History of Newmarket, ON

Newmarket, York Region’s administrative capitol, is a very developed town within the GTA that not only boasts of having a small but has some of the most prominent neighborhoods in the area. The town has a fast-growing population of around 85,000 and forms part of the reputable Golden Horseshoe area.

Newmarket’s first developed as a simple settlement along Holland River. This area offered a great travel route connecting and Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario, a factor that let to quick development in this small farming village. There were two main routes under the Toronto Passage the passed through the village from Lake Ontario to the communities in the north. In the early 1793s, Simcoe, a British army general explored the area and started by traveling towards Toronto along one of the less active routes. After deciding on which of the two routes was better than the other, he commenced the construction hat would come to be known as Yonge Street which connected Toronto Bay to the newly formed St. Albans, a community found north of near Newmarket.

In trying to avoid violence that came with the American Revolution, a group of American Quakers moved into the area in the early 1800s through a grant from the British government. The Quaker’s settlement grew significantly around Holland river where thy acquired 8,000 acres of land and build a mill which became the central part of their fast-growing village. This area went on to become the initial downtown district of Newmarket town.

The official incorporation of Newmarket as a village came in 1857. The town grew significantly in size in the early 1970s following the formation of the York Region which saw sections of the neighboring towns added to its new capital. This was followed by the construction of Upper Canada Mall in 1974 near Davis Drive which attracted many other new businesses to its new location. This area soon became the town’s main business center and eventually the new downtown core.

Currently, the area is a transportation hub and a family-friendly community with numerous unique neighborhoods and a number of growing businesses. The town is also home to over a dozen educational facilities including four high profile high schools. Other notable features in Newmarket include a thriving restaurant industry, beautiful architectural heritage in Main street and a plethora of small attractions spread throughout the town. What started out as a simple farming community is now one of the most sought after residential communities in the country.