This column is the first in a series exploring our local highway system, in particular the development of the 400 series of highways. If you have been reading my columns over the past few years, you will remember a key factor in Newmarket’s development is its strategic positioning in the provincial transportation system, whether it be the…
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Neighborhoods Of Childhood Conjure Up Emotions
In this column I want to focus on our childhood neighbourhoods and examine the part our early environment played in colouring our development. Our childhood neighbourhood often remains deeply ingrained in our psyche to this day. Throughout this article I will be sharing my personal memories of my own ‘childhood neighbourhood’ which consisted of the area of…
Newmarket’s Radial Arch Earliest Of Its Kind In Canada
Whether I am conducting one of my heritage walking tours or giving a historical talk, there are always people who want to know more about that “hunk of concrete” under the Queen Street bridge. Here’s a brief explanation of what it represents and the reason why it has been designated historic by both the Ontario…
Newmarket Quakers Paid Price For Pacifism
This column examines the Quaker pacifist influence in Ontario, its origin and effect on our history. Quaker or Friends pacification has become one of the known facts in our rich local history, so I wanted to examine it further. Quaker pacifism finds its roots in 17th-century England, but it continued to flourish and expand once the…
Avro Arrow Conspiracy Theories Abound
This column wraps up my four-part series on the Avro Arrow with a look at the various conspiracy theories that arose from the abrupt cancellation of the Arrow project. It seems it is a foregone conclusion any historical event will spawn any number of alternative facts, which then lead to a review of our understanding of…
Newmarket Historian Dedicated Years To Sharing Town’s Past
This column highlights the life and contributions of an individual who I believe is ‘the mother of Newmarket history,’ Ethel Willson Trewhella. If you have followed my columns, presentations, or videos over the past 40 years, you know her work is the foundation on which I and other local historians have built our narratives. She,…
Artist Dorothy Clark McClure Renowned As ‘Keeper of Our Past’
Our region’s history has a golden period that included a bevy of local artists. Among them were the likes of Isabel VanZant, George Luesby, Dorothy Clark McClure and many more. This column will focus on one of these artists from the golden age of local heritage art, the pride of Aurora, Dorothy Clark McClure. I both knew and admired…
Prospect Of Bypass Drives Quest To Find Lost Fort
This topic is one that resonates both from our historic past and the events currently before us — the Bradford Bypass extension. I hope to show a knowledge of our past can quite often benefit us when it comes to current issues. One of the first major export industries in our area was the fur…
Some Of Aviation’s Best Minds Designed, Built Arrow
This is the second article in a series on the Avro Arrow story, exploring the design and construction phases of the storied craft. Next, the story continues with Feb. 20, 1959, the day that became known as Black Friday in Canada, the day the Avro Arrow project was cancelled. The infamous Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was unveiled to…
The Final Days Of The Avro Arrow
In this final instalment of my three-part series on Canada’s Avro Arrow, I will look at the cancellation and fallout from the project’s termination, including its effect locally. In a future column, I will look at some of the many conspiracies that surrounded its demise. After all, no piece of history is immune to a…
