Yonge Street is the north-south road that starts at Toronto’s waterfront and was laid out in the 1790s as a military and trade route by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. The Ontario Heritage Trust plaque states that it was completed on February 16, 1796, and named for Sir George Yonge, British Secretary for War. The popular claim that it is the longest street in the world does not hold up: Guinness World Records gives Yonge Street as 57 kilometres (about 35 miles) and lists a different road as the record holder.
The “longest street” claim, checked
The claim has two parts, a number and a record, and the sources treat them differently.
The number is 1,896 kilometres (1,178 miles). The Ontario Heritage Trust plaque at 1 Yonge Street uses that figure for Highway 11, which it calls the road that Yonge Street became the first section of, running to Rainy River on the Minnesota border. The plaque, unveiled in 1996, does not say that Yonge Street itself is that long. How long Guinness repeated the larger figure for Yonge Street is reported only in secondary sources, so no years are given here.
The record is what Guinness says today. Its current “longest street” entry names Airport Road in Ontario, at 81 kilometres, with a 2024 date. The same entry says Yonge Street extends 57 kilometres, ending just north of Holland Landing, and is “often described as the longest street in the world,” and it adds that arguments can be made for other streets. The entry mentions neither Highway 11 nor 1,896 kilometres.
No City of Toronto or provincial source read for this article states that Yonge Street is the longest street in the world. The City’s heritage conservation study describes it as a major transportation route and a commercial main street, known informally as “Toronto’s Main Street,” and makes no claim about length in the sections read. The Canadian Encyclopedia says that local legend calls the road “the longest street in the world.” The practical answer is that Yonge Street is long, but the title belonged to a mixed-up figure for a highway, and Guinness no longer gives it to Yonge Street.
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1,896 km (1,178 mi) | Highway 11 from Toronto to Rainy River, as stated on the plaque; also the old figure attached to Yonge Street | Ontario Heritage Trust plaque |
| 57 km (about 35 mi) | Yonge Street, ending just north of Holland Landing | Guinness World Records |
| 81 km | Airport Road, the current record entry (2024) | Guinness World Records |
Before the road: trails and a portage
Yonge Street followed older routes. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the Carrying Place Trail as a portage route running 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe, along the Humber and Holland rivers. The City’s heritage study says Davenport Road, at the north end of its study area, preserves the route of an inland Aboriginal trail along the Lake Iroquois shoreline linking the Don and Humber rivers, and that portions of Yonge Street overlap this older trail system.
Simcoe’s military road, 1793 to 1796
Simcoe left York on September 25, 1793, with soldiers and Indigenous guides to look at the route north to Lake Simcoe, then wrote to Secretary of State Henry Dundas on October 19, 1793, that he hoped to complete the “Military Street or Road.” His aim was to give Upper Canada a link toward the upper lakes at a time of tension with the United States. The Canadian Encyclopedia says the surveyor Augustus Jones and the Queen’s Rangers surveyed the route, starting from Holland Landing and working south through dense forest. The City report says Simcoe contracted Jones to survey the route in 1793 and that by 1794 the Rangers had begun building a “bush road” along that survey.
The sources differ on when construction began. The City report puts the start by 1794. The Parks Canada plaque text says the road was begun in 1795 by the Queen’s Rangers and cut through to Lake Simcoe in 1796. The Canadian Encyclopedia gives no start year. The completion date also varies. The Ontario Heritage Trust plaque says February 16, 1796, and the Canadian Encyclopedia says completion was announced on February 20, 1796. The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that settlers along the route had to clear six acres within 12 months.
Parks Canada gives May 19, 1927, as the designation date of the construction of Yonge Street as a National Historic Event. For Simcoe himself, see the page on John Graves Simcoe.
Growing into Toronto’s main street
The City report records a meeting on December 18, 1800, convened by Chief Justice John Elmsley Sr. to improve the road for farmers and traders bringing goods to market. The road stayed mostly dirt cut through forest in the 1820s and early 1830s. A test strip of macadam paving, called the “Yonge Street Mile,” was so successful, the report says, that the legislature tripled its initial investment.
The road figured in the 1837 Rebellion. According to the City report, William Lyon Mackenzie led rebel forces to the tollgate at Yonge and Bloor streets on December 6, 1837, where they burned the frame house of a local doctor before marching south. The story is covered in the 1837 Rebellion in Toronto.
Growth came with transit. The City report says the first omnibus line ran from St. Lawrence Market north to the Red Lion Inn from 1849, and that the Toronto Street Railway was established in May 1861 with horse-drawn cars on tracks along Yonge Street. It also says 53 percent of the buildings still standing in its study area went up between 1870 and 1900, and that Yorkville was annexed on February 1, 1883.
The Yonge subway
Canada’s first subway line ran under Yonge Street. Parks Canada says construction began in September 1949 and the line opened on March 30, 1954, running 7.4 kilometres (4.6 miles) from Union Station to Eglinton Avenue and planned with 12 stations. The City of Toronto Archives says the opening-day train of dignitaries made the trip from Eglinton to Union in 12 minutes. Ridership on opening day is reported differently: the City of Toronto Archives exhibit says over 200,000 people rode the subway that day, while the Toronto Public Library, citing the Globe and Mail, says more than 100,000. More on the system is on the page on Toronto’s public transit history.
Highway 11 and the road today
The Ontario Heritage Trust plaque calls Yonge Street the first part of Highway 11. Provincial downloading in the 1990s ended that status for the Toronto and York Region sections, but the exact transfer dates were not confirmed from a provincial or regional record, so they are not given here.
Frequently asked questions
Is Yonge Street the longest street in the world?
No source read here supports that for today. Guinness World Records currently lists Airport Road at 81 kilometres and gives Yonge Street as 57 kilometres. The 1,896 kilometre figure that circulated for Yonge Street is tied to Highway 11.
Who built Yonge Street?
The Queen’s Rangers built it on the orders of John Graves Simcoe, after a survey by Augustus Jones. Sources disagree on whether work began in 1794 or 1795; it was finished in 1796.
Who is Yonge Street named after?
Sir George Yonge, British Secretary for War (Ontario Heritage Trust) and a family friend of Simcoe (Canadian Encyclopedia).
When did Yonge Street open?
The Ontario Heritage Trust gives February 16, 1796. The Canadian Encyclopedia says completion was announced on February 20, 1796.
Is Yonge Street part of Highway 11?
The plaque calls Yonge Street the first part of Highway 11, but the highway designation was removed from the southern sections in the 1990s. The exact dates were not confirmed.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Guinness World Records, Longest street (Airport Road, 2024; Yonge Street entry text)
- Ontario Heritage Trust, Yonge Street plaque, 1 Yonge Street, Toronto, unveiled 1996
- Parks Canada, Construction of Yonge Street National Historic Event, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations (designated May 19, 1927)
- Parks Canada, Canada’s first subway system
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, Yonge Street: Governor Simcoe’s Military Road
- City of Toronto, Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District Study, Appendix D, History and Evolution of the Study Area (2016)
- City of Toronto Archives, Canada’s First Subway: Open for Business (online exhibit)
- Toronto Public Library, Local History and Genealogy blog, Remembering Toronto’s First Subway (2019)
Related reading
- How Toronto’s streets got their names
- Dundas Street: Simcoe’s other road
- Yorkville, the village on Yonge
- The Eaton Centre on Yonge Street
- Overview of Toronto’s history
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Yonge Street History and the Longest-Street Claim. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/yonge-street-history
MLA: “Yonge Street History and the Longest-Street Claim.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/yonge-street-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Yonge Street History and the Longest-Street Claim.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/yonge-street-history.
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