German Mills, Ontario

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German Mills

Location

German Mills is a residential district that borders from John Street in the north to Steeles Avenue in the south located to the immediate west of highway 404 in the heart of Thornhill,Ontario. Central to this area is a ninety-one acre historic park named German Mills Settlers Park.(1)

Brief history

The German Mills history is closely associated with the founding of Toronto, then called "Muddy York". William Berczy shares the honour with Lieutenant Governor Simcoe of being the co-founder of a mighty Metropolis.(2) Whereas Simcoe actually erected a primitive fort near the proposed town site,(3) Berczy created the first roads and buildings within the town itself. Berczy founded Markham Township, designed the first architecturally notable houses and the Don River Bridge.(4)

First Industrial Complex in Markham

German Mills was part of the first Lieutenant Governor Simcoe's overall design to establish a city and bulwark against a possible American invasion. In doing so, there was a critical need to find people to settle his province, especially in the pursuit of building the capital of York and its surrounding area.

Simcoe generally favoured settlement with township grants where the military could be located and act as consumers for local markets and town centres. German Mills was seen to be as an agricultural settlement for the food supply(5) to the military and its citizens from the hinterland of what was then known as "Infant Toronto" (6) In 1793, Toronto was little more than an outpost in the wilderness. Markham was previously named Mannheim, meaning "The Home of Man".(7) German Mills and Markham found its beginning in the year 1794 and then in later periods became to be known as the first significant industrial complex in Markham Township.

A classic Model of Organized Immigration

Thanks to William Moll Berczy, a multi-talented entrepreneur with leadership skill, architectural, engineering skills and great skills as a painter. He led a group of 64 families with 182 people in total to York in the summer of 1794. This group consisted of bakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, weavers, a preacher, school teacher, brewer, cartwright, locksmith, miller, potter, tanner, stone masons as well as farmers. It represented the first classic immigration model in Canada to fill the critical need of its time. In the fall of 1794 William Moll Berczy had hired men to erect a large house and a sawmill building, (8) at what is now known as German Mills. And to bring prosperity to the area, a warehouse for the Northwest Fur Trade was constructed on the Rouge River at what became Unionville. (9) Toronto and Markham was then a thick, mature forest ideal for the supply of lumber. The forest consisted of pine, oak, maple, butternut and other trees so thick that sunlight was able to penetrate only when the leaves had fallen.

On January 1, 1793, (10), Berczy signed an agreement with the German Land Company for the purchase of cattle from Connecticut. These cattle had been brought in 1793 to "Muddy York" (Toronto) and Balls Town (now known as Balls Falls) with the help of Joseph Brant's Indians. Some oxen had been used in the building of Yonge Street in Toronto.

The German Mills industrial complex consisted of a grist mill, saw mill and a blacksmith shop. The grist mills produced super-fine flour and the saw mill shingles and lumber for the buildings in the German Mills area. It also supplied lumber for the first houses in Toronto, among them the Russell Abbey (11) home of the Hon. Peter Russell (politician), and the house of Col. James Givins. Both of those houses had been designed by William Moll Berczy, a man known today as the "Founder of Markham" and "Co-Founder of Toronto".

Six years later it became apparent that waterpower produced by the Don River was not sufficient for German Mills to operate efficiently and the German Mills industrial complex went into decline.

1. Location of German Mills see Map and Information Guide MapArt, Brampton & Whitby, Ontario

2. Inside of book cover of William Berczy, Co-Founder of Toronto. - A sketch by John Andre, A Canada Centennial Project of The Borough of York, 1967 Ortoprint, Toronto.

3, ibid p.152 plus a total of 429 prime sources.

4. Don Bridge, sketch by Berczy, 1802 Canadian Archives Ottawa

5. The Canadian, William Berczy, Florence M. Burns, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, p.29 Simcoe wanted the Berczy's Germans to complete Yonge Street which had already been surveyed by the Queen's Rangers. He also wanted them to start an agricultural settlement near the community of York.

6. See 'Important deals made at Navy Hall", Infant Toronto as Simcoe's Folly by John Andre, Centennial Press, printed in Canada 1971 by Ortoprint, Toronto, p.28

7. The late John Lunau former curator of the Markham museum also being in charge of historical records of the museum was known to have made this comment at various historical meetings.

8. Ross Robertson Collection, Baldwin Room, Toronto Metro Reference Library

9. Berczy Manuscript National Archive, Ottawa

10. Original Documents known as Andre Pierce papers are in private possession by Rolf A. Piro, Toronto.

11. The Russell Abbey, Drawing by Henry Scadding, Toronto Public Library.

12. Drawings of The Givins House, front view and rear view, Toronto Public Library.

[edit] Today

German Mills is now primarily a residential neighbourhood, with the bulk of the homes being single-family residences. Much of the homes were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Area commuters rely heavily on cars, but there is bus services by York Region Transit.

[edit] Parks

The few parks in the neighbourhood bear names of the early settlement and their settlers:

• German Mills Settlers Park
• Berczy Park
• Bishop Cross Park

[edit] References

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