Newmarket, Ontario

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Newmarket
—  Town  —
Newmarket's Old Town Hall – The belltower is the result of restoration work in the 1980s
Motto: "Prudence"
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
Regional municipality York Region
Settled 1801
Incorporated 1857 (village)
Incorporated 1880 (town)
Government
 • Type Seat of York Region
 • Mayor Tony Van Bynen
 • Regional Councillor John Taylor
Area
 • Total 38.33 km2 (14.80 sq mi)
Elevation 239 m (784 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 79,978 (Ranked 68th)
 • Density 2,086.3/km2 (5,403/sq mi)
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
Forward Sortation Area L3X, L3Y
Area code(s) 905 and 289
Website www.newmarket.ca
Portal icon York Region, Ontario portal

Newmarket is a town in York Region located approximately 25 km north of the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area and Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario.

Many Newmarket residents commute to Toronto and surrounding communities.

Newmarket is the regional seat of York Region. Some of Newmarket's most noticeable landmarks are Upper Canada Mall, Southlake Regional Health Centre and its many parks and recreation areas.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Newmarket's geographical coordinates are 44.05°N, 79.46°W, and its elevation above sea level is 239 m.[2] It has an area of 38.33 km². The town is bounded on the north by East Gwillimbury, on the east by Whitchurch–Stouffville, to the south by Aurora, and on the west by King.

The main river in Newmarket is the East Holland River (known locally simply as "The Holland River"), and all other streams in the town are tributaries thereto. These include; Bogart Creek, a brook that weaves its way into town from the moraine by way of Bogarttown, emptying into the Holland in north-central Newmarket; Western creek, another brook rising just west of the town, and reaching the Holland in the town's north end; Tannery Creek, a stream that joins the Holland in south Newmarket after flowing through Aurora; and a number of other small watercourses.

There are two reservoirs in Newmarket; Fairy Lake (which is managed by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority), a favourite recreational area in the centre of town, is a former mill pond on the East Holland River; and Bogart Pond, also a former mill pond, is fed and drained by Bogart Creek in Bogarttown. Furthermore, the water level in the reach of the East Holland north of Davis Drive is controlled from an unfinished Newmarket Canal lock, now used as a weir.

Newmarket also lies south of and above the Algonquin Shoreline, where elevations suddenly drop off from the gently rolling hills that characterize much of Newmarket to the much flatter, lower land down below in the Holland Marsh.

The land itself is characterized mainly by glacial deposits from the last ice age, known as "Newmarket Till". The town is underlain mainly by sand and gravel, ground by the icesheets that covered the area until about 10,000 years ago. No outcrops are to be found anywhere in Newmarket, so deep are the glacial deposits.

[edit] History

Newmarket's location on the Holland River long ago made the area a natural route of travel between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. A major portage route, the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail ran one of its two routes down the Holland, through the Newmarket area, and over the Oak Ridges Moraine to the Rouge River and into Lake Ontario. A more used route ran down the western branch of the Holland, over the moraine, and down the Humber River. In 1793, John Graves Simcoe travelled the trail, northward along the main route to the west, and south to York (now Toronto) along the lesser used eastern route though Newmarket. Selecting the eastern route as the better of the two, Simcoe started construction of Yonge Street along the former trail in late 1795, starting in York in Toronto Bay, and ending at the newly named St. Albans (Holland Landing) just to the north of Newmarket.

In June, 1800, Timothy Rogers, a Quaker from Vermont, explored the area around the Holland River and down to Lake Simcoe to find a suitable location for a new Quaker settlement. Some of the United States Quakers were interested in moving northward, disturbed by the violence they were expected to take part in during the American Revolution. In 1801 Rogers returned along with several Quaker families who had left their homes in Vermont and Pennsylvania.

By the Christmas of 1801, Joseph Hill had constructed a mill on the Holland River, damming it to produce a mill pond that is now known as Fairy Lake. The town of "Upper Yonge Street" sprouted up around the mill, which explains why its primary downtown area was centred on the Holland River, and not on the nearby Yonge Street. Hill also built a tannery just to the north of the mill, and the first store and house, as well as additional mills. By 1802, Elisha Beman had begun to establish businesses and buy land in Newmarket. A mill was first and other businesses (including a distillery) soon followed. The town continued to grow through the early 19th century, along with the formation of Aurora and Holland Landing, and a market held in the current downtown location gave rise to the name "Newmarket".

