Eric Very
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ekvery.bsky.social
Eric Very
@ekvery.bsky.social
I like local history, cycling, coffee, quiet streets, and making connections—between people, places, and ideas.
Working on the waterfront.
Pinned
What do you get when you combine forgotten archives, digitized records, and some luck? A lost sketch 1855 of Toronto's Brockton Village - and my first post on project taking an in-depth look at the history of this corner of the city.

cc. @adambunch.bsky.social

brockton-history.ca/2025/02/12/a...
Uncovering Brockton Village: A forgotten sketch of a Toronto village and the stories it holds
It’s not ever day that you stumble upon something truly exciting while browsing the archives. But on a cold January evening in 2022, that’s exactly what happened. I had been researching…
brockton-history.ca
Reposted by Eric Very
📍 Biidaasige Park #Toronto

Trajet, by Caroline Monnet and Dean Baldwin Lew, highlights the 11,000-year-old footsteps of Indigenous ancestors that were found during the excavation of Toronto’s harbour in the early twentieth century.

The first sculpture of the Lassonde Art Trail latfoundation.org
October 25, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
Made this map while researching my neighbourhoods early history. It's a composite of an 1797 and 1837 map, which reveals some familiar and lost routes in the west end.

More about the history here: brockton-history.ca/2025/10/18/e...
October 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Made this map while researching my neighbourhoods early history. It's a composite of an 1797 and 1837 map, which reveals some familiar and lost routes in the west end.

More about the history here: brockton-history.ca/2025/10/18/e...
October 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The cormorants are occupying Sherborne Slip. Wonder what they are feasting on over here?
September 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
My colleague @johnlorinc.bsky.social put me on to this book, which intrigued me because I have family history in Earlscourt, one of the most notable shacktowns. The book was full of fascinating insights that still resonate today. 🧵
Much of Toronto's early expansion took the form of "shacktowns," where owner-built housing on small private lots provided affordable housing for workers. @dylanreid.bsky.social explores the seminal 1996 book "Unplanned Suburbs" that analyzed this phenomenon. spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
Reading List: Unplanned Suburbs - Spacing Toronto
We think of suburbs as places where the middle classes go to leave the city. But Richard Harris’s book Unplanned Suburbs: Toronto’s American Tragedy, 1900 to 1950 (1996) reveals that, for several deca...
spacing.ca
September 4, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Over 200 years ago, a handful of officers, widows, and insiders submitted handwritten petitions for land in what is now Brockton Village, Toronto.

Their words preserved in the archives show how Indigenous land became colonial property, lot by lot.

brockton-history.ca/2025/06/13/l...
Who Got the Land? Reading Land Petitions from Brockton, Toronto (1796-1812)
What did it take to get land in Brockton over 200 years ago? This post explores the original petitions submitted by the area’s first settlers, soldiers, widows, and government insiders seeking land…
brockton-history.ca
June 13, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Centennial Pavement. First time noticing one of these on Toronto's sidewalks
May 28, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
Great work on the British land slop!
On this Victoria Day weekend, I’m sharing a story about land, loyalty, and colonial paper trails.

Meet Brockton’s first landowners: a sheriff, a secretary, a commander, a widow, and a father-in-law to the Chief Justice.

brockton-history.ca/2025/05/18/t...
The Sheriff, Secretary, Commander, Widow, and Father-in-Law
Brockton’s First Land Owners In the summer of 1793, John Graves Simcoe arrived in Toronto determined to establish his new capital on the remote northern shores of Lake Ontario. He brought sol…
brockton-history.ca
May 19, 2025 at 2:28 PM
On this Victoria Day weekend, I’m sharing a story about land, loyalty, and colonial paper trails.

Meet Brockton’s first landowners: a sheriff, a secretary, a commander, a widow, and a father-in-law to the Chief Justice.

brockton-history.ca/2025/05/18/t...
The Sheriff, Secretary, Commander, Widow, and Father-in-Law
Brockton’s First Land Owners In the summer of 1793, John Graves Simcoe arrived in Toronto determined to establish his new capital on the remote northern shores of Lake Ontario. He brought sol…
brockton-history.ca
May 19, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
Jode Roberts led a fabulous Jane’s walk through Bloorcourt! He installed some new signage for the occasion.
May 3, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Had a great time walking around Brockton Village for @janeswalk.bsky.social. Glad the rain held off and thanks to everyone who came out!
May 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
If you’re in the Liberty Village area tomorrow afternoon, I will be leading another walk of the neighbourhood, partnering with the local BIA.

We start at 2 PM at Liberty Village Park.

www.janeswalkfestivalto.com/friday-may-2...
taking-liberty | Jane's Walk Toronto Festival
www.janeswalkfestivalto.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Eric Very
More and more people are coming to realize that our man spoke TRUTH back in the day.
May 1, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Looks interesting. Place and memory.
TO: Experience Sam Carter-Shamai's Homecoming, Exchange + Regenerative Encounters exhibition - a collection of archives, soundscapes, photography, maps + an exploration of how we remember the places that made us and how they show up in the places we are schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/event/homeco...
April 30, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Change doesn't come without risk.

Looking forward to the next stretch of the Waters Edge Promenade opening
April 30, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Love this! A little flower pop up by the Bellwoods Sakuras.
April 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
On September 13, 1791, days before Simcoe would leave England for Canada, the machinery of Empire was finishing breaking up Indigenous land.
Read about the summer that reshaped Ontario in my latest post:
brockton-history.ca/2025/04/21/1...
April 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
On September 13, 1791, days before Simcoe would leave England for Canada, the machinery of Empire was finishing breaking up Indigenous land.
Read about the summer that reshaped Ontario in my latest post:
brockton-history.ca/2025/04/21/1...
April 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
I quite like when cities retain some of the industrial heritage when redeveloping former industrial areas. This is the 300-ton Atlas Crane in the Toronto Portlands. One of the last of its kind on the Great Lakes, it’s being restored and incorporated into the new Biidaasige Park on Ookwemin Miniseng.
April 22, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Eric Very
In the summer of 1791, Augustus Jones carved a line through forest and swamp. That survey turned Indigenous land into British property—and drew the edges of Brockton.

📍 Read the full story:
🔗 brockton-history.ca/2025/04/21/1...
#TorontoHistory #BrocktonVillage #1791Survey
April 22, 2025 at 12:40 PM
In the summer of 1791, Augustus Jones carved a line through forest and swamp. That survey turned Indigenous land into British property—and drew the edges of Brockton.

📍 Read the full story:
🔗 brockton-history.ca/2025/04/21/1...
#TorontoHistory #BrocktonVillage #1791Survey
April 22, 2025 at 12:40 PM
My latest post explores Brockton's and Toronto's Indigenous past and present, through a mural recently commissioned by the Dundas West Open Air Museum by artist Philip Cote brockton-history.ca/2025/03/30/t...
On Indigenous Land – Connecting Brockton’s Past and Present through Art
Near the heart of Brockton Village, in the parking lot of the Pentecostal Portuguese Church at 1637 Dundas Street West, stands a vibrant mural by Philip Cote, with contributions from Pam Lostranco.…
brockton-history.ca
March 30, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Eric Very
Took a meandering route and was treated with a lovely Nick Sweetman piece I hadn’t seen before.
#Toronto
March 27, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Reposted by Eric Very
Formerly St. Andrews Hotel in the 1890s - went through a number of uses including by this man in the 1950s
March 23, 2025 at 11:57 PM