Promenade Park Towers Condos in Thornhill Ontario Phase 2

HISTORY OF THORNHILL
The community of Thornhill is divided in half between the City of Markham and the City of Vaughan and runs along both the east and west sides of Yonge Street. The growth and development of Thornhill are directly related to:
the development of Yonge Street as a transportation route
the Don River system running through the village
Thornhill’s proximity to Toronto
Yonge Street looking north in Thornhill, ca. 1900

Yonge Street
Yonge Street was first developed as a military road by the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe. In 1792, a guide showed Simcoe an aboriginal route connecting Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe from York (Toronto). The trail was surveyed, and by 1793 William Berczy cleared the trail from Toronto to the present site of Thornhill. Later that year, soldiers were dispatched by Simcoe to finish the road to Holland Landing (Lake Simcoe).

Simcoe also announced a plan to attract settlers to Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1792. The plan offered settlers 80 hectares (200 acres) of land provided they complete these tasks within the first two years of ownership:
build a home
clear 10 metres of land across the front of the property for a road
clear and fence four hectares (10 acres) of grant land
By 1800, all the lots between what are now Steeles Avenue and Langstaff Road were granted to future settlers. Simcoe’s policies helped populate and develop communities throughout Upper Canada.

Benjamin Thorne’s mills
The years following the War of 1812 saw another wave of immigration take place. The end of the Napoleonic Wars meant a significant social and economic change in Great Britain. This resulted in upper-class families and servicemen leaving Great Britain to start a new life in North America.

The arrival of Benjamin Thorne in 1820 was particularly important. Thorne set up a warehouse in York that dealt with the export of grain and import of iron. He then purchased the remains of a burnt down mill and renovated it into a gristmill. By 1830, he was operating a gristmill, sawmill, and tannery. Thorne became a major influence on the economic life of the village. The small settlement became known as Thorne’s Mills and then Thorne’s Hill.

In 1828, Thorne and his brother-in-law, William Parson, petitioned for a post office. It was granted in 1829 and the village was officially called Thornhill, with Mr. Parson being its first postmaster. By 1830, Thornhill had a variety of services and industries including a distillery, millwright, several blacksmiths, harness makers, shopkeepers, tanner, weaver, sawmills and more.

Thornhill’s First Post Office located in the small building next to William Parson’s home, 1828

Growth and development
Between 1830 and 1848, Thornhill experienced constant growth. The business district developed on Yonge Street in the area between Centre Street and John Street. Stagecoaches (covered wagons) traveled between Holland Landing and York as Yonge Street’s road conditions improved and many churches, which stand to this day, were built.

Agricultural farming thrived during this period as local farmers took advantage of new mechanical advances, such as reapers (machines that pick crops at harvest) and threshers (machines that separate grain). Millers also found a ready market for their products in the protected British market.

The village acquired 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, has a population of approximately 700 people.

Thornhill had grown into a busy 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 inactivity. The biggest change was the British government’s elimination of the Corn Laws in 1846, which ended lower import tariffs for Canadian grain into British markets.

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