| CITY OF VAUGHAN ARCHIVES
City of Vaughan Civic Centre
Clerk's Department
2141 Major Mackenzie Drive
Vaughan, Ontario L6A 1T1
(905) 832-2281
The growth and development of Thornhill
is directly related to several geographical factors, namely,
the development of Yonge Street as an important transportation
route, the Don River system running through the village, and
lastly, Thornhill's proximity to Toronto.
Thornhill is divided in half between the Town of Markham
and the City of Vaughan, and runs along both the east and
the west sides of Yonge Street. The first Lieutenant-Governor
of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, first developed Yonge
Street as a military road. His initial attempt at trying
to find a north- bound route from Fort York (Toronto) along
the Carrying Place Trail was considered a failure. The
Carrying Place Trail was an aboriginal route to Georgian Bay
along the Humber River system. Simcoe explored this
route in 1792, but found it very difficult and long to travel.
On the way back from this trip, a guide showed him a less
known aboriginal route. The trail connected Lake Ontario
to Lake Simcoe from York (Toronto). A year later Simcoe
instructed Augustus Jones to survey the trail system that
was to be named Yonge Street. (Yonge Street was named after
Simcoe's friend and Minister of War, Sir George Yonge.)
By 1793, William Berczy, had cleared the trail as far as the
present site of Thornhill. Later that same year a group
of soldiers, the Queen's Rangers, were dispatched by Simcoe
to finish the road to Holland Landing (Lake Simcoe).
Yonge Street, the longest road in Canada, was finally completed
in January 1794.
In 1792, Simcoe announced a plan to attract settlers to Upper
Canada (Ontario). The plan offered 200 acres of land
to pioneer settlers, provided they undertake certain duties
in return. Settlers had to clear and fence 10 acres
of grant land, erect a dwelling, and clear 33 feet of land
across the front of the property for a road. This work
was to be completed within two years of settlement.
By 1800, all the lots between what is now Steeles Avenue and
Langstaff Road were granted to prospective settlers. Simcoe's
policies would populate and develop communities throughout
Upper Canada.
In the early 19th century, water was the main
source of power that drove industrial machinery. Thus
the Don River played an important role in the early development
of Thornhill. It provided power for saw and gristmills
(flourmills) that were established in the area by the new
settlers. These mills helped produce lumber to build homes
and flour to help produce staple foods such as bread and other
baked goods.
The earliest settlers were either United Empire Loyalists
or Americans taking advantage of the generous terms of Simcoe's
settlement offer. In 1801, Jeremiah Atkinson built the
first major saw mill on the Don, west of Yonge Street in Thornhill.
A gristmill was constructed in 1802 and gradually, as a result
of the mill, the first signs of urban settlement began to
emerge.
The years following the War of 1812 saw another wave of immigration
take place. The end of the Napoleonic Wars was characterized
by significant social and economic change in Great Britain.
The result was a period of emigration of upper class families,
newly impoverished by the upheaval, and of servicemen seeking
to start a new life.
Of particular importance was the arrival of Benjamin Thorne
in 1820. Thorne set up a warehouse in York dealing in
the export of grain and import of iron. When William Purdy's
Mill burnt down, Thorne purchased the remains and erected
a larger gristmill. By 1830, Thorne was operating a
gristmill, a sawmill, and a tannery. The small settlement
came to be known as Thorne's Mills and then Thorne's Hill
after Benjamin Thorne.
In 1828, Thorne and his brother-in-law, William Parson, petitioned
the government for a post office. It was granted in
1829 and the village was officially called Thornhill, with
Mr. Parson being its first postmaster. Thorne became
the major influence in the economic life of the village.
A variety of industries, services and artisans had located
in Thornhill by the year 1830. Included among them were
two sawmills, a distillery, several blacksmiths and harness
makers, two inns, a millwright, a stonemason, a tanner, a
weaver, a wheelwright, and a shopkeeper. (A first account
look at Thornhill during this period can be found in the diary
recordings of Mary Gapper O'Brien, published as "The Journals
of Mary O'Brien".)
Between the years 1830 and 1848, Thornhill experienced a
period of sustained growth and prosperity. The business
district of Thornhill developed on Yonge Street in an area
between Centre Street and John Street. Stagecoaches
traveled between Holland Landing (Lake Simcoe) and York (Toronto)
as Yonge Street's road conditions improved with new grading
and stonework. During this prosperous period, many of
the old churches, which survive today, were constructed.
Included among these were Trinity Church (now Holy Trinity),
built in 1830 and moved to Brooke Street in 1950; the British
Methodist Church on Yonge Street, which was built in 1838
and moved to Centre Street in 1852 was partially destroyed
by fire in 1983.
