From the archives: The Carrying Place Trail

Oct. 15, 2021 1:00 p.m.
​Learn more about the city’s history from the Vaughan Archives

From the traditional territories of the First Peoples of Turtle Island, to a farmland community, to a bustling city centre and everything in between – Vaughan’s transformation is a story worth telling. As part of a monthly series, the City of Vaughan is releasing historical content from the Vaughan Archives, Office of the City Clerk. Citizens are encouraged to scroll through memory lane, learn about the city’s past and explore the places, people and events that were pivotal to the development of the city of Vaughan we know today.

The Carrying Place Trail is the next feature in this archival series. It was a major portage route which linked Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe by way of the Humber and Holland River systems. It was also known as the “Humber Portage” or the “Toronto Passage,” a name that comes from the Mohawk term “Tkaranto,” meaning “the place where there are trees standing in water.” It consisted of one long portage at 45 kilometres in length, instead of several short ones. The route was challenging as the banks were swampy and wooded, but the trail cut the total journey down by hundreds of kilometres as users no longer had to travel around the Great Lakes to reach the Toronto area.

The trail was used for trade as early as 1500, and portaging often proved necessary because the low waters of the Humber were difficult to traverse. These passages were regularly clogged with fallen logs and beaver dams. Also, in winter, the Humber River (also known as Cobechenonk and GabeKanang Ziibi) froze, and the steep banks offered little defence against attack, making anyone who used these routes vulnerable.

The Carrying Place Trail was primarily used by First Nations communites, including the Huron-Wendat tribe, which controlled the area until 1649 when it passed to the Haudenosaunee. In 1685, the territory was transferred to the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, with whom the City holds Treaty 13 and upon whose territory the city of Vaughan was built. Treaty 13 was signed in 1805 to clarify an earlier contested treaty, which had the Humber River (which the Carrying Place Trail follows) as a boundary. In addition to Indigenous Peoples, the French and British also used the route for trading and it contributed to the British development of York (present-day Toronto).

The Carrying Place Trail followed the east bank of the Humber River until it reached the Pine Grove area in the city of Vaughan. At this point, the route split, with one fork running parallel to present-day Islington Avenue along the west side of the East Humber River to Kleinburg, where it re-crossed the waterway. The other fork on the trail followed the east shore of the East Humber, rejoining the first fork above King Creek. The trail crossed the Humber River again near Nobleton, before rambling northward through open country to a tributary of the Holland River (also known as Micicaquean Creek).

ABOUT VAUGHAN ARCHIVES
Established in 1988, the City of Vaughan Archives is home to more than 600 collections, consisting of both City records and cultural records about Vaughan from 1860 to present day. Records include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • City business records with long-term legal and administrative value, such as Council meeting minutes, by-laws, assessment rolls, financial records, reports and official correspondence
  • church, community and school records
  • census records
  • historical photographs
  • land records
  • historical maps, plans and aerial photographs
  • newspapers
  • personal papers of past residents and founding families, such as diaries, family histories, journals and letters
  • records of local organizations both past and present

VIEW VAUGHAN’S ARCHIVES ONLINE!
As part of the City's COVID-19 response, Vaughan City Hall remains closed to the public – but the City’s Archival Collection is on digital display for all to explore! The below galleries are now available in the City’s online gallery on Flickr:
  • Featured Artists of Vaughan
  • Historical Families of Vaughan
  • Historical Figures: Lord Beaverbrook
  • Historical Photography
  • Recollections of Rural Vaughan
  • The Mary Wood Collection
  • The Way We Were: Representations of Vaughan’s Past
  • Vaughan Working Environments
  • Vaughan Through the Ages: Medicine
  • Vaughan Through the Ages: Music
  • Vaughan Through the Ages: Sports and Recreation

A personal Flickr account is not required to access the City’s online gallery, which contains only a small selection of the full archives collection. If you are looking for a certain image, original file, primary source record or more, contact the Vaughan Archives by calling 905-832-2281 or emailing archives@vaughan.ca.

By managing and preserving both City and community records, the Archives and Records Management Services team ensures that Vaughan’s rich and varied history will continue to be available for future generations. Learn more at vaughan.ca/archives.

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