Lambton House is a historic former inn in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It is the last remaining building from the former village of

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 ...

along the Humber River. The inn was established in 1847, with its present building erected in 1860.

History

The original structure was built in 1847, Lambton House was part of the Lambton Mills complex which also included a large

grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...

mill, a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

, a

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

en mill,

stables A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, a general store and a post office. The brick work was designed, we believe, by architect William Tyrrell, father of cartographer

Joseph Tyrrell Joseph Burr Tyrrell, FRSC (November 1, 1858 – August 26, 1957) was a Canadian geologist, cartographer, and mining consultant. He discovered dinosaur (''Albertosaurus sarcophagus'') bones in Alberta's Badlands and coal around Drumheller in 188 ...

. The building, and most of the surrounding land, was owned by

William Pearce Howland Sir William Pearce Howland, (29 May 1811 – 1 January 1907) served as the second Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, from 1868 to 1873. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation. Biography Born in 1811 in Pawling, New York, William Howland wa ...

, Ontario's second Lieutenant Governor and a

Father of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conference of 1866 (16 attendees), preceding Canadian ...

. He named the area Lambton in honour of John George Lambton, Earl of Durham. The hotel opened in 1848. Located on Dundas Highway, a major route in the late 1800s, the hotel was quite busy, and it became a popular picnic spot around the turn of the century. The house survived a devastating fire in 1915 and

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and Sout ...

in 1954. Although it was designated as an historical site by the then

City of York The City of York is a unitary authority area with city status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The district's main settlement is York, and it extends to the surrounding area including the town of Haxby and the villages of ...

in 1982, the building faced the wrecking ball when the last owners vacated the building and sold it to developers in 1988, when it closed. At the time, it was the longest running licensed tavern in Ontario. Lambton House was restored in 1991 (with additional work done in 1994, 1998 and 2002). The only surviving building from the era of the mills along the Humber, it is a designated building under the Ontario Heritage Act, and a National Historic Site commemorating William Howland. The building is owned by the City of Toronto and operated as an Interpretive Centre for the Lower Humber River and environs by Heritage York, a local non-profit group.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

External links

History of Lambton House
{{Toronto landmarks Hotels in Toronto Defunct hotels in Canada Hotel buildings completed in 1847 Burned buildings and structures in Canada 1847 establishments in Ontario Hotels established in 1847 Hotels disestablished in 1988 1988 disestablishments in Ontario

History

See also

Affiliations

References

External links