The Tollkeeper's Cottage

The Mississaugas of New Credit are the aboriginal landowners of Toronto who were forced out of the Toronto region after 1805 and sent to live at the Credit River (in today's City of Mississauga) until they were forced out of that area as well.

With no place left to go, as all of their other lands in southern Ontario had been taken over by the government, they were invited by Chief Joseph Brant to go to live on part of the lands given by government to the United Empire Loyalist Five Nations League (now the Six Nations Confederacy).

These lands along the Grand River were originally Mississauga lands for which they have not been paid, and in 1923 when the New Credit Mississaugas received some government money under the Williams Treaty, they bought two blocks of the Grand River tract from the Six Nations - in effect buying back from the Six Nations their own land for which the government has still not paid them. The two blocks where they live today are called the New Credit Reserve located near Hagerville, ON.

A Community History Project site

The tollkeeper's cottage is located in The Tollkeeper's Park on the northwest corner of Davenport Road and Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON. [N43°40'36.2" W079°25'00.8" ± 6m].

For a map, click now without moving your mouse.

Then, on the map site, click the cottage pictures for more pictures

Food Focus Days:

The earliest settlers survived because of the indigenous foods they learned about from the local indians. In due course, they introduced new species brought from the old world as their farms and gardens developed.

Food Focus Days are held at the tollkeeper's cottage from 11am to 5pm (or until sold out). Visitors receive a free brochure, and may purchase the foods featured that day plus historic recipes using that food. Also offered at a special price are copies of Dorothy Duncan's history book on Canadian food: Nothing More Comforting: Canada's Heritage Food (which contains recipes).

Tollkeeper's Walking Tours:

These are repeats of the series given in May of the four corners around the tollkeeper's cottage, one area at a time. All the tours begin at the tollkeeper's cottage at 2pm and last approximately two hours. Tours 3 and 4 (northwest and northeast) involve walking up hills.

Each tour costs $5, or passes for all four are $18. Tours are "rain or shine".

Tollkeeper's Cottage Mementos

Mementos of the tollkeeper's cottage
Help support the project - and reward yourself - with a little bit of Toronto's history. Available from CHP - see Contact Us page.

Souvenir Cut Nails: $10 each.
Salvaged from The tollkeeper's cottage as it was being stripped down, these are rusty handmade nails dating from about 1835 which could not be re-used in the restoration work - on a card with some history - makes a nice gift of some authentic history.

Cedar Shavings: $5 per large bag.
Produced by the volunteers who made the shakes for the roof, these shavings vary from strips to bits and are good for garden mulch, fire starters, or may be reduced in size mechanically for composting.

Cedar Sachets: $3 each.
Little bags of tiny cedar bits to scent and mothproof a clothes closet, made by volunteers.

Maple Syrup: $9 per 300ml
Each year CHP orders fresh syrup from the Beaver Valley and sells small bottles all year after the Sweet Heritage event.

Tickets: $15 per lecture or $50 for the series of four. They can be purchased Saturdays at the museum (10 am - 5 pm), from a CHP member or by calling 416-515-7546 or just pick them up at the lecture (if room available). Tickets are limited to a maximum of 30 people per lecture.

Where: The Tollkeeper's Cottage, NW corner of Bathurst and Davenport.

When: Starting promptly at 7 pm.

There will be a break part way through the evening for tea or coffee. After each lecture, the lecturer will accept questions from the audience.

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Events

Please be aware that 2021 Memberships are available.
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The cottage is closed because of the pandemic.

There are no events scheduled at this time. Walks will be one of the first events to be scheduled.

It shouldn’t be long now for the walks to get going. Officially 10 people can get together, apart, outside but we want to have people close enough for conversations, in weather warm enough to go parka-less. Seaton Village is first up.

We have some new and updated Slideshows on the site!! (Thanks to all ).. You can find them here

You too can be a member of the Community History Project! It’s only $20 a year. Just mail in or email us your membership fee to this address–

If you would like to make a donation or pay a membership fee, you can now do it in the modern way – online! We can now receive an e-transfer at our email address! Donations and membership fees will receive an income tax receipt next February.

Event Background

The Tollkeeper’s Cottage is a museum wholly owned and operated by the Community History Project – a local history society serving on a volunteer basis. The museum is in a restored historic building dating from around 1835 and is a rare remnant from the beginning of the 19th century tolling system in Upper Canada. The restoration has been to the building’s earliest start – 1835 – but has been furnished mostly with antiques up to 1860 when a family of nine lived in the building’s three rooms.. Designated by the City of Toronto, the Tollkeeper’s Cottage is of national significance as it is the only historic tollhouse known to have survived into the present time, and it is also rare for its vertical plank construction. In period dress, trained docents are on duty every Saturday (non pandemic) from 10 am until 5 pm (4pm winter--closed between Christmas and New Year) and will take visitors on a tour for a modest donation. The museum is not subsidized by governments and raises its own operating costs through these donations and various fundraising programmes. Some items now part of the museum are extremely rare and interesting, but you will have to visit to find out what they are! And yes, very selected furnishings are still being accepted into the collection but only after being vetted by an expert.
Additional Events and details are provided here and on the bulletin board at the Cottage as soon as they become available

Some of the annual programmes that may be offered at the museum are: a series of lectures by experts in a spring and fall series on various historical subjects, knitting, rug-braiding, a Food Focus series of events featuring indigenous Canadian foods (berries, nuts, etc. and actual recipes using these foods as taken from historic sources. Special arrangements can be made for school classes, seniors and other group tours or special programmes preferably by emailing tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com and leaving a message for rates and dates. The modern addition to the historic building can also be rented for special events such as meetings, receptions. The museum is open at special times throughout the years, for example for selected Wednesday evening lectures. The museum has events such as Victoria Day Tea, St. Patrick's Day Tea, December Cookie sale, Strawberry Social. Visit this website periodically to learn more about these and other events. We usually have the activities for the next two months in more detail on this page.

Watch this site for changing tidbits on local history, announcements of new programmes etc. You may wish to watch some of our slide shows showing the restoration process, educational programs, activities and even our gift shop.

Virtual tour of the cottage (thanks to Andrew Jones)

Where's The Tollkeeper's Cottage?

The Tollkeeper's Cottage