Brooklin, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Brooklin is a community in the Town of Whitby
, Ontario
, Canada
. It is located,North of the urban area of Whitby,at the South junction of Ontario Highways 12
and 7
.
Brooklin is located primarily in a rural area, with hills covering the north and the west. The hills and forests that dominate the north are part of the Oak Ridges Moraine
. About 40 to 50 percent of the area of the hills are made up of forests. The population has grown steadily since the early 1990s, with the addition of thousands of homes surrounding the heart of Brooklin.
Farmlands dominated and some farms have now become residential areas to the south and east; hills and forests are covered with pine and other types of forests especially oaks and birches covers the west, the north and east with some farming. Macedonian Village is located about 6 km to the southwest, housing about 100 residents. The villages of Ashburn and Myrtle are about 5 km to the north of the village. A future plan calls for Hwy. 407 ETR to travel just south of Brooklin along a power line transmission corridor.
or Brooklin, Maine
. It could have been named for the "brook" that ran through the town, but this waterway has always been described as a "creek", and naming the village after a community in New England
or New York
is logical since several prominent early residents migrated from there.
Prominent people from Brooklin include John Dryden
(1840–1909), long-serving agriculture minister of the Province of Ontario. While Minister, Dryden created the northwestern Ontario experimental farm that eventually led to the formation of the town of Dryden
.
Housing developments arrived in the late 1950s with the Meadowcrest subdivision
, which expanded the village to the west of Baldwin St. For several decades after this, there was no further major house construction and Meadowcrest was known colloquially as "The Subdivision". Housing activity resumed in the mid-1990s east of the village between Queen St. and Thickson Rd. with the Village of Brooklin subdivision, and continued into the late-1990s with further developments to the southeast. Housing developments reached Ashburn Road to the west in 2000, the development featuring a decorative water control pond, and the Olde Winchester subdivision was begun east of Thickson in 2001. Growth is expected to bring the population of the village to capacity of 25,000 residents by 2015.
. The largest employers in Brooklin include Brooklin Concrete Products and a Price Chopper
food store,which has now changed into a Fresh Co. (October 2010). A business corridor extends along Baldwin Street from Roybrook Drive north to Way Street and includes local services, bank, groceries and retail outlets like Castle Building Supplies Mitchell Lumber (which has been there since 1950).
is a popular sport in the area. At one time, Brooklin was known as being the smallest town in the world to have a Major Series Lacrosse
team. In 1968, the Brooklin Redmen MSL team won the esteemed Mann Cup
, and the team went on to win the cup again in 1969, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. The team still bears the name of Brooklin, but plays its home games in nearby Whitby.
Meadowcrest Public School was for a number of years known as a "volleyball school" as it won 4 Provincial Cup awards as well as being the top school in all of Durham for 10 years.
Whitby, Ontario
Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is located,North of the urban area of Whitby,at the South junction of Ontario Highways 12
Highway 12 (Ontario)
King's Highway 12, commonly referred to as Highway 12, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway connects the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area with Kawartha Lakes , Orillia and Midland. It forms a part of the Trans-Canada Highway system from north...
and 7
Highway 7 (Ontario)
King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
.
Brooklin is located primarily in a rural area, with hills covering the north and the west. The hills and forests that dominate the north are part of the Oak Ridges Moraine
Oak Ridges Moraine
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough...
. About 40 to 50 percent of the area of the hills are made up of forests. The population has grown steadily since the early 1990s, with the addition of thousands of homes surrounding the heart of Brooklin.
Geography
- Population: estimated 15,350 (2006)
- Area: 9 km²-
- density: - low (mostly single family dwellings)
- Location: northern area within The Corporation of the Town of Whitby
- Name of inhabitants: Brooklinite sing., -s pl.
Farmlands dominated and some farms have now become residential areas to the south and east; hills and forests are covered with pine and other types of forests especially oaks and birches covers the west, the north and east with some farming. Macedonian Village is located about 6 km to the southwest, housing about 100 residents. The villages of Ashburn and Myrtle are about 5 km to the north of the village. A future plan calls for Hwy. 407 ETR to travel just south of Brooklin along a power line transmission corridor.
History
The area around Brooklin began to be settled in the 1820s. The community itself grew after 1840, when brothers John & Robert Campbell built a flour mill on Lynde Creek. (The present mill building was built in 1848 after a lightning fire destroyed the original.) The village was originally named Winchester, but renamed when the post office was established to avoid duplication with a village named Winchester in eastern Ontario. In 1847, the residents chose to rename the community Brooklin, possibly from Brooklyn, New YorkBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
or Brooklin, Maine
Brooklin, Maine
Brooklin is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census. It is home to WoodenBoat Magazine Brooklin Boat Yard, and numerous boatbuilders, artists, writers, musicians and potters.-History:...
. It could have been named for the "brook" that ran through the town, but this waterway has always been described as a "creek", and naming the village after a community in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
or New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
is logical since several prominent early residents migrated from there.
Prominent people from Brooklin include John Dryden
John Dryden (MLA)
John Dryden was a farmer and politician in Ontario, Canada.-Early life:Dryden was the son of James Dryden , a farmer, businessman and politician...
(1840–1909), long-serving agriculture minister of the Province of Ontario. While Minister, Dryden created the northwestern Ontario experimental farm that eventually led to the formation of the town of Dryden
Dryden, Ontario
Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the smallest community in the province of Ontario designated as a city...
.
