Let’s look back at the time before many of our ancestors arrived in 1801. In this first of a two-part series, I’ll focus on the Indigenous in this area pre-1799. The opening of the region north of the Oak Ridges Moraine, the elevated area between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe, in large part occurred because…
Author: HistoryHound
The Spanish Flu Vs. Covid
This weekend on Newmarket Today, we look at a topic that is very much in the news world-wide, that of pandemics and the Canadian connection. They say that learning from the lessons of the past is essential to our species’ survival and the case of the Spanish Influenza 1918-1920 is certainly such an event. The…
Newmarket’s Boer War Soldiers Honored With Pomp And Ceremony
The story behind Newmarket’s connection with the Boer War isn’t well known. In 1899, Great Britain declared war on the Boers in South Africa. At once, Lt. Col. T.H. Lloyd of Newmarket, commanding the 12th Battalion, York Rangers, offered their services and a cablegram of acceptance was received from the Imperial War Office shortly afterward. At…
In Fair Weather And Foul, Newmarket’s Early Doctors Made House Calls
Newmarket’s early doctors had practices that covered an apparently boundless territory. In those years prior to the arrival of the car and paved roads, in fair weather and foul, often on horseback, they arrived at isolated homes to administer help to the sufferer and to comfort the anxious family. Sometimes the only facility in which…
Stories Of Newmarket’s First Settlers Preserved In Burying Ground
The Pioneer Burying Ground on Eagle Street is the final resting place of some of our earliest settlers. The story is as much a story of the people who are buried there as it is one of a heritage site. The first official map of the Village of Newmarket in 1862 shows that the Boultons…
Wasn’t That A Party When Newmarket Officially Became A Town
I have often referred to the incorporation of Newmarket as a town on Jan. 1, 1881 in my various articles on Newmarket Today, but let’s look at this momentous occasion in a little more depth as it was captured at the time. Newmarket incorporated as a village in 1857. In 1878, the village had been…
Main Street Saw Banks Come and Go, Until Bank of Montreal Arrived
The history of banking in Newmarket is a particularly interesting story, indicative, I believe, of the trend of development that we saw nation-wide, growing into our present efficient national banking system. Before 1865, all of the banking business of the village of Newmarket had to be carried out in Toronto. However, in August 1865, the Royal…
Newmarket’s Early Newspaper Owners Were Men Of Influence
Come with me to 1852 Newmarket to take a look at the town’s early newspapers and publishers. The population was only 500. There were no sidewalks on Main Street north of the Christian Church and only two or three houses had been built in that area. Beyond the main street to the north and west,…
There’s Gas In Them Thar Newmarket Fields
This week, let’s look at a story that I had always considered a tall tale but one that immediately captured my imagination upon recent examination: the discovery of gas deposits and coal right here in Newmarket. Our story begins in the March 1875 edition of the Newmarket Era reporting the discovery of a gas spring…
A Closer Look At Timothy Rogers, ‘Father Of Newmarket’
Timothy Rogers is considered by many to be the father of Newmarket’s founding and establishment. Many of you have likely heard stories of Rogers’ arrival in Newmarket, bringing Quaker settlers to Yonge Street, but how much do we know about the man? In this article, I want to fill out the picture somewhat and provide…
