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 Formed in 1974, Mississauga is now recognized as Canada's 6th largest and fastest growing major city with a population of 624,000 residents representing cultures from around the world. |
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| A Brief History of Early Mississauga: |
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Archaeological evidence suggests that Native peoples had been attracted to the Credit River Valley over thousands of years. At the time of European contact in 1615, both Iroquoian and Algonquian- speaking peoples inhabited this area. By 1700, an Ojibwa (Anishnabe) group known as the Mississaugas had driven the Iroquois from the north shore of Lake Ontario. The name "Mississauga" is believed to mean "river of the north of many mouths," referring to a river in Northern Ontario which drained into Lake Huron. It was from this part of Ontario that the Mississaugas had traveled in the late 17th century.
 In the 1720s, the French established many trading posts around Lake Ontario, one of which was located near the mouth of the Credit River, so named from the custom of trading with the Mississaugas on credit. After a decline of French power in the region, the British continued to trade with the Natives. It did not take long for the introduction of European cultures, technology and diseases to prompt an end to the Mississauga's way of life.
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In 1805, government officials from York, as Toronto was then called, bought 33,995 hectares (84,000 acres) of the "Mississauga Tract" for 1,000 (pounds sterling). Often referred to as "The First Purchase", this area is the size of approximately 31,275 soccer fields. The Mississaugas did not sell all of their land. They kept approximately 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) on either side of the Credit River. The new owners called the land around this strip 'Toronto Township'. In 1806, Samuel Wilmot finished surveying the southern half of Toronto Township, and the area began to open for settlement. The new settlers called the land the "Home District". The various communities in the Home District included: Dixie; Clarkson; Cooksville; Port Credit; Erindale; Sheridan and Summerville.
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| To learn more about the history of Mississauga, visit The Mississauga Heritage Foundation Website , or The City of Mississaugafrom History and Heritage, from which the information on this page was derived. | |
Mississauga Toourism Directory
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