The Stories Behind the Street Names

July 29th, 2026
D. Rollings

Churchville's street names each tell a different story about the history of the community. This article drew heavily upon the 1864 TOR-11 plan, 1869 Savigny Survey and the 1967 Survey of the village, as well as upon archived minutes and by-laws from the Township of Toronto and the City of Brampton. Enjoy!

 Churchville Road: 

The original portion of Churchville Road, laid out in the early 1820s, ran from the bridge to the bottom of Raine’s Hill where it split intersected with Bennet Street running east and Mill Road running west. This lower portion of Churchville Road appeared on the 19th Century surveys as Main Street. The portion between Steeles Avenue and the bottom of Raine's Hill was called Mill Road. At the bottom of Raine's Hill Mill Road curved west around Church's Mills, crossed the River twice, passed the school and led to Eldorado Mills where it connected to its northern branch.

The portion north of Raine's Hill passed Whitehall, Mill Pond Street, the Churchville Cemetery and eventually ran to Eldorado Mills. This was an unassumed wagon path that cut straight through the middle of the Whitehall property, lined with overhanging trees. It wasn’t until 1870 that the Township of Toronto purchased a right-of-way through the lot and opened a 30-foot road. Older locals, even as late as the 1990s, would refer to this portion as the Upper Road, or Upper Churchville Road.

The Credit River bridge across Steeles Avenue wasn’t built until the 1960s. Travellers who wanted to get to the other side of the Credit River had to head north or south to cross at the bridges near where the two main mills were situated.

The City of Brampton passed a by-law in March 1983 renaming this route Churchville Road. 

Referring to the road in 1894, an observer wrote that “it is a very pleasant spectacle to see aspirants to matrimony enjoying themselves while loitering along its shady path”

Creditview Road: 

       Laid out by surveyor Richard Bristol and his team in the 1819 New Survey, this route sits on the 3rd Concession West of Hurontario Street (WHS). It extends throughout Peel Region, though its path has been significantly broken up by new developments over the past fifty years.

The different north-south lines in Peel Region run fairly parallel to each other, but 3rd Line West takes an unusual jog when it reaches Churchville. Locals have long believed that this was to enable easy access to Church’s Mills. However the surveyor’s notes from that time make no mention of human settlement while they were laying out northern Toronto Township, casting doubt on this theory. More likely is the simple reasoning that a straight 3rd Line West design would have traveled up the middle of the Credit when it reached the Churchville Area.

      From its earliest years wooden bridges at the southern end of the settlement allowed traffic along 3rd Line West to access Churchville. Travelers would turn west at the bottom of Raines Hill, pass the mills and distillery and immediately cross a bridge to an island in the river. Another bridge took them north to Baseline (Steeles Avenue). The school stood at this intersection. 3rd Line West carried on straight north to Eldorado Mills, then on to Springbrook and beyond.

      In an effort to simplify north-south travel to its northern border, the Township of Toronto approved a new plan in June 1912. They purchased a right-of-way to build a new road leading the south bank of the Credit River northwest to Steeles Avenue. Mill Road was closed and the strange jog that Creditview Road takes at Steeles Avenue was established.

    3rd Line West was renamed Creditview Road due to its proximity to the Credit River, in March 1983. 

Church Street: 

       Named for the Church family, though there is no surviving evidence that any members of the family lived on it. A slaughterhouse is said to have stood along its south side in the 19th century, backing on to the Credit River.

The 1855 TOR-6 survey shows that Church Street was intended to extend much further east to serve as the main thoroughfare for the Wiman Subdivision lots. These lots were never developed, but it was likely at this time that the street was given its name. Erastus Wiman Jr., the owner of the subdivided lands, was related to the Church family, and Orange Church was quite involved in the organization of the subdivision.

Victoria Street: 

      The streets laid out in the 1855 TOR-6 (Wiman Subdivision) survey are all named for members of the royal family. Victoria Street was constructed to serve as the western boundary of the Wiman Subdivision. It ran between Bennet Street to the north and ended just before the Simmon’s lot to the south. Beyond this, the woodlot property belonged to the Burns family who lived across the Credit near the south hill. 

Hallstone Road: 

      Though it was officially opened by the Township of Toronto 1860, this route has appeared on surveys dating back at least to 1859. It was initially shown to divide Fletcher Hall and Richard Pointer’s farms to the north from Levi Hall’s farm to the south. Long known as Hall’s Lane, it served as the only east-west connection to 4th Line West between Steeles Avenue and Derry Road. Until the 1960s it consisted of a maintained road that ran west from Creditview to the bottom of the hill. From there to Mississauga Road it was a simple rural wagon track featuring a privately built wooden bridge spanning the creek near the Hall home.

The Township of Toronto renamed it Hallstone Road in March 1965. Locals have claimed that the ‘stone’ part of the new name may have reflected the use of stones to pave the wagon paths, though this is unconfirmed.

Martins Boulevard: 

Named for George and Edith Martin, who purchased the land in January 1934 and developed a camp on the property. Plan 314 was approved by Toronto Township in 1937, subdividing their lot and establishing an east-west road known as Martin’s Boulevard. The plan included a section on lower ground and a circle-shaped section on higher ground. For several decades only the lower portion was developed.

