Brampton is the ninth most populous municipality in Canada and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is also the third most populous city in the Greater Golden Horseshoe urban area, behind Toronto and Mississauga. Brampton is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), located in the Canadian province of Ontario, and is a lower-tier municipality within the Peel Region. The City of Brampton is bordered by Vaughan to the east, Halton Hills to the west, Caledon to the north, Mississauga to the south, and Etobicoke (Toronto) to the southeast.
Named after the town of Brampton in Cumberland, England, Brampton was incorporated as a village in 1853 and as a town in 1873, and became a city in 1974. The modern City of Brampton was formed following an amalgamation of several surrounding townships and communities.
The city was once known as "The Flower Town of Canada", a title referring to its abundance of greenhouses and strong floriculture industry in the 1860s. It maintains the term "Flower City" as its slogan.
Despite being built as a car-centric city, Brampton has a significant transit system, with a ridership of 49,200,800, or about 226,500 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
History
Early history
Before the arrival of British settlers, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation held of the land north to the head of the Lake Purchase lands and extending to the unceded territory of the Chippewa of Lakes Huron and Simcoe. European settlers began to arrive in the area in the late 18th century. In October 1818, the chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation signed Treaty 19, also known as the Ajetance Purchase, surrendering the area to the British Crown.
Prior to the 1830s, most business in Chinguacousy Township took place at Martin Salisbury's tavern. One mile from the corner of Hurontario Street and the 5th Sideroad (now Main and Queen Streets in the centre of Brampton), William Buffy's tavern was the only significant building. At the time, the intersection was referred to as "Buffy's Corners". By 1834, John Elliott laid out the area in lots for sale, calling it "Brampton", which was soon adopted by others."Brampton's Beginning" in Bramptons's 100th Anniversary as an Incorporated Town: 1873–1973, Brampton: The Corporation of the Town of Brampton and the Brampton Centennial Committee, 1973, originally published in Ross Cumming, ed., Historical Atlas of Peel County, n.p.: Walker and Miles, 1877.
In 1853, a small agricultural fair was set up by the newly initiated County Agricultural Society of the County of Peel and was held at the corner of Main and Queen streets."Brampton's Beginning" in Brampton's 100th Anniversary as an Incorporated Town: 1873-1973, Brampton: The Corporation of the Town of Brampton and the Brampton Centennial Committee, 1973, originally published in Ross Cumming, ed., Historical Atlas of Peel County, n.p.: Walker and Miles, 1877. Grains, produce, roots, and dairy products were up for sale. Horses and cattle, along with other lesser livestock, were also sold at the market. This agricultural fair eventually became the modern Brampton Fall Fair.
In that same year, Brampton was incorporated as a village. In 1866, the town became the county seat and the location of the Peel County Courthouse which was built in 1865–66; a three-storey County jail was added at the rear in 1867.
Edward Dale, an immigrant from Dorking, England, established a flower nursery in Brampton shortly after his arrival in 1863. Dale's Nursery had become the town's largest and most prominent employer, developed a flower grading system, and established a global export market for its products. The company chimney was a town landmark, until Brampton Town Council allowed it to be torn down in 1977. At its height, the company had 140 greenhouses, and was the largest cut flower business in North America, producing 20 million blooms and introducing numerous rose and orchid cultivar to the market. It also spurred the development of other nurseries in the town. Forty-eight hothouse flower nurseries once did business in the town.
In January 1867, Peel County separated from the County of York, a union which had existed since 1851. By 1869, Brampton had a population of 1,800.The province of Ontario gazetteer and directory. H. McEvoy Editor and Compiler, Toronto : Robertson & Cook, Publishers, 1869 It was incorporated as a town in 1873.
The town of Brampton had problems with inadequate water supply in its early years, as the town relied on shallow wells for not just residential water, but commercial use and fire-fighting. In 1878, government-appointed water commissioners identified Snell's Lake (the present-day Heart Lake, named after the property owner at the time) nearly north of town as a good source for the city's water supply, and worked with property owners to build a pipeline from Heart Lake to town, supplying Brampton with water. A Brampton Water Works filtration plant was built south of the lake, located where present-day White Spruce Park is. Today the city uses water from other sources, and Heart Lake is now the centrepiece of Heart Lake Conservation Area.
A federal grant had enabled the village to found its first public library in 1887, which included 360 volumes from the Mechanic's Institute (established in 1858). In 1907, the library received a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, set up by United States steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, to build a new, expanded library; it serves several purposes, featuring the Brampton Library. The Carnegie libraries were built on the basis of communities coming up with matching funds and guaranteeing maintenance.
