Unionville, Ontario

Unionville's name was derived from Ira White's Union Mills built in 1839, which in turn was named for the Act of Union 1840 of Upper Canada and Lower Canada.[4]

William von Moll Berczy brought the first settlers to Markham Township in 1794; they were originally from Germany but first moved to New York State. After arriving here, they acquired large tracts of land. Illness and famine in 1795–1796 reduced the population but the others remained on the develop a settlement.[5] By 1851, the population was 200, served by a grist mill, a saw mill and two churches (Primitive Methodist and Presbyterian).[6]

Unionville was a police village within what was then called Markham Township within York County until the end of 1970, at which time it was reorganized into the Regional Municipality of York by Provincial Statute. Unionville and all of the nine other Police Villages in the county (Buttonville, Thornhill, Markham Village) were abolished. Markham Township was also abolished, some of its lands were annexed by neighbouring Richmond Hill and Whitchurch–Stouffville, and the remainder was annexed by the Town of Markham, an urban area 4 km east of Unionville, now the City of Markham. The town and the township were named after two different people named "Markham". The name "Unionville" remained a valid postal address until the early 1990s at which time most addresses were changed to "Markham". In 2009, Markham Town Council reinstated the name "Unionville" for that portion of postal addresses within its Ward 3, which lies between Warden, 16th, McCowan and the 407.[2] However, the Post Office used "Unionville" as the postal address for a larger delivery area that included the farms that it considered to be "in Unionville". Unionville's historical boundaries, therefore, maybe based on the historic Post Office delivery area for the name "Unionville". These varied somewhat over a century and a half, as neighbouring post offices came and went, but at some time or other the following areas had a "Unionville" address:

• Hwy 7 & southward: all of the area north of Steeles between Woodbine on the west & McCowan on the east, including both sides of Woodbine, McCowan & Hwy 7.
• North of Hwy 7: all of the area to 19th Avenue between Warden on the west & McCowan on the east, including both sides of Woodbine, McCowan & 19th.

Based on the boundaries for Milliken, Ontario, Unionville's southern boundary is Highway 407 ETR.

Unionville also extended westward on both sides of 19th Avenue to the 404.

Since 1 January 1971, Unionville has had no legal municipal boundary.[7]

Markham changed its status from town to city on 1 July 2012.[8]

Stiver Mill

Unionville Planing Mill

Old Unionville Congregational Church, built by Casa Loma architect E. J. Lennox 1879

Unionville Main Street

In the 1960s, major housing development came to Unionville and is still ongoing. Having old buildings available at low cost, a number of antique stores sprang up and for a while in the 1970s Unionville ranked high on the list of places to go to get antiques. After the commitment to a bypass was realised, in the 1970s, entrepreneurs appeared. The Old Country Inn opened for business and Old Firehall Sports brought a new clientele to the village. Over the next decades, the antique places disappeared being replaced by high-end antique and replica outlets, restaurants, pubs, and clothing establishments. Tourism was born. Starbucks appeared in the late 1990s. Many of the buildings have been spruced up, extended and upgraded to meet this new reality. The old original road, to the immediate east of Main Street, once considered to be swamp land, has been converted to a large parking lot.

Walking paths through the local conservation lands connect directly to the village roads, one of the most used being the path around Toogood Pond,[9] named after the Toogood family – the pond was originally the mill pond that powered the grist mill in the 1840s. In the early 20th century the pond was called Willow Pond or Willow Lake and was the home to several small summer cottages on north Main Street. Some had been cottages, for grist mill workers, in their earliest incarnation. Those cottages evolved into homes by the middle of the century, but are almost all gone now being replaced by large spacious expensive homes.

The Varley Art Gallery now stands at the north end of the commercial Main Street and is rapidly becoming a gallery of wide renown. It was started with the contributions of Mrs. McKay, who had supported Group of Seven artist Fred Varley for the later part of his life. Living in her home on Main Street Unionville, he did several paintings that are now part of the Art Gallery collection and the home is now part of the Art Gallery's holdings, being used for small art shows on a regular basis.

The Unionville Arms, a well-known pub, burnt down on 30 November 2007. It had been in business for 19 years prior. The building itself was over a century old. The legendary building caught fire in the morning, supposedly due to a combination of faulty kitchenware and wiring, and the century-old insulation. The fire was put out three hours later. No one was hurt. The Arms reopened in very much its original appearance, towards the end of December 2008. Another popular pub is Jake's, housed in what used to be the funeral parlour.

The Stiver Mill is a historic building located near the railway tracks on Main Street Unionville. The building was restored in 2014 and is now a community centre. The area around the building has also been modernized for accessibility to both the centre and the train station next to it.[10]

The murder of Bich-Ha Pan and attempted murder of Hann Pan took place in Unionville on 8 November 2010.[11]

Once surrounded by farmlands, the village is now surrounded by suburban housing tracts. During the revival period in the 1970s a ban was placed on development for 25 years, but that time has now passed. Unionville neighbourhoods include Olde Unionville, Unionville Village, Angus Glen, and South Unionville. Some land is still vacant on the lands of York Downs Golf which is slated for massive development in the coming years. The Highway 7 part of Unionville near Village Parkway will feature redevelopment with several mid rise and high rise buildings which will merge the quaint feel to a real city feel.