The Martins built 14 cottages to either side of the road. Flooding was a significant problem for the Camp and, following the disastrous floods of 1954, the newly formed Credit Valley Conservation Authority and Toronto Township expropriated the lower lands. Over time these lands became Churchville Park. The upper eastern section from Plan 314 was built, allowing residents of the Camp to resettle. A number of cottages from the Camp were dragged up to the new area to serve as residences. The Martin family donated the central block to the Township of Toronto under the condition that it remain a public park. 

Adelaide Street: 

The northern boundary of the Wiman Subdivision, named for Queen Victoria’s first middle name. Only two or three of the lots in Wiman’s subdivision ever seem to have been built on, including a single one on Adelaide Street. 

Former Streets in the Village 

Bennet Street: 

Bennet Street ran east from the bottom of Raines Hill to Victoria Street. This street was named for Josiah Bennett, who is mentioned in the 1830s as a local blacksmith. His home was likely situated near the bottom of the hill. This street was opened briefly in the late 1980s to allow access to Victoria Street while the flood berms were being constructed in the village.

Mill Pond Street: 

Situated across and slightly north from Whitehall, this street ran west from Churchville Road and provided access to the mill property on the flats. The mills ceased operation in 1864 and in 1983 the City of Brampton passed a by-law closing up and selling the land that the road sat upon. The route of Mill Pond Street is still easily seen today; it has been repurposed as the long driveway leading to 7830 Churchville Road.

Albert Street: 

The TOR-6 Survey showed that a right-of-way ran north-south, one block east of Victoria Street in the Wiman Subdivision. Named for Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert, this street appears never to have been opened. The reasons for the lack of development in the Wiman Subdivision remain unclear, but annual flooding, the coming of the Grand Trunk to Brampton and the Long Depression may have been factors.
The City of Brampton passed a by-law eliminating this right-of-way in 2009.

Streets in the Streetsville Glen Subdivision 

Cooperage Street: 

At its economic height, Churchville boasted two grist mills, a tannery and distillery. Barrel-makers, or coopers, were essential to the success of these industries. For a while the village featured a steam-powered shingle factory that may have served doubled as a cooperage. The mills likely employed their own coopers. Churchville was home to a notorious gang in the mid-1800s called the 40 Fighting Coopers. 

Fogerty Street: 

Named (though sadly, spelled incorrectly) for the Fogarty family who came to Churchville in 1859. Thomas A. Fogarty became Post Master in 1880 and converted his wagon shop into a general store around 1890. The family are related to the Streets, from Streetsville. Charlotte Fogarty ran the store when her father Thomas retired. After a robbery at the store on September 5th, 1945, ownership passed to nephew Lloyd Golden's family, who operated the store, plus a gas station, until it closed on July 1st, 1967. 

Miner Street: 

Joseph and Harriet Miner (nee Calder) arrived in the village around 1825, both hailing from Massachusetts. Joseph is said to have operated the distillery in the village, which was associated with Church’s Mills. This seems a strange choice for a street name, as almost nothing else is known about the man. He is buried in the Churchville Cemetery. Harriett later married Orange Church and they lived down at the south end of the village in the lot north of Wilson’s Farm.

Howland Crescent: 

Sir William Pearce Howland was Ontario's second Lieutenant Governor, serving from 1868-1873. He settled in Cooksville in 1819 and went into business opening general stores; first on his own, then in 1944 with his brother and eventually with a teacher from Bolton named William Elliott. He is believed to have opened a large store and distillery in Churchville around 1831, where Kenneth Chisholm is said to have apprenticed as a clerk before moving to Brampton. 

Jacob Brill Crescent: 

Jacob Brill came to Upper Canada as a member of the Beattie Caravan and was the first setler to be granted lands in the area of Churchville. A farmer and Loyalist, he was born in New York and suffered property loss and imprisonment at the hands of the Americans. He managed to escape to New Brunswick, where he lived for 23 years before traveling to Upper Canada and joining up with John Beattie's group of Methodists. He took the Oath of Allegiance on May 1st, 1919 and was granted the east half of Lot 14, Con 3 WHS; essentially where the Meadowvale Cemetery is now situated. 

Radial Street: 

The Toronto Suburban Railway (TSR, or TSubR), also known as the Toronto-Guelph Radial Railway, was an interurban, electrified radial railway that extended from the Lambton carhouse at Dundas & Keele in the west end of Toronto to the Grand Trunk station in Guelph, with 20 stops between the two points. The completed line operated from August 12th, 1917 until bankruptcy forced its closure on August 15th, 1931. The Churchville station stood near the northwest corner of Creditview Road and Hallstone. The former right-of-way and hydrolines are still visible, traveling across the flats to Eldorado Park.

Two forgotten Lanes: 

19th century maps reveal two mysterious, completely invisible public lanes along Main Street that still exist to this day. The first is located under the south wall of the Firehall, leading to the former mill tail race. Duggan's grist mill and stores used to stand on that lot before burning down on the night of August 31st, 1864, so this must have provided some access to their business.
The second is located near the north end of the large garden lot at 7749 Churchville Road. This one is more puzzling. It may have connected to a business that existed on that spot, or perhaps it was associated with the daily stage coach line that ran between Toronto and Churchville for many decades. The proximity between the two hotels may give some weight to the latter theory.