Newmarket was incorporated as a village in 1857 with a population of 700. In 1880, with a population of 2,000, Newmarket became a town and William Cane was elected as its first mayor. In later years Cane's sash and door factory became the first in Canada to manufacture lead pencils. In 1858, Robert Simpson co-opened "Simpson & Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes and Dry Goods" in the downtown area, the first store in what would become the Simpsons department store chain .

In June 1853 the first train pulled into Newmarket on the Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad, the first railway in Upper Canada. It eventually linked Toronto to Collingwood on Georgian Bay, a major shipbuilding centre.[3] Today, this line is the "Newmarket Subdivision" of the Canadian National Railway system, running north out of town towards Bradford, and south towards Toronto.

In 1899 the Toronto and York Radial Railway arrived in Newmarket. This operated along Yonge Street south of Newmarket, but turned east to run through the downtown area; it would later be extended north. At the time, it brought significant numbers of day trippers to Newmarket to shop at the market. Automobile traffic on Yonge, and the already existing mainline railway, had a significant effect on ridership, and the Radial stopped running north of Richmond Hill in the early 1930s. In 1947 the remaining tracks between North Toronto and Richmond Hill were torn up.[4]

North of Davis Drive, the East Holland River was straightened to prepare it for use as a commercial waterway to bypass the railway, whose prices were skyrocketing around the turn of the 20th century. Sir William Mulock, the local Member of Parliament, proposed a canal system running down the Holland River through Holland Landing and into Lake Simcoe. This would allow boats to connect from there to the Trent-Severn Waterway for eventual shipment south. The canal was almost complete by the summer of 1912, when it was cancelled by the incoming government of Robert Borden. Today, the locks are still visible, mostly silted up, although the turning basin in downtown Newmarket was filled in and now forms the parking lot of The Tannery Mall, on the site of the former Hill tannery.[5]

For much of the 20th century, Newmarket developed along the east-west Davis Drive axis, limited to the area between Yonge Street on the west and between Bayview and Leslie Street in the east, and running from just north of Davis on the north to the Fairy Lake area on the south. By the 1950s, Newmarket was experiencing a suburban building boom due to its proximity to Toronto. The population increased from 5,000 to 11,000 between 1950 and 1970. The construction of Upper Canada Mall at the corner of Yonge Street and Davis Drive in 1974 started pulling the focal point of the town westward.

By the 1980s the original downtown area was run down. Most businesses had built up in the area around Upper Canada Mall, with additional strip malls developing directly across the intersections to the south and southeast. A concerted effort to save the historic downtown area during the late 1980s was successful, and it is once again a major focal point of the town.

The arrival of Highway 404 reversed the westward movement, pulling development eastward again, and surrounding the formerly separate hamlet of Bogarttown at the intersection of Mulock Drive and Leslie Street. Since then, Newmarket has grown considerably, filling out in all directions. The town limits now run from Bathurst Street in the west to Highway 404 in the east, and from just south of Green Lane to just north of St. John's Sideroad, taking over the former hamlet of Armitage at Yonge Street south of Mulock Drive. The outer limits of the town are less than a kilometer from Sharon to the north, and continuous with Aurora to the south.

[edit] Population

Census Population
1841 600
1871 1,760
1881 2,006
1891 2,143
1901 2,125
1911 2,966
1921 3,626
1931 3,748
1941 4,026
1951 5,356
1961 8,932
1971 18,941
1981 29,753
1991 45,474
2001 65,788
2006 74,295
2011 79,978

According to the 2011 census, the town's population was 79,978. The York Region Planning Department projects a population of 98,000 by 2026.[6]

Given its area, the latest population figure puts Newmarket's population density at just over 2000 inhabitants per square kilometer.

