In my continuing series on the historic hamlets in our area, we travel to East Gwillimbury. I’ll begin with a brief history of East Gwillimbury. There are three townships bearing the name of Gwillimbury: East and North Gwillimbury in the County of York, and West Gwillimbury in Simcoe County. These townships take their name from the…
Tag: History Hound
Which Newmarket Heritage Projects Get A Thumbs Up?
In this week’s column, I examine the wins, losses when it comes to local heritage preservation over the years! This is, of course, from my perspective! This is part two of my series examining local heritage preservation, which focuses on some specific heritage properties, evaluating the projects using the criteria set out in part one, and determining their…
Re-Purposing Heritage Buildings Builds A Bridge Between The Old And The New
In this week’s column, highlight the many values of bringing new life to older buildings, like Newmarket’s former post office. This is a topic very close to my heart; the re-purposing of heritage buildings to preserve them for posterity. In September, I featured the story of the re-purposing of the Doane House into the Doane House Hospice and how…
Hamlet Of Ansnorveldt Known Today As The Holland Marsh
This is part three of a series on the historic hamlets around Newmarket. We continue our travels in the Township of King. Some of these historic hamlets still exist, perhaps in a reduced capacity, but you’ll find remnants of their existence if you know where to look. We begin our excursion with the hamlet of Rafferty’s Corners,…
Family Compact Founder Had Many Ties To Newmarket
In this week’s column, I highlight the links between Bishop John Strachan, founder of the powerful elite ruling institution in Upper Canada, and Newmarket The Family Compact was a political institution that shaped many aspects of our local history, which quite frankly was unclear back in my high school history lessons. The Family Compact ruled Upper Canada…
Indigenous Shared Secrets Including That Of The Sugar Bush With Settlers
Let’s examine a fun topic, you may say a “sweet topic.” Maple sugar was an important commodity for our early pioneers and, as was so often the case, the knowledge of maple sugar production came to us from our Indigenous peoples who shared the secret with our ancestors. Would our early settlers have survived life in the new world…
Newmarket’s Quaker Heritage Preserved In Doane House
In this article I tell the story of the Ebenezer Doane House, which was relocated, restored and remains a well-loved abode as the Doane House Hospice Let’s look at the history of what is known as the Ebenezer Doane House, which is now the Doane House Hospice on the northwest corner of Eagle and Yonge streets. If…
September Brings Memories Of School Years
The phrase “back to school” always carried with it a tinge of sadness, along with a little magic for me during my school years. I thought that we would examine the mixed emotions involved in the “return to school” and perhaps remember how the carefree joys of summer holidays were so rudely interrupted by a…
Irish Immigrants Settled In Newmarket’s Paddytown
A tiny Irish settlement along the river on Main Street north of Davis Drive (formerly Huron Street) remains a vital part of our Newmarket history. It took many years for Newmarket to spread north over the hill on Main Street north and this is the story of a tiny community that was indeed ahead of its…
Young Doctor’s Persistence Behind Southlake’s Beginnings
How many know the history of institutionalized medical care in Newmarket? Here is an overview of how we progressed from rooms in a local hotel to a modern facility called Southlake Regional Health Centre. The Royal Hotel at the corner of Main Street and Millard Avenue was repaired after the fire of 1907 and, in…
