Prior to the 1800s, the only building of consequence at the corner of Main and Queen streets, the recognized centre of Brampton, was William Buffy's tavern. At the time, the area was referred to as "Buffy's Corners". All real business in Chinguacousy Township took place 1 mile distant at Martin Salisbury's tavern. By 1834, John Elliott laid out the area in lots for sale, and applied the name "Brampton" to the area, which was soon adopted by others.
In 1853, a small agricultural fair was set up by the newly intiated County Agricultural Society of the County of Peel, and was held at the corner of Main and Queen streets. Grains, produce, roots, and dairy products were up for sale. Horses and cattle, along with other lesser livestock, were also sold at market. This agricultural fair eventually became the modern Brampton Fall Fair. In that same year Brampton was incorporated as a village.
A federal grant allowed the village to create its first public library in 1887, which included 360 volumes from the Mechanic's Institute (est 1858). In 1907, the library successfully received a grant from United States steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build a new multi-purpose building, featuring what is now the Brampton Library.
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, the company moved to its third and current location, 103 Queen Street West, and 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.
Edward Dale, an immigrant from Dorking, England, established a flower nursery in Brampton shortly after his arrival in 1863. Dale's Nursery became 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 became 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 varietals and species to the market. It also spurred the development of other nurseries in the town, as the town was once home to 48 hothouse flower nurseries.
In 1963, the town established The Flower Festival of Brampton, based on the Rose Festival of Portland, Oregon, and began marketing itself as the Flower Town of Canada. On 24 June 2002 City Council established the "Flower City Strategy", to promote a link to its flower-growing heritage. The construction of the Rose Theatre as a cultural institution in the city and annual participation in the Communities in Bloom competition are part of that strategy.
The Old Shoe Factory, located on 57 Mill Street North, was once the home of Hewetson Shoe Company. It was known as a historical property under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2008. Today it is occupied by various small businesses including The Well Being. The lobby and hallways still have the old theme from 1907. Walls are decorated with pictures and artifacts of local Brampton history and old shoe making equipment.
A self-guided historical walking tour of downtown Brampton called, “A Walk Through Time”., is available at Brampton City Hall and online free of cost.
Neighbouring Bramalea created Main article: Bramalea, OntarioCreated as an innovative "new town", Bramalea was developed as a separate community, approximately 40 kilometres northwest of Toronto. Located in the former Chinguacousy Township, it was Canada's first satellite community developed by one of the country's largest real estate developers, Bramalea Limited, formerly known as Brampton Leasing. 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 a part of Mississauga), and "LEA", an Old English word meaning meadow or grassland. He sold the land to Brampton Leasing developers and built one of Bramalea's first houses on Dixie Road across from the former headquarters of Nortel.
The community had an extensive master plan, which included provisions for a parkland trail system and a "downtown", which would include essential services and a shopping centre. The downtown area's centrepiece was the Civic Centre, which included the city hall and library. Directly across Team Canada Drive from the Civic Centre, Bramalea Limited built a shopping centre named Bramalea City Centre. The two centrepieces were connected by a long underground tunnel. This has long since been closed due to safety issues, and urbanists have also found that pedestrians make for livelier streets. Other features included a police station, fire hall, bus terminal, and a collection of seniors' retirement homes.
Each phase of the new city was marked with progressing first letters of street names. Development started with the "A" section, with street names such as Argyle, Avondale, and Aloma. Developer then created a "B" section, "C" section, and so forth. Children on the boundaries of these divisions would regularly compete in street hockey games, pitting, for example, the "D" section versus the "E" section.
The community was initially developed with a large number of recreational facilities, including tennis courts, playgrounds, hockey/lacrosse rinks and swimming pools. An extensive parkland trail and sidewalk system connects the entire city, amplifying what Brampton already had in a smaller scale.
Region of Peel Brampton's City HallIn 1974, the Ontario government decided to update Peel County's structure. Along with amalgamating a series of villages into the City of Mississauga, the new City of Brampton was created out of the greater portion of the Townships of Chinguacousy and Toronto Gore, including Bramalea and the other communities in those townships. 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 move was not met with wholesale approval. Bramptonians feared urban sprawl would dissolve their town's personality. Bramalea residents took pride in the built-from-scratch and organized structure that had come with their new city and did not want to give up their identity. Many people in Bramalea accept they are part of Brampton, and they make up the tri-city area. Brampton, Heart Lake, Bramalea.
In 1972, Bramalea created its civic centre. Two years after it was built, when Brampton and Bramalea merged, the new city's council chambers and other facilities were created in the building. They moved from the town of Brampton's modest downtown locale. The library systems of Brampton and Bramalea became one, creating a system of four locations.
Some have questioned the future of Peel Region as encompassing all of Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon. Mississauga council, led by Mayor Hazel McCallion, voted in favour of becoming a single-tier municipality and asked the provincial government to be separated from Peel Region. They argued the city has outgrown the need for a regional layer of government, and that Mississauga is being held back by supporting Brampton and Caledon with its municipal taxes.
Development as a cityChinguacousy and Toronto Gore were two townships incorporated into Brampton mid-way through the twentieth century. The small pine added to the center of the shield on the Brampton city flag represents Chinguacousy, thus continues honouring Chippewa chief Shinguacose, "The Small Pine." From this merger, communities such as Bramalea, Heart Lake and Professor's Lake, Snelgrove, Tullamore, and Mayfield, were formed. Bramalea was annexed into Brampton in 1974. Rural villages, such as Claireville, Ebenezer, Victoria, Springbrook, Churchville, Coleraine, and Huttonville were also merged into the larger city. While only Huttonville and Churchville still exist as identifiable communities, other names like Claireville are re-emerging as names of new developments.
The early 1980s brought new development, as the city released large tracts of land to residential developers. The large new suburban community of Springdale was developed in 1995 and is the area where most of the urban sprawl has taken place. This land began in its largest boom in 1999, when development started to appear as far north as the city's border with Caledon. The region has designated this border as being the line of demarcation for urban development until 2021. However, neighbouring communities not part of Peel have also been massively affected by the city's sudden spurt. The end of Brampton and start of Georgetown, for example, is essentially non-identifiable.
Also in the early 1980s, the Capitol Theatre, then owned by Odeon, closed its doors. The City bought the facility in 1981 under the spearhead of then-councillor Diane Sutter, turning the former movie house and vaudeville venue into a musical and performing arts theatre. It was renamed the Heritage Theatre. In 1983, Toronto consultants Woods Gordon reported to the City that, rather than continue "pouring money" into the Heritage, they should construct a new 750-seat facility. The 2005/06 season was designated as the Heritage theatre's "grand finale" season. The new Rose Theatre opened in September 2006.
Carabram was founded in 1984, after volunteers from different ethnic communities wanted to organize a festival celebrating diversity and cross-cultural friendship. With a name based on Toronto like-event, Caravan Festival of Cultures, Carabram's first event included Italian, Scots, Ukrainian, and West Indian pavilions. By 2003, the fair had 18 pavilions attracting 45,000 visitors. The national government of Canada had an anchor pavilion in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For Carabram's 25th Anniversary in 2009, Canada also had a pavilion.
With a growing multicultural population, the Peel Board of Education introduced evening English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at high schools. Originally taught by volunteers, the classes eventually became daytime courses taught by paid instructors. In the 1980s, the public and Catholic board expanded its languages programs, offering night classes in 23 languages. These were introduced by the urging of parents who wanted their children to learn their ancestral language and heritage. Brampton has a very large South Asian population, which is expected to grow at a high rate.
Spearheaded by then-Mayor Ken Whillans, the early 1990s brought a new city hall to Brampton's downtown. Whillans never got to see the opening of the new City hall because of his death in August of that same year. The move of City hall to downtown sparked a renewed interest by politicians and businesses alike to revitalize the downtown core. The facility was designed by local architects and constructed by Inzola Construction.
The Brampton Fair Grounds were sold in 1992 to the City of Brampton. The Agricultural Society relocated in 1997 to Heart Lake Road and Old School Road (outside the boundaries of the city).
The Health Services Restructuring Commission (HSRC) decided in 1997 that Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital and Peel Memorial Hospital should amalgamate into the William Osler Health Centre. It became what now is the province's 6th largest hospital corporation.
Brampton's 2003 Sesquicentennial celebrations were a booster to community spirit, restarting the tradition of a summer parade (with 100 floats), and creating other initiatives. To commemorate the town's history, the city under Mayor Fennell reintroduced floral projects to the community, including more plantings around town, the restart of the city Parade in 2005, and participation for the last few years in the Canada Communities in Bloom project.
Current eventsIn early 2006, the Brampton campus of the William Osler Health Centre was renamed Peel Memorial Hospital. It was no longer considered a part of the William Osler family of hospitals. On October 28, 2007, Brampton Civic Hospital opened its doors while Peel Memorial Hospital closed for renovations. Since then, the fate of Peel Memorial has been the subject of controversy. Local residents want the hospital to re-open as an acute-care facility with an emergency department, arguing Brampton Civic Hospital's 479 beds are not sufficient to meet the needs of the fast-growing community.
In September of that year, the Rose Theatre opened its doors in downtown Brampton. By 2008, the facility had attracted over 137,000 patrons, surpassing its five-year goal in its first season. The theatre is also seen as a catalyst for downtown revitalization. Since its opening, new businesses have opened, established businesses have renovated their storefronts and several high-rise condominium projects are either under construction or in the planning phases. In December 2007, the Toronto Star published an article entitled, "Brampton comes alive," which documents the latest in the city's revitalization plans and progress.
In February 2008, the Central West Local Health Integration Network recommended that Peel Memorial be redeveloped to house outpatient services. That would include mental health services, cancer screening, day surgery and non-urgent care.
In May 2012, the Brampton City Council voted unanimously in favour of a secondary bid as a hosting city for the 2015 Pan Am Games being held in Toronto. The initial plan had the City of Brampton as one of the hosting venues for the summer games, however following a venue plan change, the CEO of the organization committee Ian Troop said that changes needed to be made as "the benefits of clustering are that you create economies of scale, the goal for our refined and improved venue plan is to reduce the operational complexities of the event, save costs, deliver an athlete-centred Games that facilitates great performance and create a much richer spectator experience.”
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