Burned down in 1837, rebuilt in 1851
Gibson House Museum
Surveyor David Gibson took part in the 1837 Rebellion alongside William Lyon Mackenzie — and paid for it when government forces burned his farmhouse. He rebuilt on the same land after his pardon.
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David Gibson (1804–1864) emigrated from Scotland to Upper Canada in 1825 and worked as a land surveyor, helping map early Toronto's streets. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly and was a leader of the Reform movement. He took part in the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion alongside William Lyon Mackenzie; in retaliation, his original farmhouse on the property was burned by government forces, and Gibson fled with his family to the United States.
A rebuilt life
Gibson was eventually pardoned and returned to York County, building the current Georgian-style house at 5172 Yonge Street in 1851 following the family's return from exile. It was restored and opened as a heritage museum on June 6, 1971, interpreting 19th-century rural domestic life through the specific lens of a rebellion participant who was pardoned and rebuilt his life — distinct from Mackenzie House's angle of a rebellion leader's final urban home, even though the two men were allies in 1837.
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