The history of Milton can really be found in our street names.
myFM News is continuing to dive into the history of our local roads. Last week, we covered Best Road, Wallbrook Crescent, Oak Street, and Wilson Drive. This week, we’re looking at Turner Drive, Dills Crescent, and Leger Way.
As always, we couldn’t do this without the incredible work by Milton Historical Society President John Challinor. He and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, having written Milton Streets back in 2007. Now, we’re looking at why these roads are named what they are.
Looking at Turner Drive, Challinor says the namesake was a very busy man.
Interestingly enough, Challinor notes that it was very common in the time for those in the furniture business to also be funeral directors.
Turner’s role on Milton’s Town Council came at a pivotal time in history. In 1918, our country was seeing the end of World War 1. Soon, the Spanish Influenza pandemic would begin and as Challinor notes, Turner would’ve been dealing with a lot of the issues that we’re experiencing today.
Our next road was a request from a listener on our Facebook page. They asked about Dills Crescent. As you likely guessed, this road was named after the late historian, Jim Dills. Challinor remembers his friend fondly.
He describes Dills as an articulate man with a great sense of humour. He was often using the phrase “it had to be right,” which Challinor knows was because of Jim’s journalistic background. Dills had all the great qualities of a journalist, he says. Whether it was his researching ability, his listening skills or his writing and editing. The two wrote several books together, and Challinor will always be grateful for their friendship.
Our last street for this week is Leger Way. This is a street that younger residents might mispronounce. Some may pronounce it as Leh-jerr, like a ledger of paper. It is, in fact, pronounced as Leh-zhay, for the former Governor General of Canada, Jules Léger.
Some may be wondering what kind of connection a former Governor General of Canada may have with Milton. Well, back in the 1990s, the decision was made by the Town to name arterial roads after provincial and national figures, such as Prime Ministers, Premiers and Governor Generals. This is how we have street names like Trudeau Drive and Laurier Avenue.
It’s a fascinating way to see the recent growth of Milton. Challinor notes that in 2000, our town had roughly 130-140 streets. Today, Milton is well-over 800.
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@mbcmedia.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that interest us.
