Brooklin, Ontario

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brooklin is a suburban community or village located north of Whitby and southwest of Port Perry on Baldwin Street (Highway 12) linking Whitby and Orillia, and Winchester Road (Highway 7) linking Markham to smaller towns to the east. Brooklin is located about 65 km NE of Toronto, about 15 km NW of Oshawa, E of Markham, about 60 km S of Beaverton, 90 km SSE of Orillia and SW of Lindsay.

It is located with the town of Whitby. Other roads include Thickson Road, Ashburn Road, Anderson Street and Columbus Road. The main street runs diagonally from southwest to northeast. The nearest freeway (Hwy. 401) is 10 kilometres to the south of Brooklin running east-west along the north shore of Lake Ontario. Brooklin is in farm country, 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 1990 with the addition of thousands of large and small homes surrounding the heart of Brooklin.

1 Subdivisions
2 Nearest places
3 Geography
4 History
5 Business
6 Other
7 External links

[edit] Subdivisions

Macedonian Village, southwest

[edit] Nearest places

Columbus, northeast
Greenwood, west
Port Perry, northeast
Oshawa, southeast
Whitby, south

[edit] Geography

Population: about 13,500 to 14,000 (2005)
Area: - 9 km²
density: - low (mostly single family dwellings)
Location: northern area within The Corporation of the Town of Whitby
Altitude: about 200 m
- Latitude: about 43.85° (44°18') N
- Longitude: about 78.9° (78°54') W
Area code: +(00)1-905
Name of inhabitants: Brooklinite sing., -s pl.
Postal code FSA: L1M

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.

[edit] History

The village was founded in 1840 and was previously named Winchester. When residents of the village went to apply for a post office, they discovered there was already a Winchester post office elsewhere in Ontario. On August 11, 1847, the 300 inhabitants of the village met and agreed to change the name to Brooklin, probably because of the little brook that trickles through the town.

On the second Saturday of September each year, several events have been scheduled throughout the day to commemorate the heritage of this village, with horse-drawn carriages, entertainment and self-guided tours. Visitors to Brooklin can see some of the historic buildings, such as the old Brooklin Mill, which today houses a private school, and a former stable currently being used by the W.J. Medland and Son Ltd. business.

Brooklin has made several contributions to the province of Ontario. 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.

Recognition should also be given to community leaders such as Dr. John McKinney and John Dryden, the first agriculture minister of the Province of Ontario and the founder of the City of Dryden in northern Ontario.

Housing developments arrived in the 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.

[edit] Business

Brooklin is largely a bedroom community providing housing for commuters to Toronto and Oshawa industrial areas. The largest employers in Brooklin include Brooklin Concrete Products, and Price Chopper. A business corridor extends along Baldwin Street from Roybrook Drive north to Way Street and includes local services, bank, groceries and retail outlets.

[edit] Other

Brooklin and area has 5 elementary schools, including Meadowcrest P.S., Winchester P.S., Brooklin Village P.S., St. Leo's C.S., and St. Bridget C.S. Two high schools service the community and are located in Whitby to the south of the village, Donald Wilson S.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, Renaissance Baptist, Hebron Christian Reform, Unitarian Universalist Congregation Of Durham, and Brooklin Village Church. A shopping plaza is gateway to an old established downtown business corridor. The larger established parks include Brooklin Memorial (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.