Joseph Bloore
Toronto Necropolis
Born in Staffordshire, England in 1789, Joseph Bloore came to Upper Canada in 1818. Ran a hotel called the “Farmer’s Inn” at King and Francis Street, just north of the St. Lawrence market. About 1830, he moved north into the countryside and opened a brewery near the top of Sherbourne Street, where it crossed the valley. A small village began to evolve to the west of the brewery and north of the intersection of today’s Yonge Street and a narrow dirt road (the Second Concession Line) 1¼ miles north of the base line (Queen Street). The small community eventually developed into the Town of Yorkville in which Joseph Bloore, prosperous brewer, was very prominent. Bloore went into the land development business with his friend Sheriff William Jarvis, and was so involved in the community that it was almost named Blooreville. In time, Bloore built a large residence for himself and his family on the south side of the concession road just east of Yonge Street. The road soon became known as “the street to Bloore’s.” The name stuck, and Bloore Street came into existence — although the ‘e’ got lost somewhere along the way. Joseph Bloore died on August 31, 1862.