thick his surveyors got lost for days. The crew carved through mud that swallowed wagons whole, felling trees wide enough to hide a man. Within three years, Yonge Street reached Lake Simcoe. Then it kept going. And going. By the 1950s, it stretched 1,178 miles to Rainy River, holding the world record until someone checked the fine print and realized most of that distance was actually Highway 11. But the original 34 miles? Still there. Still named for a British war minister who never saw Canada.
December 28, 1795
231 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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