In 1902, Sir William J. Gage (owner of Gage Publishing, a publishing house specializing in school textbooks) purchased a portion of the gardens and lawns of the Alder Lea estate (now called Alderlea) that had been built on Main Street by Kenneth Chisholm in 1867 to 1870. (Chisholm, a merchant and founding father of Brampton, had been the Town reeve, then warden of Peel County, then MPP for Brampton and eventually, Registrar of Peel County.) Gage donated of the property to the town, with a specific condition that it be made into a park. Citizens donated $1,054 and the town used the funds to purchase extra land to ensure a larger park.
A group of regional farmers in Brampton had trouble getting insurance from city-based companies. After several meetings in Clairville Hall, they decided to found the County of Peel Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1955, when the company moved to its third and current location, 103 Queen Street West, it took the new name of Peel Mutual Insurance Company. It reigns as the longest-running company in modern Brampton. Harmsworth Decorating Centre was established in 1890, as Harmsworth and Son, operated out of the family's house on Queen Street West. The current location was purchased on September 1, 1904, after a fire destroyed their original store. Purchased for $1,400, the 24 Main Street South location is the longest-operating retail business in what is now Brampton.
In 1963, the town established the Flower Festival of Brampton, which was based on the Rose Festival in Portland, Oregon, United States. It began to market itself as the "Flower Town of Canada".
In 1974, the two townships of Chinguacousy and Toronto Gore were incorporated into Brampton. The small pine added to the centre of the shield on the Brampton city flag represents Chinguacousy, honouring the Chippewa chief Shinguacose, "The Small Pine." After this merger, outlying communities such as Bramalea, Heart Lake and Professor's Lake, Snelgrove, Tullamore, and Marysfield, were incorporated into the City, and in some instances further developed.
In a revival of this theme, on June 24, 2002, the City Council established the "Flower City Strategy", to promote a connection to its flower-growing heritage. The intention was to inspire design projects and community landscaping to beautify the city, adopt a sustainable environmental approach, and to protect its natural and cultural heritage. The Rose Theatre was named in keeping with this vision and is to serve as a cultural institution in the city. In addition, the city participates in the national Communities in Bloom competition as part of that strategy.
The Old Shoe Factory, located at 57 Mill Street North, once housed the Hewetson Shoe Company. It was listed as a historical property under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2008. Today it is occupied by various small businesses. The lobby and hallways retain details from 1907. Walls are decorated with pictures and artifacts of local Brampton history and old shoemaking equipment.Hewetson Shoe Factory. City of Brampton.
A self-guided historical walking tour of downtown Brampton called "A Walk Through Time""A Walk Through Time" , City of Brampton, c.2010 is available at Brampton City Hall and online at no cost.
Development of Bramalea
Planned as an innovative "new town", Bramalea was developed in the 1950s immediately east of the Town of Brampton in Chinguacousy Township. It was Canada's first satellite community developed by one of the country's largest real estate developers, Bramalea Limited. The name "Bramalea" was created by the farmer William Sheard, who combined "BRAM" from Brampton, "MAL" from Malton (then a neighbouring town which is now part of the city of Mississauga), and "LEA", an Old English word meaning meadow or grassland. He sold the land to Brampton Leasing (the former name of the developer) and built one of Bramalea's first houses on Dixie Road.
The community was developed according to its detailed master plan, which included provisions for a parkland trail system and a "downtown" to include essential services and a shopping centre. The downtown's centrepiece was the Civic Centre, built in 1972 to include the city hall and library. Directly across Team Canada Drive, a shopping centre, Bramalea City Centre was built. These developments were connected by a long tunnel, planned to provide protection from winter weather. The tunnel has long since been closed due to safety issues.
Region of Peel
In 1974, the Ontario provincial government decided to update Peel County's structure. It amalgamated several towns and villages into the new City of Mississauga. In addition, it created the present City of Brampton from the town and the greater portion of the Townships of Chinguacousy and Toronto Gore, and the northern extremity of Mississauga south of Steeles Avenue, including Bramalea and the other communities such as Churchville, Claireville, Ebenezer, Victoria, Springbrook, Coleraine, and Huttonville. While only Huttonville and Churchville still exist as identifiable communities, other names like Claireville are re-emerging as names of new developments.
The province converted Peel County into the Regional Municipality of Peel. Brampton retained its role as the administrative centre of Peel Region, which it already had as county seat. The regional council chamber, the Peel Regional Police force, the public health department, and the region's only major museum, the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives, are all located in Brampton.
This change had its critics among those with a strong sense of local identities. Bramptonians feared urban sprawl would dissolve their town's personality. Bramalea residents took pride in the built-from-scratch and organised structure that had come with their new satellite city and did not want to give it up. Others in Bramalea accept they are part of Brampton, and they make up a "tri-city" area: the original Brampton, Heart Lake, Bramalea.