The Holland Marsh consists of 7,000 acres of reclaimed land in the Schomberg River Valley. Named after an early provincial official, this fertile area was drained between 1925 and 1930. John Snor, Canadian Representative of the Netherlands Emigration Foundation, visited the sparsely settled Marsh and proposed the relocation here of recent Dutch immigrants in Ontario. Assisted by grants from the Netherlands, Canada and Ontario, fifteen Dutch families, many from Friesland and Groningen originally, settled on the Marsh in 1934 and formed the nucleus of the community of Ansnorveldt. Later, Dutch farmers settled throughout the Marsh. Through skilled farming practice and co-operative management, the Dutch were the first group successfully to develop the Marsh as one of Ontario's most important vegetable growing districts.

Location

Near the old schoolhouse, Concession Road 3, Ansnorveldt - west of Newmarket

Themes

• Agriculture
• Communities