Toronto
| Toronto | |
| County Durham | |
|---|---|
 Toronto | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ200363 |
| Location: | 54°40’11"N, 1°41’27"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Durham |
Toronto is a village in County Durham, found just half a mile north-east of Escomb, and a mile north-west of Bishop Auckland.
The village is located on a plateau north-west of Bishop Auckland in a loop of the River Wear. It consists of houses, mostly in traditional brick-built terraces, surrounded by agricultural land.
In the 2001 Toronto had a population of 399.
History
The village is named after the Toronto Mine which was once worked here, and the mine in turn was named after the City of Toronto in Canada (a Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water"). The Durham village was not named for any similarity between the two places nor any waterlogged trees: it was named in 1859 by W Stobart, the owner of W. C. Stobart & Co, a mining company which acquired the land to explore for coal. Stobart was visiting Canada at that time, and while staying in the City of Toronto he received news that coal had been discovered, so he decided to call the mine 'Toronto', whence the village took its name. The mine was also known as the Newton Cap Colliery’.
