The history of the streets of Old Malton in Mississauga

Modern Mississauga and Heritage Mississauga have come together to present an ongoing series called “Way Back Wednesday.” We’ll share information about the history of Mississauga here and answer your questions.

Today’s topic is the history of the streets of Old Malton in Mississauga.

Although the Malton area began to see its first settlers in the early 1820s, it is unclear when the name of “Malton” actually became associated the area. Although local “legend” has indicated that Richard Halliday named the area informally around 1820 after his birthplace (Malton, England), there is little proof to support this naming of the village.

The name of Malton came into formal existence with the registration of the town site survey by John Stoughton Dennis on October 5, 1855, and with the opening of the first post office under Postmaster Isaac Sanderson in 1856. The town site, at the northwest corner of what is now Derry Road and Airport Road, was laid out as a railway town in conjunction with the Grand Trunk Railway developments. The road network from the 1854 survey of “Old Malton” is largely intact today, and provides a unique, if relatively unknown, part of Mississauga’s history.

The street names of the old Malton town site all derive from place names in Yorkshire England, much like the name of Malton itself. North Alarton (an apparent misspelling of Northallerton in Yorkshire), Knaseboro (Knaresborough in Yorkshire), Beverley, Harrow (after Harrogate in Yorkshire), Scarboro (Scarborough in Yorkshire), Studley (after Studley Royal Park in Yorkshire), Hull (Kingston-upon-Hull in Yorkshire), Ripon and Cattrick (Catterick in Yorkshire) all seem to confirm that the name Malton and the streets that formed the old town site as surveyed in 1854-55 were inspired by the countryside in Yorkshire, England. As for why Yorkshire provided the naming inspiration under the direction of surveyor John Stoughton Dennis, unfortunately we do not have that answer.