Grasett Park

Cholera in early York

Throughout Toronto’s history, there are have been several deadly outbreaks of disease, from typhus to COVID-19. One of the first significant diseases to sweep through the city was cholera, with epidemics in 1832 and 1834. For three months during the first outbreak in 1832, cholera ravaged the city, killing 200 people (approximately 5% of the city’s total population at the time).

At the time, no one knew how cholera spread and, as a result, many treatments and preventions were suggested. These included people hiding in bed with blankets over their heads, closing windows, or even smelling dried flowers. Unfortunately, none of these methods were effective. Cholera is a water-borne bacterial disease, which means Toronto’s drinking water was often the culprit in spreading the disease. At the time, Toronto’s drinking water usually came from Lake Ontario, which was an unchallenged dumping ground for dead animals, chamber pots, and other garbage – none of which was filtered out of the water before people drank it.