The median income for all families was $88,514 in 2005, well above the Ontario average.[7] For households, it was $81,640.[7] The median income of all men over the age of 15 was $42,755 and for women over the age of 15 it was $25,606.[7] 9.8% of residents were classified as "low income" by Statistics Canada.[7] The 2001 Census revealed Newmarket to be the 35th wealthiest municipality in Canada based on median family income.[8]

[edit] Arms

Newmarket's coat of arms

Newmarket's coat of arms is actually taken from the town's old corporate seal. The town flag is a navy blue field with this same design in the middle. The beehive and bees are said to represent industry. There are nine bees, representing the town's first nine businesses. The latest form of the seal was introduced in 1938 with the arms somewhat altered from – but very similar in concept to – one that was earlier used. The arms' origin is something of a mystery, however. It is unknown what artist created the current version – or indeed the earlier version – and the town has no official record as to the purchase or redesign of the arms.[9]

[edit] Transportation

Newmarket is connected to Toronto by freeway, and is served by two interchanges along Highway 404. It is also connected to Highway 400 via Highway 9.

Public transit is provided by York Region Transit, which operates the Viva Blue bus rapid transit route from the Newmarket Bus Terminal to the Finch Bus Terminal in Toronto, as well as local and community bus routes. Commuter rail and bus service is provided by GO Transit through the Newmarket GO Station with service south to Toronto and north to Barrie.

[edit] Education

Public elementary and secondary education in Newmarket is overseen by York Region's two school boards: the York Region District School Board (YRDSB), and the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB). Newmarket is also the home of Pickering College, a prestigious private day and boarding school.

The YRDSB operates four secondary schools in Newmarket: Dr. John M. Denison Secondary School, Huron Heights Secondary School, Newmarket High School, and Sir William Mulock Secondary School, in addition to 15 elementary schools.

The YCDSB operates one secondary school in the town: Sacred Heart Catholic High School, and six elementary schools.

The town also houses a campus of Seneca College.

[edit] Government

Tony Van Bynen became mayor in December 2006, and will serve in the office until 2014. He succeeds Tom Taylor, who was the mayor from 1997 to 2006. (See list of previous mayors)

The town's Council includes the Mayor, seven Councillors elected on the basis of one per ward, and a Regional Councillor who is elected to join the mayor at meetings of York Region Council. The members of council elected in 2010[10] are:

  • Regional Councillor: John Taylor
  • Ward 1: Tom Vegh
  • Ward 2: David Kerwin
  • Ward 3: Jane Twinney
  • Ward 4: Tom Hempen
  • Ward 5: Joe Sponga
  • Ward 6: Maddie Di Muccio
  • Ward 7: Chris Emanuel

Federally, the town is part of the federal riding of Newmarket—Aurora. As of 2008, the riding is represented in the Canadian House of Commons by Lois Brown, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Provincially, Newmarket is part of the riding of Newmarket—Aurora represented by Frank Klees, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. The province realigned its riding to match those of the federal government in 2004.

Some of the major government / quasi-government offices in Newmarket are:

  • Municipal Offices (Town Hall)
  • York Region Council
  • York Regional Police
  • Ontario Provincial Courthouse
  • Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority

[edit] Urban Planning

Based within the limits placed on low-density urban forms, a small portion of Newmarket is subject to the Ontario Government's Greenbelt Legislation.

Newmarket's 2006 Official Plan seeks to balance the desire to maintain the present low-density urban form characterized by the segregation of residential, retail and employment uses and the need to comply with Ontario's Places to Grow legislation, which identified the Yonge Street & Davis Drive intersection of Newmarket as one of 25 sites of future intensification to be found throughout the Golden Horseshoe area.[11]

Four areas of Newmarket have been selected to absorb the majority of planned population growth and accommodate mixed usages on sites well served by transit. These are the Yonge-Davis Provincial Urban Growth Centre, the Yonge Street Regional Centre (south of Green Lane), the Regional Healthcare Centre (Southlake Regional Health Centre) and Historic Downtown Centre (surrounding Main Street South). Further construction of big box retail stores in the Yonge Street corridor will not be permitted and the long-term objective of the town is redevelopment or the addition of new buildings to these areas.

[edit] Newmarket Public Library

Located downtown, the Newmarket Public Library provides residents with free access to 175,000 items, including books, audio books, magazines, multilingual materials, DVDs, CDs, video games, e-books and online databases. The library also runs the York Info service, which provides information about local organizations, groups and services, and helps develop a stronger volunteer presence in the community by connecting people who want to volunteer with non-profit agencies looking for help. The library also produces a quarterly newsletter called "Off the Shelf" to inform patrons of its programs, services and events. The Library is a founding member of the Shared Digital Infrastructure (SDI) project, an initiative to plan for an Intelligent Community in Newmarket.

