Heritage Bytes

Sauga 50-for-50: 10,000 Years of Mississauga

This story tells the founding tale of Mississauga, rooted in the geological transformation of its landscape. Around 10,000 years ago, the region was covered by a massive glacier that eventually melted, forming the Credit River and reshaping the terrain. The melting glacier eroded rocks, and created fertile conditions for life to flourish. The river became home to various species of fish, including salmon, as well as diverse ancient wildlife like mastodons and giant beavers. While many these ancient creatures are now extinct, the Credit River remains teeming with life, hosting deer, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and more. Mississauga, now a bustling city, still retains its natural beauty and serves as a reminder of the vibrant ecosystem that thrives along the Credit River.

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music: Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: Mississauga's Lost Sheridan Village...

Join us for this week's podcast as we read from Heritage Mississauga's "The Lost Villages of Mississauga" publication on the village of Sheridan.

The historic village of Sheridan grew around the intersection of Winston Churchill Boulevard and the Queen Elizabeth Way (formerly Middle Road). Originally known as Hammondsville, Sheridan was named after British playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan in 1857. The village was home to a general store, post office, a Methodist (later United) Church, school, a Temperance Hall, a tannery, blacksmith, and a chair factory. Sheridan Nurseries was founded in and named after the village of Sheridan. Although the historic village has largely disappeared, its name lives on in a variety of forms, such as Sheridan College, Sheridan Homelands, Sheridan Mall Shopping Plaza and Sheridan Park Research Centre. In 1967 the name of Sheridan placed second in the vote for naming the Town (now City) of Mississauga, yet very few people today know of Sheridan's past and very little remains of its existence.

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music: Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: Mastering the 1812 Muster with the 2nd Regt. of York Militia

On this week's episode of Sauga 50-for-50, we follow the 2nd Regiment of York Militia, also known as Thompson's Company, a group of living history enthusiasts who, through research and living history, recreate the lives of soldiers and civilians of historic Mississauga during the War of 1812. ​

Thompson’s Company functions, in part, as an educational component of Heritage Mississauga by participating in community events, functions and through reenactments. Members come from across Peel Region representing a range of ages and walks of life.

Drill sergeant, Bert Jagoda, is drilling the company on the manual of arms, formations and field exercises, and the platoon firing exercises for their upcoming season. The 2nd York members are keen to dust off the rust and get back to public events with educational, entertaining, and historically accurate reenactments.

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music:

Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

 

Sauga 50-for-50: Uncovering the Stories of Early Chinese Immigrants in Historic Mississauga

On this week's episode of Sauga 50-for-50, we welcome Heritage Mississauga intern student Daston Babakan to speak about his research on early Chinese immigrants to historic Mississauga during the period of Chinese Exclusion in Canada (1923-1947). He traces local trends and stories discovered through his research to understand the day-to-day lives of these residents by examining their family, spiritual and work lives. This research is ongoing and we look forward to discovering more about our Chinese community in the future. If you have any memories or information regarding this topic in Mississauga's history, please reach out to resource@heritagemississauga.org

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music:

Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: Polish Heritage in Mississauga... Celebrating Contributions with Orlinski Museum

On this week's episode of Sauga 50-for-50, we invite Orlinski Museum curator Robert Stanczyk onto the program as we celebrate Polish Heritage Month. We discuss key moments in Polish history and how Polish Canadians have impacted the City of Mississauga. 

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music:

Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: How the Stonehookers Saved Port Credit

It has been said that Toronto was built on Dundas Shale. A careful look at the foundations of buildings erected in Toronto (and in Port Credit) prior to 1910 often reveals stone foundations. In an age before the ready availability of concrete, a constant supply of building stone was essential. Beginning in the 1840s and lasting until just after the First World War, the Lake Ontario waterfront between the Credit River and Burlington Bay was busy with those engaged in mining the shallow waters for shale and loading the stone onto small sail-driven vessels known as stonehookers. 

This week on Sauga 50-for-50, we feature the story of how the Stonehookers turned Port Credit from what had seemed like a steadily declining village into a booming economy in the mid-1800s. This podcast is narrated by Ross Noel, Richard Collins, Justine Lyn, and Matthew Wilkinson, with recordings by the late Lorne Joyce and music by the late Leonard Walsh.

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music:

Dundas Shale by Leonard Walsh (1956 - 2013)

Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: The Bird Lady of Mississauga is...

On this week's episode of Sauga 50-for-50, we are pulling out from our vaults an interview with one of the most influential women in Mississauga during the 20^th century.

Bernice Inman-Emery was a well-known wildlife rescuer who operated the Winding Lane Bird Sanctuary on Mississauga Rd. for 25 years. Winding Lane became a destination for school trips, where students learned how to care for injured birds and to respect wildlife. She took over the running of the sanctuary from the world-famous ornithologist Roy Ivor, who established Winding Lane Bird Sanctuary. 

She was known as the "Bird Lady of Mississauga", by locals because she knew her birds and animals so intimately that her life became interwoven with those of the animals she cared for. She was famous for nursing animals back to health when others said they would never recover. Her pleas for us to simply care resonate with us so deeply even all these years later. 

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music: Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: Lorne Park

On this week's episode of Sauga 50-for-50, Dorothy Patchett Williams, former resident of Lorne Park, Mississauga, tells of the Lorne Park she grew up with in a reading from Journey to the Past: The Lost Villages of Mississauga by Heritage Mississauga.

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music: Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: The Curious Case of the Ship in a Bottle

On this week's episode of Sauga 50-for-50, Justine Lyn and Melissa Toste delve into the curious case of a ship-in-a-bottle. But this is no ordinary ship-in-a-bottle. A bottle from the vineyards of Cooksville, a ship named "Toronto", an enemy of the state, a brickyard, a humble Erindale General Store and a vivacious teacher all come together to make this one of the most fascinating... and strange... artifacts in Mississauga's history! 

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music: Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto

Sauga 50-for-50: A Chat with Ben Madill

This week, we wanted to travel back in time and have a chat with a beloved former resident of Mississauga, Ben Madill. Ben Madill epitomized a lifetime of giving and is fondly remembered and well respected in Mississauga’s heritage community. He regaled generations with his stories and knowledge of the “old days” of Britannia, of farming, of life in a one-room schoolhouse in the midst of what is now the City of Mississauga.

 

Ben’s extensive knowledge of farming techniques, including rope making and woodworking, were exceptional – equaled only by his love for sharing his knowledge with young and old. Before his passing in 2013, Heritage Mississauga sat down to ask Mr. Madill about his memories and his life growing up in historic Mississauga. So sit back and relax as Ben Madill takes us back to Old Britannia, this time on Sauga 50-for-50.

 

To stay up to date with Mississauga's 50th Anniversary celebrations, follow Heritage Mississauga on social media @heritagemississauga and also follow #Sauga50for50 to stay up to date with new upcoming podcast episodes.

Music: Cojonudo by Esteban Maxera Cuarteto