King's Mill, Toronto, was a land lot (or land tract) with a 1,100 acres timber reserve established in 1793 by

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...

to supply wood to build ships, material for government buildings in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

(including

Old Fort York Fort York (french: Fort-York) is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used to house members of the British and Canadian militaries, and to defend the entrance of t ...

). The reserve was bounded by

Bloor Street Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Park ...

, Humber River,

The Queensway The Queensway (or Queensway) is a major street in the municipalities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is a western continuation of Queen Street, after it crosses Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in Toronto. The Queensway is ...

and

Royal York Road Royal York Road, historically known as Church Street or New Church Street, is a north-south arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 5 concessions (10 km) west of Yonge Street, and runs through many residential n ...

. Shipbuilding of vessels on the Humber was not profitable and soon the mill became derelict. Lot 6 (one of 9 lots) of the reserve south of Bloor on the west bank of the Humber was home to King's Saw Mill. The reserve and saw mill was leased to Thomas Fisher in 1821. Fisher retained rights to the Mill until the government leased to miller William Gamble in 1834. Fisher was given a 20 hectares lot in 1835 in what is now

Lambton Mills The Village of Lambton Mills was a settlement at the crossing of Dundas Street and the Humber River. The settlement was on both sides of the Humber River, in both the former Etobicoke Township and York Township, within today's City of Toronto, On ...

. Gamble and others established milling here until the 1880s. Between 1830 and 1850 the government of Upper Canada and later Canada West sold remaining parts of the reserve to buyers for use as farm land. The northeast corner of the reserve was operating as a waste dump (Upper and Lower Riverwood Landfills from 1959 to 1964) today the site of the saw mill is home to King's Mill Park., as well some commercial and residential use.

References

{{reflist Geography of Toronto