Looking For Old Ontario

The slogan on Ontario's licence plates, 'Yours to Discover,' was designed to promote travel opportunities within the province. Every year, thousands of tourists drive along country roads, past farmyards and through hamlets, en route to popular vacation spots. In Looking for Old Ontario, Thomas McIlwraith shows that many destinations are closer at hand than one might imagine, and invites travellers to rediscover familiar countryside landmarks by 'reading' them as chapters in a rich historical narrative. Surveyors long ago scored Ontario's land, and generations have since inscribed it with residences, businesses, and institutions. This book, the result of thirty years of field work and archival research, is a reflection on and an interpretation of the ways in which the land and its inhabitants interrelate. Looking for Old Ontario guides readers through the vernacular landscape of the province, examining barns, fences, jails, post offices, inns, mills, canals, railways, roadsides, cemeteries, and much more. McIlwraith emphasizes ordinary features of the cultural landscape which communicate social meaning to the observant eye. The landscape tells us that Ontario has been inhabited by thrifty people; this we can conclude by looking at the economical use and reuse of construction materials. Yet the landscape also tells us that Ontario's residents have been inclined to show off: consider the province's unusually large number of elegant brick dwellings. To read a landscape is to think about such connections, and McIlwraith's contemplative style differentiates his work from manuals or handbooks. Since landscape interpretation is a highly visual subject, Looking for Old Ontario is extensively illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps. It will be useful to general readers interested in recognizing the broader meanings of their communities' heritage, as well as to students of geography, history, and planning.

The slogan on Ontario's licence plates, 'Yours to Discover,' was designed to promote travel opportunities within the province. Every year, thousands of tourists drive along country roads, past farmyards and through hamlets, en route to popular vacation spots. In Looking for Old Ontario, Thomas McIlwraith shows that many destinations are closer at hand than one might imagine, and invites travellers to rediscover familiar countryside landmarks by 'reading' them as chapters in a rich historical narrative. Surveyors long ago scored Ontario's land, and generations have since inscribed it with residences, businesses, and institutions. This book, the result of thirty years of field work and archival research, is a reflection on and an interpretation of the ways in which the land and its inhabitants interrelate. Looking for Old Ontario guides readers through the vernacular landscape of the province, examining barns, fences, jails, post offices, inns, mills, canals, railways, roadsides, cemeteries, and much more. McIlwraith emphasizes ordinary features of the cultural landscape which communicate social meaning to the observant eye. The landscape tells us that Ontario has been inhabited by thrifty people; this we can conclude by looking at the economical use and reuse of construction materials. Yet the landscape also tells us that Ontario's residents have been inclined to show off: consider the province's unusually large number of elegant brick dwellings. To read a landscape is to think about such connections, and McIlwraith's contemplative style differentiates his work from manuals or handbooks. Since landscape interpretation is a highly visual subject, Looking for Old Ontario is extensively illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps. It will be useful to general readers interested in recognizing the broader meanings of their communities' heritage, as well as to students of geography, history, and planning.

Chosen as one of Style at Home's Top Ten Coffee Table Books.

This “clever and satisfying” (Associated Press) #1 international bestseller for fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Chiaverini follows three women who are bound together by a long-lost letter, a mother’s love, and a secret network of women fighting for the right to choose—inspired by true stories. 2017: When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane. 1971: As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had. 1980: After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her. Looking for Jane is “a searing, important, beautifully written novel about the choices we all make and where they lead us—as well as a wise and timely reminder of the difficult road women had to walk not so long ago” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).

"How Hartman Won. A Story of Old Ontario" by John Price-Brown is a fascinating little tale that tells the story of Ontario's past through the characters of a small but vibrant small town. Following young Robert Thornton, this book is a charming adventure that opens a window into Canada's history and gives readers an idea of how it slowly evolved over time to be the thriving country it is today.

Stories of Old Toronto never lose favour with the city’s nostalgia buffs, and as long as Mike Filey continues to provide us with his "The Way We Were" columns, no one’s appetite will have to go unsatisfied. When Mike’s Toronto Sunday Sun columns were first brought together in Toronto Sketches, demand was so high that it prompted a second collection ... then a third ... and a fourth ... and a fifth. Now, for 2000, Mike has once again brought together some of the best of his Toronto Sunday Sun columns for Toronto Sketches 6, the latest installment in the wildly popular series. This time around, Mike takes us to a performance at the Royal Alexandra Theatre by Al Jolson, the opening of Sunnybrook Hospital, a game between the baseball Leafs and the Havana Sugar Kings - with Fidel Castro throwing out the first pitch - and many more famous, notorious, and entertaining episodes in the history of this great city.

A lively and accessible introduction to Ontario's Aboriginal past, from the province’s leading archaeologists.