There is a lot of history behind Milton’s street names.
101.3 myFM is continuing our weekly feature of diving into the history of our local roads in Milton. Last week, we had a detailed breakdown on Clements Drive and Stokes Trail. This week, we’re covering three street names: Cobban Road, Syer Drive, and Cathcart Crescent.
This is done in large part to the work by the Milton Historical Society. Each week, its President, John Challinor, researches the names and provides us with detailed answers on each one. There are over 800 streets in Milton and each one has a story. It’s thanks to John Challinor that we can tell those stories week-in and week-out.
In case you didn’t know, Challinor and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, having written Milton Streets back in 2007.
Our first road this week is Cobban Road. It’s found in the Dempsey neighbourhood. Challinor says the namesake was a very important figure for Milton in the 1800s.
As Challinor says, doctors weren’t the most available people in southern Ontario at that time as communities continued to grow and develop. Due to the lack of universal healthcare, Dr. Cobban would have been paid out of pocket by patients. With Milton being heavily involved in agriculture, it’s possible that residents would have opted to pay for his doctoral services through the trade of goods instead.
Our second street this week is Syer Drive. Challinor points out that Edmund Syer was the Gord Krantz of his time.
Between being a Town Council member and serving as Milton Mayor, among other roles municipal roles, Syer was involved in local politics from 1910 to 1942. That spans from before World War 1 to halfway through World War 2, with a pandemic and the great depression in between. It’s also important to remember that municipal elections were held annually during that time. While Syer didn’t regularly serve consistent terms as Milton Mayor, he was routinely voted back into office. Challinor laughs that he must have been doing something right for residents to always vote him back in.
Our third Milton street name is a suggestion from a listener: Cathcart Crescent. It’s in the southend of Milton in the Ford neighbourhood near the Milton Sports Centre. This is one of those cases of a Milton road being named after a national figure.
One thing that’s interesting about Cathcart’s fascination for geology was that he wasn’t ever formally trained in the profession, Challinor adds. It was sort of a hobby for the Royal.
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.
