Toronto's Lost Villages : Discover A Toronto You Never Knew

This book explores the forgotten hamlets, settlements, and early communities that once existed in and around Toronto but were gradually absorbed or erased by urban expansion. Over more than two centuries, Toronto grew from a small colonial outpost into a major city, swallowing dozens of villages along the way.

Brown brings these “lost villages” back to life by documenting where they were located, how they developed, and why they disappeared. The book covers a wide range of communities—from Indigenous settlements and early pioneer hamlets to mill towns, railway villages, and suburban neighbourhoods—many of which survive only as faint traces or place names today.