Ok I'm not from Toronto( Burlington) I've always wondered why it's called THE Danforth and not just Danforth.
The Danforth
- Thread starter spankingman
- Start date
Asa Danforth Jr. was hired by the Simcoe government to build a road from muddy York to the Trent River and Prince Edward County where most of the population of Upper Canada lived. Since the bridge at Queen St. (then called Lot St.) was the only serious route across the Don, his Danforth Plank Road Company branched his road off that track and headed northeast eventually completed all hundred or so miles, but never was fully paid, probably due to anti-American prejudice, and his road fell into disrepair, as the newer Kingston Road attracted more traffic. Wikipedia has several Danforth entrieswith all the detail anyone could want except …
There's no definitive reason for our usage of The Danforth. But I think wigglee's likely put his finger on it. Once folks started citifying the east bank of the Don in significant numbers and cut that new east-west avenue from the river to old Danforth Road and beyond, calling it The Danforth Avenue, then simply The Danforth was an easy way to distinguish it. Not to mention any given speaker might well be referring to the neighbourhood around, just as much as the specific street itself.
There's no definitive reason for our usage of The Danforth. But I think wigglee's likely put his finger on it. Once folks started citifying the east bank of the Don in significant numbers and cut that new east-west avenue from the river to old Danforth Road and beyond, calling it The Danforth Avenue, then simply The Danforth was an easy way to distinguish it. Not to mention any given speaker might well be referring to the neighbourhood around, just as much as the specific street itself.
It differentiates it from Danforth Road.
This too. It's like "The Beaches" or "The Annex" - it refers more to the neighbourhood, specifically Greektown or close to Greektown.
This too. It's like "The Beaches" or "The Annex" - it refers more to the neighbourhood, specifically Greektown or close to Greektown.
That’s a very old debate. Officially now, it’s “The Beach”. Many of us who used to live out that way still call it “The Beaches”, and I believe there are three named beaches there.