In Unionville, according to Statistics Canada, in the course of five years between 2006 and 2011, the population steadily increased from 7368 to 8906 individuals. In the census data collected, the GNR rate in 2011 appeared as 17.4%.[12]

Generations

According to statistics Canada, Between 2006 and 2011, the increase in 2nd generation Canadian citizens moved from 970 to 2330 individuals. However, for first generations, the increase was not as drastic as 2nd generation citizens. The increase was from 4955 to 6225.[12]

Citizenships

Residents who had legal citizenship in 2006 were 78% and who didn't were 22%. The numbers obtained indicated residents who were 18 years and above. The 2011 data showed similar, showing increase in one percent, indicated 79% of the population containing citizenship.[12]

Unlike other communities in Markham, Unionville proper does not have a community centre. Crosby Memorial Arena, an indoor rink built in 1928, is the only major sports venue in the area. The arena is named for the Crosby family of Markham Village, who came to Markham in 1806 and established themselves as farmers, landowners and storekeepers. Residents are within driving distance from Angus Glen Community Centre, Markham Pan Am Centre and Milliken Mills Community Centre.

Varley Art Gallery

The Unionville Festival was first organized in 1969 to raise awareness and money to fight the provincial plan to run a four lane road up the middle of the town and thus destroying it. An interest in history, spurred by the Canadian Centennial Year in 1967, awoke the longtime residents and the new subdivision residents. Slowly, local politicians got on board, and a plan was drawn up to divert the road to the east of the historic town center (now known as Kennedy Road). Today the festival continues to offer visitors access to handcrafts, small vendors, live music[13] and community groups. Virtually none of the businesses from the mid-20th century still exist, having been replaced by restaurants and tourist outlets.

The Unionville Business Improvement Area and its merchants, organize and operate numerous, year-round, admission free, festivals and events. The Merchants of Main Street Unionville BIA is the business association on Main Street Unionville, composed of volunteers from the business community, who work to preserve and promote the historical village of Unionville.

The Unionville BIA's Heritage Committee has seen its volunteers research and produce a self-guided walking tour. They also offer the official walking tours of Main Street Unionville.

Unionville has a number of regular events ongoing throughout the year. Dates for these can be found on the relevant web sites. Here is a sampling:

• Unionville Village Festival – first weekend of June
• Unionville Heritage Festival – Labour Day
• Olde Tyme Christmas Candlelight Parade – first Friday of December
• Olde Tyme Christmas Breakfast with Santa – morning after the Parade
• Canada Day – 1 July
• Markham Jazz Festival – August
• Thursday Nights at the Bandstand – all summer long
• Doors Open Markham – usually autumn
• Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph – 11 Nov

Unionville is, or is considered by some to be, within the following administrative units:

• Ward 3, represented by Councilor Reid McAlpine
• Ward 4, represented by Councilor Karen Rea (see discussion of boundaries above)
• Ward 6, represented by Councilor Amanda Yeung Collucci (see discussion of boundaries above)
• Markham—Unionville, provincial electoral riding, represented by Billy Pang (Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario)
• Markham—Unionville, federal electoral riding, represented by Bob Saroya (Conservative Party of Canada)
• Markham, Ontario – mayor Frank Scarpitti
• Regional Municipality of York, regional council chaired by Wayne Emmerson

• Hayden Christensen of Star Wars fame attended Unionville High School.
• Emmanuelle Chriqui – Canadian actress who appeared in the television series Entourage and the films On the Line, Snow Day, and In the Mix.
• Anna Russell – English–Canadian singer and comedian – Anna Russell Way is named after her.
• Steven Stamkos a Canadian ice hockey player of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• Paul Poirier a figure skater. Competed in 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
• Howie Lee a Canadian ice hockey player who was a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen who won the bronze medal for Canada in ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics.
• Joe Bowen – Toronto Maple Leafs broadcaster.
• James Duthie – TSN Hockey analyst.
• Ken Pereira – field hockey midfielder.
• Bob Beckett – former Canadian ice hockey centre.
• Andrea Beck – Montreal-born author best known for her Elliot Moose books.
• Donald Deacon – Deacon, OC, O.PEI, MC (1920–2003) was a Canadian politician, businessman and volunteer. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2003.
• Marc Bendavid – Canadian film, television and stage actor.
• Gillian Apps – women's ice hockey player. She is the granddaughter of Hockey Hall of Fame member Syl Apps and the daughter of former National Hockey League player Syl Apps, Jr. and his wife Anne.

• Main Street Unionville
• List of historic buildings in Markham, Ontario

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Unionville, Ontario.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Unionville, Ontario.

• Unionville 150th: Origins of a Community
• Main Street Weather: Local conditions/forecasts, radar, lightning detection, webcam etc.
• Unionville Villagers Association
• Unionville Ratepayers Association
• Unionville Historical Society
• Unionville BIA