Pin Quest Ontario

York Region hosts half of the York-Durhan Heritage Railway which runs between Stoufville in York and Uxbridge in Durham. The railway dates back to 1871 as part of the Toronto and Nippising Railway that facilitated travel between the provincial capital and eastern Ontario. The railway operates today entirely through the dedication of volunteers.

The Town of Aurora is named after the Roman goddess of the same name. She is the goddess of dawn and is said to fly across the sky each morning announcing the arrival of the sun. This is perhaps a more stately name that the other contender “Match-Ville” after the match factory that was in the town in the early 1800s.

East Gwillimbury’s home to the Sharon Temple, another on the list of National Historic Sites of Canada. Built between 1825 and 1832 by a sect of Quakers called “the Children of Peace” or the “Davidites”, the eight building complex was constructed to collect money for the poor, hold feasts, and for worship. The Davidites would also build the first pipe organ in Ontario, the first homeless shelter in Ontario, participated in the creation of Ontario’s first farmer’s co-op, and opened the province’s first credit union.

Sibbald Point Provincial Park located in the Town of Georgina is named after Susan Sibbald who in 1835 purchased a small cottage and property. Over the years, she expanded the cottage into a large, manor home that she named Eildon hall and which became the centre of Sibbald’s profitable rural estate. After her death, Sibbald’s family would publish her memoirs and eventually sell the property to the County of York for use as a park. The County transferred the property to the province who opened a provincial park in 1957 where you can visit Eildon Hall which now houses the Sibbald Memorial Museum.

The Township of King has an example of a peculiar and uniquely Ontario heritage building. In the King City Cemetery is an octagonal “dead house”. Although dead houses are found in many parts of the world and used to store caskets during the winter when graves can’t be dug, it is only in Ontario where octagonal dead houses are found. 

The first European settlement attempt in Markham was in 1794 and failed when 75 German families chose to instead settle in York due to a lack of roads. Markham overcame this setback and is now the 7th largest municipality in Ontario.

Newmarket is proud of their history as a flourishing marketplace for commerce. The coat of arms for the city reflects this busy economy with its golden hive surrounded by bees. Each bee represents one of the most prominent businesses from the time that the community first incorporated as a village. But you don’t need to look to the symbolism to get a sense of this economic heritage. The city’s name “Newmarket” is a direct reference to the settlement being a “new market” compared to the former city of York as the “old market”.

Richmond Hill is home to the David Dunlap Observatory. It’s 74-inch reflector telescope is the largest in Canada and was once the largest in the world. Efforts to protect the observatory’s work led to Richmond Hill being the first municipal government in Canada to pass a light pollution bylaw.

Despite the fact that Vaughan is Ontario’s 8th largest city by population, it doesn’t have its own telephone carrier code; which means it won’t show up as the location in when you call somebody. Instead, it phone numbers will appear in one of three local communities: Kleinburg, Maple, and Woodbridge. Allegedly the city’s name doesn’t even appear in the phone book, however I haven’t been able to verify that claim. Let me know in the comments if you know if that’s true or not!

The early settlers in Whitchurch-Stouffville were a seemingly contrasting group. On one hand, pacifist Quakers and Mennonites leaving American to avoid fighting in the American Revolution. On the other hand, former mercenary Hessian soldiers who were given land grants as a reward for their service fighting for Britain in the American Revolution.