Agriculture prospered during this period as local farmers
took advantage of the new mechanical advances, such as reapers
and threshers. In addition, the millers found a ready
market for their products in the protected British market.
The village came to acquire further services and the original
Crown lots were subdivided to provide for the needs of the
new urban class. By 1848, Thornhill was the largest community
on Yonge Street north of Toronto, having a population of approximately
700 people.
Thornhill had grown into a bustling, milling centre by the
mid-1840s. However, the factors that fostered its growth,
namely government policy, economics, and technology, all evolved
and changed around mid-century resulting in an extended period
of stagnation. Foremost of these changes was the British
Government's repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, which ended
lower import tariffs for Canadian grain into the British markets.
Farmers and millers were left with a glut of surplus grain.
So serious was the oversupply that Benjamin Thorne was left
with large amounts of wheat with no market. As a result,
he went bankrupt. In 1848, the distressed Mr. Thorne
committed suicide soon after selling his asset and satisfying
his creditors. This was the first of a long series of
events that eroded the economic base of the village.
The decline in milling continued into the latter part of
the 19th century as less lumber was required for
construction and was available for milling. Agriculture
was also in a state of flux by the mid-1870s. Farmers
to protect themselves against fluctuating grain prices, began
to engage in mixed farming, much to the disadvantage of the
flour millers whose services were required less and less.
This economic downturn was further exacerbated by the decline
of soil fertility, which contributed to reduced grain yields.
Floods destroyed many of the remaining sawmills and fire took
its toll of the gristmills. By 1885, most mills had
disappeared or had been replaced by steam-powered operations.
 By
the mid-19th century, steam had replaced waterpower
as the main source of energy used in industry. Transportation
was particularly affected as the railroad tracks began to
cross the countryside. Communities sought to have the
tracks run through their villages to take advantage of the
benefits the trains would bring. Thornhill, however, was by-passed,
thus losing a potential source of growth. In 1853, the
Ontario Simcoe and Huron Railway was constructed through Concord.
By the end of the 19th century, Thornhill had become
primarily a service centre for the surrounding farmland.
In 1896, the new mode of transportation, the Metropolitan
Radial Railway (bus-like cabins on rails) reached
Thornhill, bringing commuters to and from Toronto.
Prior to that time, the only public transit to the city
was a three hour ride by stage coach. The electric street
railway was a significant improvement in both speed and convenience
and for the first time, it was possible to live in Thornhill
and work in Toronto. By the late 1920s, the automobile
became a popular source of transportation for many people,
further facilitating travel on Yonge Street.
Growth, however, remained slow until after World War I, when
several subdivisions were registered in the area and Thornhill
acquired its three golf courses: Uplands, Thornhill and Toronto
Ladies. Much of the subdivision activity in this period
was speculative in nature and not developed until after World
War II.
 During
the early part of the 20th century, Thornhill was
home to several Group of Seven artists. J.E.H. MacDonald,
Arthur Lismer, Fred Varley, Franz Johnston and Frank Carmichael
all lived in Thornhill in the 1920s enjoying and painting
the rural beauty of Thornhill.
In 1931, Thornhill became a Police Village. Until that time,
Thornhill had been a postal area with no independent municipal
status. Thornhill had been split between the then
Townships of Markham and Vaughan along Yonge Street since
the initiation of municipal government in 1850. Each Township
administering their half of the village. The creation
of the Police Village gave Thornhill its own political
boundaries. Three elected trustees administered the
village at this time.
The full effect of commuters and the northward growth of
Toronto were not felt in Thornhill until the years after World
War II. Existing subdivisions were completed and
new ones registered as post-war prosperity and the automobile
brought families into the suburbs.
On January 1st, 1971, the Regional Municipality
of York Act came into effect, adopting the Metropolitan system
of government. With the creation of a regional government
administration, the Police Village of Thornhill ceased to
exist and the administration of the community reverted back
to the newly created Towns of Markham and Vaughan.
Today, Thornhill is a large urban community with over 49
thousands residents. Its ethnic composition is very
diverse with a large Jewish, Eastern European and Italian
population. It is a community that has grown expansively
from its early beginnings, reaching north to Richmond Hill
and south to Toronto. Its residents enjoy all modern amenities
for shopping, recreational activities, schools, libraries
and other conveniences.
Sources
City of Vaughan Archives: Thornhill Collections.
Fitzgerald M. Doris, Thornhill 1793-1963: The History
of An Ontario Village, Thornhill, 1964, publisher unknown.
Miller Saunders, Audrey, Editor, The Journals of Mary
O'Brien, (The MacMillan Company of Canada: Toronto), 1968.
Thornhill/Concord Area Profile, published by the
City of Vaughan Economic Development Department.
Thornhill Heritage Conservation District, Town
of Vaughan, prepared by Phillip H. Carter, 1984.
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