Port Credit


Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road, about 0.6 km. east of the river. Until 1974, Port Credit was an incorporated town. Its approximate boundaries are the Canadian National Railway to the north, Seneca Avenue to the east and Shawnmarr Road to the west. It had a population of 10,260 at the 2001 census.
Port Credit was originally a settlement of the Mississauga Ojibwe First Nations band and a trading post established in 1720 for the exchange of goods from the Europeans for furs trapped by the Mississaugas. After the War of 1812, a harbour was established by the Mississaugas together with European and Jamaican settlers. In 1847, the Mississaugas left the village to relocate on the Six Nations Reserve to be with other band members and first nations. Industry was established on the village periphery including an oil refinery, but the neighbourhood is no longer a substantial industrial district. The village survived into the 20th century, becoming an independent municipality in 1909, until it was merged with the City of Mississauga in 1974.
Today, the original core village is now a heritage conservation district. The harbour is mostly used for recreational boating.

History

The location of Port Credit was in the 1700s, the land of the Mississauga Ojibwe band. The location became used as a meeting place between the band and white traders, and the river was known to them as the Missinhe or "trusting creek". To the French and later the English the mouth was known as "Port Credit" and a trading post was established in 1720, where goods were traded or bought on credit. The earliest reference is on a map drawn in 1757 by La Broquerie.
The first permanent structure built by the English at the site was the Government Inn, on the east bank of the river. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe had ordered construction of the Inn to serve as a way station for travellers by land and lake, and it was leased to a succession of residents until its destruction by fire.
In 1805, the Mississauga gave up much of the surrounding lands, but retained the Credit River, which they held in esteem as the favourite resort of their ancestors. After the War of 1812, the numbers of Mississauga dwindled and they gave up their lands except for a reserve at the mouth, believing the King would protect the land for them in the face of settler encroachment.
Outside the reserve, a village plan was laid out in 1834 and for several years, Port Credit was a thriving harbour community used by the natives and settlers jointly. Village lots were sold to settlers by the natives and the Port Credit Harbour Company, which developed the harbour, was jointly owned. The harbour was a working fishing port and a regional trading centre for grain and other agricultural products. A lighthouse was in use from 1882 to 1918 and remained standing until destroyed by fire in 1936.
On the reserve a sawmill was set up and timber shipped by schooner to locations around the lake. The Credit Mission was set up by Peter Jones to educate the natives and convert them to Christianity. However, by the late 1840s, the forest had been cleared and conditions on the reserve declined. Negotiations were started by the British to move the natives to a homeland near Owen Sound. When the location around Owen Sound was found unsuitable for farming, the Mississauga accepted an offer to move to the Six Nations reserve and left in 1847.
By 1846, the population was about 150. Large quantities of agricultural products were being shipped from the port, and vessels were being built here. Two steamers stopped here between Hamilton and Toronto. The community had two stores, two taverns, a Methodist chapel and a post office. A large area of 4600 acres beside the village was a First Nations Reserve with a chapel and a school.

The port was supplanted as a trading centre for shipping by the coming of the railway. Later in the 19th century, it became known for its stonehooking trade. Other industries such as the St. Lawrence Starch Works and the Port Credit Brick Yard provided employment for many local residents. In 1932 L.B. Lloyd built an oil refinery on the old brick yard site and operated by a succession of operators culminating in its purchase by a division of Texaco who operated it until its closing in 1985, when Texaco opened a new much larger facility at Nanticoke on Lake Erie. The tallest structure in Port Credit used to be the smokestack at the St Lawrence Starch plant which has since been demolished. The stack falling marked the change of Port Credit into a residential area from the former industrial hub.
Starting early in the 20th century, particularly after the paving of the Lakeshore Highway in 1915, Port Credit had become an attractive location for business, travellers and people wishing to leave the city of Toronto in summer. In 1960 the Don Rowing Club moved to the banks of the Credit River.
Port Credit acquired the status of "police village" in 1909, and town status in 1961. The town did not amalgamate with its neighbouring settlements in southern Peel County when the Town of Mississauga was created from the former Toronto Township in 1968. Port Credit maintained its independence until the City of Mississauga was incorporated in 1974.
The Adamson Estate, located near the eastern boundary of the neighbourhood, was purchased from the family of Agar Adamson by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority in 1975.
Today the harbour has been redeveloped into a marina on the east bank and a charter fishing centre and public boat launch facility on the west bank under the lighthouse. Port Credit Harbour Marina is the largest public marina in the region. The Ridgetown has been a structure of Port Credit since June 21, 1974, when she was loaded with stone and, with her cabins and stack still in place, sunk as a breakwater for the Port Credit Harbour.

Community

The Port Credit arena was constructed between September 10, 1958, and the official opening on October 4, 1959. Built for, it is the second covered arena in the current city of Mississauga, the first public arena built and is the oldest surviving arena in the city. It is the home of the Port Credit Storm hockey teams.
A replica of Port Credit's lighthouse was built by the Lions Club of Credit Valley atop a sewage pumping station; it is the home of the local BIA and Tourist Bureau and the logo for many local organizations.
The Port Credit Library, located on 20 Lakeshore Road East, sits beside the Credit River and a large public park. Along with the Lorne Park and Lakeview branches, the Port Credit Library was redeveloped as part of the Ontario Government's Infrastructure Stimulus Fund beginning in 2009.

Tourism

Port Credit is commonly referred to as Mississauga's "Village on the Lake" along Lake Ontario. The area hosts several festivals and events, notably:
Port Credit started as a shipping centre in 1834 with harbour improvements paid for by the government. In 1855, a branch of the Great Western Railway was added.
Lakeshore Road, formerly Highway 2, runs along the lake and Hurontario Street, formerly Highway 10, runs northwest to the Mississauga City Centre and beyond.
Port Credit had access to the nearby Queen Elizabeth Way from the upgrading of the old Middle Road from Highway 27 to Highway 10 to a divided highway in 1931.
Over the years the railway has expanded to three tracks; its prime importance to Port Credit is the GO Train service carrying residents to and from Toronto. The majority of the residences are within walking distance of the Port Credit GO Station just north of the intersection of Lakeshore and Hurontario Street. This is a transportation hub of Southern Mississauga, linking both the city's public transit system; MiWay, and GO Transit.

Notable people

Port Credit was the birthplace or home of: