Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Heritage Toronto Award: Historical Maps of Toronto

I am the delighted recipient of the 2014 Heritage Toronto Award of Merit (Media category) for my site, Historical Maps of Toronto.

Gee, I’ve always wanted... Rob Ford’s signature?!

The Award was presented to me at last evening’s 40th Annual Heritage Toronto Awards at Koerner Hall. It pleases me considerably to see that Torontonians are using the site as a research resource on a regular basis.

Receiving the award from Alexandra Pike, Heritage Toronto Board Chair

The full list of people I have to thank is extensive, but luckily I’ve already written it up (scroll down to ‘Thanks and Acknowledgments’). Carrie Martin, Elise Paradis, Stephen Otto, and anyone who ‘bought me coffee’: thank you so much for your support.

Historical maps are like a series of snapshots in time. They illustrate the fascinating story of Toronto’s evolution from a compact town a little over two hundred years ago, into the bustling metropolis we know today. Rich in informative detail, yet often overlooked, they lend us a proper sense of context, and of place. They are powerful artifacts which capture Toronto’s defining tension: the ever-present impetus for change, pushing against the influence of what came before.

It is my pleasure to share them with the rest of Toronto—because history belongs to all of us.

If you’re into old maps or the history of early Toronto, I invite you to visit Historical Maps of Toronto, as well as its sister site Fort York and Garrison Common Maps.