1798 – “Government House” is Built for Travellers at the Mouth of the Credit River

This is a sketch from John Ross Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto, of Government Inn, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the east bank. Built in 1798 as a stopping house, on orders of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, it was leased to various tenants: first, William Allan, a prominent York merchant, and later to Wesley Watson, who kept it as a tavern. In 1805 it was leased by Thomas Ingersoll, father of Laura Secord, who operated it as an inn. [Contrary to popular belief Laura Secord was not born in Port Credit nor did she ever visit there.]

Government Inn was destroyed by fire in 1861 and rebuilt as a farm house about a mile north of its original location. The new building was leased by the Lynd family of Port Credit who lived there for about twenty years. In 1964 a commemorative plaque was erected on the opposite bank of the Credit River.