The Redskins Blog

Redskins Headed For “Hogtown”

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Pack up your bags, Redskins Nation: this week’s road game is going to be played in “Hogtown.”

Evidently, Toronto is nicknamed “Hogtown” because of its roots as a world-class pork producing and processing capital in the early 20th century.

There are several theories as to why the epithet “Hogtown” has stuck with Toronto, as described in Farm & Country Pork, April 20, 1998:

Urban historian and Toronto Sun columnist Mike Filey says according to one theory Hogtown got its name from a bylaw imposing a 10-cent-a-pig fine on anyone allowing pigs to run in the streets.

A more likely explanation, Filey says, can be found on Front St. East, where the old William Davies Company used to operate the second largest pork processing plant on the continent back in the 1860s.

The buildings near the mouth of the Don River just east of downtown are under demolition today, but in their heyday founder William Davies, an English emigré who started out selling hams at the St. Lawrence Market, shipped millions of pounds of pork products.

So what better place for the Redskins, best known for “The Hogs” (alternately known as “The Hawgs;” also see, “Hogettes“) to get back on track, than a city best known for Hog production?

Strap on your pig noses and Sunday best–it’s time to teach Hogtown about The Hogs.