Mississauga is recognized as the sixth largest city of Canada. With a rapidly growing multicultural population, its economy is booming as well. In fact, it even ranked one of the Best Places to Live in Canada. Mississauga is also home to multinational corporations, central business district, and Canada’s busiest airport – the Toronto Pearson International Airport. But before it reached its current status, it was once also a small town. Let’s look back on the history of Mississauga Ontario in this article.

Early Settlers

In the early 1700’s, native people called Mississaugas migrated from the North Shore of Lake Huron to south. They settled in the surrounding area of Credit River, Etobicoke Creek, and Hamilton Harbour (formerly known as Burlington Bay).

Mississauga Purchase

The Mississauga Purchase, also known as “First Purchase”, is a treaty between Native Mississaugas and the British Crown representatives. It was signed on August 2, 1805 and was called Treaty 13A, which states that the Crown has obtained over 74,000 acres of land on each side of the Credit River from the waterfront to the base line, excluding a one-mile strip. This was soon named Credit Indian Reserve. In 1806, this land area was surveyed and was opened for settlement in what was then called Old Survey, where it was named Toronto Township. 

Agreements

Several treaties were agreed on by the British Crown and the Native Mississaugas the following years. These broaden the acquired lands of the British Crown.

  • Treaty 19 was signed on October 28, 1818, which handed over more than 600, 000 acres of land. This became known as the Second Purchase, and the said piece of land now comprises most of Region of Peel today. It was then surveyed and after a year was opened for settlement and was divided into the townships of Toronto, Caledon, Toronto Gore, Chinguacousy, and Albion. This was what we know today as the New Survey.
  • Credit treaties, or Treaty 22 and 23, surrendered most of the land of the Credit Indian Reserve which was excluded and reserved for them on the First Purchase agreement. It was in February 28, 1820 when these treaties were signed, forcing the Mississaugas to move on the New Credit Reserve in 1847.

The Lost Villages

As these lands were opened for settlement, small villages were established including villages of Clarkson, Port Credit, Dixie, Cooksville, Streetsville, Erindale, Meadowvale Village and Malton. Soon, more communities arise at Lorne Park and Lakeview. This soon led to the disappearance of smaller villages including Derry West, Hawkins’ Corners, Mount Charles, the Catholic Swamp, villages of Barberton, Elmbank, Britannia, Summerville, and Burnhamthorpe. However, we may still see traces of these lost villages in small parts of towns in Mississauga – the old houses and buildings that seems out of place in the growing modern town is like holding on to the historical values of the place.

Developments

In 1968, the Town of Mississauga was created and was soon merged with the villages of Port Credit and Streetsville, as well as parts of the townships of Trafalgar and Toronto Gore. From 1974, the said merging of these lands led to the development of the sixth largest city of Canada – Mississauga.

Up next – Annual events in Mississauga

More about Mississauga here.