I’ve already talked a bit about my love for the history of words in my post E is Etymology or Why Do We Say It?, but my love of history goes far beyond just words.
I’ve always been interested in local history, or history that is tied to a specific place and people. I am interested in how people shape their surroundings and vice versa. I’m a geographer at heart, so I can’t help be fascinated by the interaction of geography and people. So far I’ve had the pleasure to live in three different urban settings each with their own particular geography and history. I am always fascinated by the reasons these settlements grow into the cities they do and what attracts people to them. As the old real estate joke goes the three most important things about a city is “Location, Location, Location”.
My hometown and birthplace of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario was settled on a a portion of the St. Mary’s rapids that were significant fishing grounds for local aboriginal populations, but also provided access between what would eventually become Michigan on the south shore of the river and Ontario on the north shore. Sault Ste. Marie, or The Soo for short, was originally settled by Europeans since 1668 when French Jesuits established a mission there. I could go on at length about how the Soo’s geography has shaped its history over the years, but that’s a lecture for another time.
My second adopted hometown was the great metropolis of Toronto. Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, Toronto was settled on aboriginal lands purchased from the Mississaugas of the New Credit in the late 1780s to provide a home for British Loyalists fleeing America after the revolutionary war. Prior to European settlement, the area was a well established portage route between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. Toronto has a great history and some great local historians that have well documented the growth and stories of the city. One such historian whose books about Toronto and its people that I love reading is Mike Filey. His series of books called Toronto Sketches brings to life portions of Toronto’s history with pictures and stories that everyone can relate to.
My third and current hometown is Greater Sudbury, an amalgamation of a number of communities surrounding the City of Sudbury in Northern Ontario. Originally a logging town, the town became a hub for railways and a mining centre when copper and nickel were discovered in the late 1800s. More than 150 years later they are still taking ore out of the ground.
Everywhere I go there are stories to be uncovered about the changing face of the places I live in and the stories of the individuals who live there. Maybe its the writer in me, but I never grow tired of learning about local history.