Street Names of Downtown Sudbury: A Historical Directory

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Much can be learned about a town’s history by studying its street
names. Most towns have some streets named after trees or Canadian
governors general, and Sudbury is no exception. Other street names
reflect the area’s history. For example, Sudbury’s Boland Avenue was
named in 1962 after John Miles Boland, a surveyor who was a member of
the 1879 Canadian Pacific Railway survey crew that passed through the
area; and Brébeuf Avenue, was named after a Jesuit saint and reflects
the strong French Catholic presence in the area.

Bonin, the director of Laurentian University’s J.N. Desmarais
Library, and Hallsworth, a local researcher and author, have given us a
fascinating collection of snapshots of Sudbury’s past. Their book,
which is divided into two sections—Current Street Names and Former
Street Names, organized alphabetically within each section—covers the
older part of town before it expanded in 1960. Their research is
extensive, and the parallel English–French text is illustrated by four
city maps, rare photos of streets and people, and a collection of
sketches by Oryst Sawchuk, one of the area’s most respected
architects.

Those interested in starting a street names project of their own will
find this historical directory a fine model.