Simcoe City Map Poster

About Simcoe

Simcoe was originally known as "The Forks" or "The Four Corners". The name Simcoe is derived from the surname of John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. In 1793, he visited the area while on a mission to survey possible locations for a capital city for Upper Canada. At that time, there were four corners at this location: Dundas Street (northwest), Yonge Street (northeast), Egerton Ryerson's line which ran north–south through what is now downtown Toronto and Highway 3 today (east). In 1816 it became the administrative centre of Norfolk County; in 1974 it was amalgamated with other municipalities into an expanded City of Brantford but remained its county seat until 2001 when administration moved to Haldimand County.