Bloor West Village - a fuzzy picture Bloor West Village has a history that dates back to the sixteen hundreds. It began with the development of an area bounded on the west by the Humber River, on the north by Bloor Street, on the east by High Park and on the south by Lake Ontario. This area is still known as Swansea and it has been the primary catalyst for the development of Bloor West Village. In 1670, Jean Baptiste Rousseau, the first permanent settler of Swansea, established a trading post in the Swansea area. This post is thought to be the site of the original French Fort. Following the success of the British at the Plains of Abraham, slowly but surely English traditions came to bear upon Swansea. According to a popular legend, during the War of 1812 a brave and determined but 'foolhardy' band of British soldiers lost their lives trying to cross Swansea's largest body of water during a winter storm. Others say that no soldiers drowned there, but rather it was the red coated soldiers that hunted and fished by the pond that gave it its name. Whatever the origin, the body of water has become known as Toronto's Grenadier Pond. During the 19th Century, the area of Swansea was called Windermere because, to the many immigrants from the British Isles, its hills, valleys, and seven ponds resembled the area of a Lake District which went by that name. It is still unsure as to how the community became known as Swansea. Some say it was because of all the immigrants from Swansea Wales that settled here, while others attribute it to the Bolt Works that carried the Swansea name. It is believed that the owner of the local Bolt Works, James Worthington, came from Swansea Wales. In 1909, Bloor West Village, with the assistance of Swansea, developed as a neighborhood. Directly north of Swansea, it became a district in the city of Toronto and many call it Swansea's newest addition. Unlike Swansea, Bloor West's first residents were of Eastern European background. These are the residents who created the Bloor West Village Business Improvement Area, the very first of its kind in Canada. Take a walk around Bloor West and notice that the names of some of the area's earliest setters are remembered in the streets and parks that bear their names - John Howard, John Ellis, Mark Coe, William Rennie, and James Worthington. One of the most notable residents was Lieutenant Colonel William Smith Durie, the first commanding officer of the Queen's Own Rifles. The street that ran through his estate is now known as Durie Street.