Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Etobicoke, Ontario

Encyclopedia : E : ET : ETO : Etobicoke, Ontario


Etobicoke (pronounced [əˈtoʊbəˌkoʊ]) is the western portion of the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a population of approximately 345,000[link]. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River, on the west by the city of Mississauga, and on the north by the city of Vaughan.

History

It is thought that the French explorer, Étienne Brûlé, was the first European to visit the area, circa 1615.

The name "Etobicoke" was derived from the Mississauga word wah-do-be-kang, meaning "place where the black/wild alders grow", which was used to describe the area between Etobicoke Creek and the Humber River. The first provincial land surveyor, Augustus Jones, also spelled it as "ato-be-coake". Etobicoke was finally adopted as the official name in 1796.

The township of Etobicoke was incorporated in 1850. In 1953, Etobicoke Township became a part of the newly-formed regional government, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto ("Metro").

In 1967, the township of Etobicoke was merged with three small lakeside municipalities — Long Branch, New Toronto and Mimico — to form the borough of Etobicoke. The borough was reincorporated as a city in 1984.

In 1998, six local municipalities (including Etobicoke) and the Metropolitan Toronto government merged to form the amalgamated city of Toronto.

Etobicoke has the lowest population density out of the former cities and boroughs that currently make up the city of Toronto. It has numerous public parks, notable among them is James Gardens on the banks of the Humber River. The park includes seasonal flowers, walkways, a rock garden, streams, and waterfalls. It is a very popular site for taking wedding photographs. The Humber Bay park is mostly located in Etobicoke.

Etobicoke is home to Humber College, University of Guelph-Humber, Woodbine Race Track and Slots, Woodbine Centre and Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre.

Mayors and Reeves of Etobicoke

Education

Public schools in Etobicoke are overseen by the Toronto District School Board. High schools include Central Etobicoke High School, Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, founded in 1928, Kipling Collegiate Institute, Lakeshore Collegiate Institute, Martingrove Collegiate Institute, North Albion Collegiate Institute, Richview Collegiate Institute, founded in 1958, Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, Thistletown Collegiate Institute, West Humber Collegiate Institute, founded in 1966, and the specialist Etobicoke School of the Arts,Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy. In addition to the public school system, Etobicoke is home to several Catholic schools, overseen by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. These include Michael Power/St. Joseph High School, Bishop Allen High School, Don Bosco High School, and Father John Redmond High School, as well as one of Canada's top high school basketball teams at Father Henry Carr in Rexdale.

Notable residents of Etobicoke

See also

References

Humber Heights

 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: