Do you know the history of Thompson Road?
myFM News is continuing its series of diving into the background of Milton’s street names. This week, we’re focusing on Thompson Road.
A main road in town, Thompson Road begins at Steeles Avenue East, running south before it ends just past Britannia Road.
The President of the Milton Historical Society, John Challinor, literally wrote the book on Milton street names, having written ‘Milton Streets‘ back in 2007 with the late local historian, Jim Dills. Challinor says Thompson Road was named after a former mayor.
He notes that while two years seems like a short term for a mayor to serve, municipal elections occurred every year in this time period. Thompson was eventually succeeded by E. Ross Pearen in 1953. It would take another 27 years before current Milton mayor, Gord Krantz, would begin his first term; starting the longest reign as mayor in Canadian history with 41-years at the time of writing.
Thompson wasn’t just a municipal leader (having also served as a councillor outside of his run as mayor). Challinor says he was an avid volunteer.
Presently, it’s rare to see roads be renamed. The Town of Milton has a street name database, known as the Street Name Bank, which it adds to on an annual basis. These names are more commonly used by developers for streets that were recently built. Challinor says the renaming of streets was common in the past when the Town was growing and changing its boundaries, which is what led to the naming of Thompson Road, as well as Steeles Avenue. It’s possible that as Milton continues to develop, specifically the southern part of town, that we could see more rural roads be renamed.
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets are named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@mbcmedia.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that we find interesting.
