The U of T, Yorkville and Rochdale College (MEGA-TOUR)

\The Toronto History Walks Explorer Pass is available. Get it now for $125.00 for 1 year of unlimited tours, email
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for more information or for signing up!

\ Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket price when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:
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This is a revised route for 2026 to take in the history of the historic Rochdale College!

On March 15, 1827, a royal charter was issued by King George IV, for the establishment of King's College. The charter was the result of the efforts of John Strachan, the Anglican Bishop of Toronto, the College's first president.

King's College was a religious institution tied to the Church of England and the Family Compact. In 1849, the newly elected government of Canada voted to rename the College, University of Toronto and broke with the church. Strachan resigned to open Trinity College as a private seminary.

University College was created as a branch of University of Toronto. During the American Civil War, the threat of Union blockade prompted the creation of the University Rifle Corps, which saw action against the Fenians on the Niagara border in 1866.

Founded in 1830 by Joseph Bloor, and William Botsford Jarvis, the Village of Yorkville was muddy York's northern residential suburb.

With historic establishments like The Red Lion Inn, Yorkville Town Hall or even the fierce political radical William Lyon Mackenzie, it was here that notoriety was achieved, in Yorkville itself.

Omnibus horse drawn streetcar service started in 1849 to connect the old St. Lawrence Market in Toronto with Yorkville, and by 1853, the population of the village had reached 1,000 residents.

By the 1870s, Potter's Field, a cemetery stretching west of Yonge Street at Bloor Street was closed, and the remains moved to other area cemeteries. Yorkville was growing fast, and soon Toronto was ready to pull the neighbourhood into its orbit. On February 1, 1883, Yorkville's name changed officially. It was now known as St. Paul's Ward!

This walking tour is for all fitness levels and skills. Please dress for the weather. The extensive walking tour begins at the Queen's Park SUBWAY Station at the southwest corner of University Avenue and College Street adjacent to the Tim Horton's at the corner.

The walk ends at the site of Historic Rochdale College at Bloor and Huron!

This tour has a ticket price of $15.00 per person!

\ Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket price when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:
[email protected]