[edit] Sports and recreation

[edit] Soccer

Newmarket soccer is represented by the Newmarket Soccer Club which is located in the Magna Centre. The club is host to a house league, rep league, senior league, and special needs league. The Newmarket rep teams are known as Newmarket United (formerly York United), and have been very successful representing the town with some teams making it to the provincial and national levels. Toronto FC former captain Jim Brennan played in Newmarket in his youth.

[edit] Baseball

The Newmarket Hawks Senior Baseball Club plays in the Greater Toronto Baseball League (GTBL) and the York Simcoe Baseball Association (YSBA), one of the most competitive Baseball leagues in Canada. The Hawks have been in the league since its inception.

For younger and less competitive play, the Newmarket Baseball Association has provided a quality baseball program for players 4 to 21 years of age for over 50 years. The Association consists of approximately 850 players spread over 9 divisions.

[edit] Hockey

Newmarket is represented in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League by the Newmarket Hurricanes (originally called the "87's"), whose home rink is currently the Ray Twinney Complex. The "'Canes" have an ongoing rivalry with the nearby Aurora Tigers.

Newmarket was previously home to the following teams:

[edit] Golf

Two golf courses exist within Newmarket's town limits:

  • St. Andrew's Valley (public), straddles the Aurora/Newmarket border
  • Glenway Country Club (public)

There are also several courses in the surrounding communities and countryside.

[edit] Swimming

Four public swimming places exist throughout Newmarket: Ray Twinney Complex, Gorman Pool, which is open only in the summer, Aquacenter Swim School, and the Magna Centre. Newmarket also has two swim teams: The Aquacenter Vikings, and the Newmarket Stingrays.

[edit] Ringette

Newmarket is home to the Newmarket and District Ringette Association. The Newmarket Ray's have Regional and Provincial teams. Home games are at the Magna Centre. Ringette is a truly Canadian sport that promotes fun, fitness and friendship for players of all ages.

[edit] Curling

Newmarket is home to the York Curling club. In 2010 the club was renovated to accommodate 6 sheets of ice.

[edit] Media

  • The Era-Banner

[edit] Famous residents (past and present)

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Newmarket, Town Ontario (Census Subdivision)". Census Profile, Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2012. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3519048&Geo2=CD&Code2=3519&Data=Count&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  2. ^ http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CA/8/Newmarket.html
  3. ^ Historic Newmarket, The first railroad in Upper Canada
  4. ^ Historic Newmarket, Streetcar to Toronto
  5. ^ Carter, Terry. "The Ghost Canal". newmarket.ca. Town of Newmarket. http://www.newmarket.ca/en/lifestyle/theghostcanal.asp. Retrieved 22 August 2011. 
  6. ^ Town of Newmarket - Population
  7. ^ a b c d "Newmarket Ontario (Town)". 2006 Community profiles. Statistics Canada. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3519048&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=newmarket&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=. Retrieved 27 May 2009. 
  8. ^ Income of Individuals, Families, Households
  9. ^ http://www.newmarket.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_477_1.html
  10. ^ "Contact Information Mayor and Town Council". Town of Newmarket. http://www.newmarket.ca/en/townhall/contactinformationmayorandtowncouncil.asp. Retrieved 201-02-25. 
  11. ^ "Town of Newmarket 2-2006 Official Plan" (PDF). Town of Newmarket. 10 October 2006. http://www.newmarket.ca/userfiles/page_attachments/Library/1/3107712_Newmarket_OP___Consolidated_Modifications___2008_04___Regional_Approval.pdf. Retrieved 25 August 2008. [dead link]
  12. ^ Jim Carrey Online: Biography
  13. ^ http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/172868/la_id/1.htm
  14. ^ TSN staff (21 February 2012). "Lightning Acquire Quincey for Downie, then deal him to Wings". TSN.ca. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=388459. Retrieved 22 February 2012. 

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 44°04′N 79°27′W / 44.06°N 79.45°W / 44.06; -79.45

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