Housing developments arrived in the late 1950s with the Meadowcrest subdivision
Subdivision (land)
Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
, which expanded the village to the west of Baldwin St. For several decades after this, there was no further major house construction and Meadowcrest was known colloquially as "The Subdivision". Housing activity resumed in the mid-1990s east of the village between Queen St. and Thickson Rd. with the Village of Brooklin subdivision, and continued into the late-1990s with further developments to the southeast. Housing developments reached Ashburn Road to the west in 2000, the development featuring a decorative water control pond, and the Olde Winchester subdivision was begun east of Thickson in 2001. Growth is expected to bring the population of the village to capacity of 25,000 residents by 2015.
Economy
Brooklin is largely a bedroom community and many residents commute to other parts of the Greater Toronto AreaGreater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
. The largest employers in Brooklin include Brooklin Concrete Products and a Price Chopper
Price Chopper
Price Chopper Supermarkets is a chain of supermarkets headquartered in Schenectady, New York. The chain began operating as Central Markets in Schenectady, New York in 1933 and changed its name to Price Chopper in 1973. It is presently owned by the Golub Corporation and run by Neil and Jerel Golub...
food store,which has now changed into a Fresh Co. (October 2010). A business corridor extends along Baldwin Street from Roybrook Drive north to Way Street and includes local services, bank, groceries and retail outlets like Castle Building Supplies Mitchell Lumber (which has been there since 1950).
Sports
LacrosseLacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
is a popular sport in the area. At one time, Brooklin was known as being the smallest town in the world to have a Major Series Lacrosse
Major Series Lacrosse
Major Series Lacrosse is a Senior A box lacrosse league based out of Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Most of the players in the league play or have played in the National Lacrosse League. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the...
team. In 1968, the Brooklin Redmen MSL team won the esteemed Mann Cup
Mann Cup
The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship series is played between the Western Lacrosse Association champion and the Major Series Lacrosse champion...
, and the team went on to win the cup again in 1969, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. The team still bears the name of Brooklin, but plays its home games in nearby Whitby.
Meadowcrest Public School was for a number of years known as a "volleyball school" as it won 4 Provincial Cup awards as well as being the top school in all of Durham for 10 years.
Other
Brooklin and area has 6 elementary schools, including Meadowcrest P.S., Winchester P.S., Brooklin Village P.S., Blair Ridge P.S., St. Leo's C.S., and St. Bridget C.S. Three high schools service the community and are located in Whitby to the south of the village, Donald Wilson S.S, Saint-Charles Garnier C.S, and All Saints C.S. A post office, library, fire hall, community centre and ice arena are provided to the citizens by the municipal government. Many church communities provide for their adherents including St. Thomas' Anglican, Brooklin United, St. Leo's Roman Catholic, Burn's Presbyterian (actually located in Ashburn), Renaissance Baptist, Hebron Christian Reform, Unitarian Universalist Congregation Of Durham, and Brooklin Village Church. A shopping plaza is the southern gateway to an older established downtown business corridor. The larger established parks include Luther Vipond Memorial Park(home of the annual Brooklin Spring Fair), Grass Park in the center of the business district, Kinsmen Park and Optimist Park of Brooklin. Many smaller parks have been added as the village has grown. Service organizations include Brooklin Spring Fair Committee, Brooklin Horticultural Society, Optimist Club of Brooklin, Club Optimiste Francophone de Durham, Group 74, Brooklin Legion Branch #328, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mount Zion Masonic Lodge.Nearest places
- ColumbusColumbus, OntarioColumbus is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the city of Oshawa.The main road is Columbus Rd. There is one church serving the area on Simcoe St. There is also one golf course. One bus serves the area on its way to Port Perry and Uxbridge from Durham College. It runs...
, northeast - GreenwoodGreenwood, Durham Regional Municipality, OntarioGreenwood is a small rural hamlet within the City of Pickering in Ontario....
, west - Port PerryPort Perry, OntarioPort Perry is a community located in Scugog Township, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. The town is located east of Uxbridge and southwest of Peterborough. Many residents commute to Toronto on a daily basis. Port Perry's municipal website reported a population of just over 9,500 in 2010.Port Perry...
, northeast - OshawaOshawaOshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
, southeast - WhitbyWhitby, OntarioWhitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region...
, south - AshburnAshburn, OntarioAshburn is a community in the town of Whitby, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.Originally named Butler's Corners after settler Richard Butler in 1832, Ashburn was renamed after Ashbourne, Derbyshire in England when a post office was opened in 1852. The change in spelling was due to an error on the...
, north - MyrtleMyrtle, OntarioMyrtle is a community in the Town of Whitby, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.Myrtle, located in what was Whitby Township, was first named Well's Corners. In 1856, the name of the community was changed to Wellwood and again to Myrtle in the 1860s...
, northeast - Myrtle StationMyrtle Station, OntarioMyrtle Station is a community in the Town of Whitby, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.Myrtle Station is located approximately one kilometre north of the community of Myrtle. In 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway built a rail line between Toronto and Montreal through the area. A railway station was...
, northeast - HamptonHampton, OntarioHampton is a community located in the municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Canada. Hampton was founded by Henry Elliot in 1840, who opened the first mill here in the former Darlington Township. At first it was called "Elliot's Mill" and then by 1848 just "Millsville". Other former names have...
, east
External links
- Brooklin Images at Whitby Public Library and Archives Digital Collection
- Village of Brooklin Whitby's Village of Brooklin
- Brooklin Downtown Business Association
External links
- Brooklin at Geographical Names of Canada