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• Berczy Settlement 1794, The
  In November 1794, William von Moll Berczy (1744-1813), colonizer, road builder, architect and painter, brought the first settlers to Markham Township. This group had originally emigrated from Germany to New York State, but moved to Upper Canada in 1794 and acquired extensive lands in this area. In 1795-96, sickness and famine reduced their numbers, but those who remained or returned to their holdings laid the foundation for the rapid development of Markham Township after 1800...

• Bethesda Church and Burying Ground
  When the first German settlers led by William Berczy arrived in this area in 1794, they were accompanied by the Rev. S. Liebrich who established here one of Upper Canada's earliest Lutheran congregations. Services were held at first in the house of Phillip Eckardt, but under the guidance of the Rev. Johan D. Petersen, who was pastor 1819-29, a church named St. Philip's was constructed on this site in 1820. Eckardt donated the land for...

• Founding of Markham, The
  The earliest settlers in this part of Markham Township, including several "Pennsylvania Dutch," arrived on the Rouge River shortly after 1800. Within ten years, Nicholas Miller had erected mills around which a community known as Markham Mills had developed by about 1820. A village plot (Reesorville) was laid out north of the mills in 1826 by Joseph Reesor. Two years later, a post office named Markham was opened. By 1850, the village had a population...

• Founding of Thornhill, The
  Settlement began here after the opening of Yonge Street in the mid-1790s and, by 1802, a grist mill and sawmill were operating on the Don River. The community developed slowly until 1829 when Benjamin Thorne built a large flour mill, tannery and store. Within a year, the village also contained a post office named "Thornhill," a church, school and tavern. Thornhill's growth as a milling and agricultural centre suffered after 1846 when the loss of...