The history behind Woodward Avenue, Strathcona Court, and Costigan Road

It’s Monday, you know what that means!

FM 101 Milton is once again looking at the history behind several of Milton’s street names.

Last week, we focused on Walkers Line, Izumi Gate, and McMullen Crescent. It was an interesting edition of the feature as it covered an old buffalo conservation in Milton, a famous professional fisherman who lives in Milton, and an old professional wrestler-turned hockey/baseball community builder.

This week, we have three streets that we’re covering: the listener-suggested Woodward Avenue, Strathcona Court, and Costigan Road.

Each week, we interview President of the Milton Historical Society, John Challinor II, about the people behind the names of the streets we all live on. If you weren’t aware, Challinor and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, having written Milton Streets back in 2007.

Starting with Woodward Avenue, it has an interesting history. Challinor says that while its origin aren’t precisely known, there is a theory as to where the name comes from.

The street was named back around 1913, and Challinor says at one point it was the final street in Milton before the town’s original north boundary. It would’ve been an important arterial road at the time, and it continues to be today, he adds.

Our second street today is Strathcona Court. An interesting name, Challinor points out that it was named for an old British Lord.

Now, Donald Smith has many things named after him. Those range from buildings at McGill University and a school in Kingston, to a pair of streets in Winnipeg, and the community Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories.

Smith also served in the House of Commons for Selkirk, Manitoba; was integral to the establishment of the Canadian Pacific Railway; and, was once the President of the Bank of Montreal. That’s an interesting and busy life for one person.

Speaking of busy, let’s cover our final street this week. Costigan Road is named after James Costigan. The road was first named in 2003. Challinor says Costigan was someone who dedicated his life to the Milton community.

It’s always interesting to hear how active in the community someone can be, especially in a time where computers did not exist and absolutely everything would’ve been tracked and written down on paper.

Challinor adds that Mr. Costigan passed away suddenly in 1964 and the Town wanted to honour his work in some capacity.

If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets were 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! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting, as well as suggested names. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that interest us.

Hey, things are changing for us here at MiltonNow.ca! If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.