Humber River Bridge | Part 3

The Humber River was originally a major transportation route from the shore of Lake Ontario up into the middle of Ontario. It was one of the few ways you could actually travel inland on water. So it was very historically significant early on. Later it became the sight of a number of industrial developments, most of which are pretty well all gone now. Upstream of the Humber is the Old Mill complex of buildings, which we understand was an original milling site. And there were a number of those on the Humber River, it just happens that one did survive. There were stagecoach inns, there were roads and passages. But the Humber River also had a very interesting apocalyptic moment. October 15th, 1954, that was the night that Hurricane Hazel struck the city. Further up the Humber Valley there was a lot of residential development, a lot of industrial development, lots of development lingering from the 19th century, all of that was instantly removed on that single moment. 40 people died in a single incredible flood that, of course, wended its way down to the mouth of the Humber River where the bridge stands today.

As a result of Hurricane Hazel there was the realization that flood plains were not suitable for development. And as a result it was prohibited to build below a certain proximity to active waterways. Hence we have the preservation of these amazing ravines in the city that have been left virtually as natural corridors that interlace our urban fabric in a very amazing and powerful way.

Have you heard Part 1 yet?

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