| Cedar Grove | |
|---|---|
| — Unincorporated community — | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Regional municipality | York |
| City | Markham |
| Established | 1832 |
| Elevation | 177 m (581 ft) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 905 and 289 |
| NTS Map | 030M14 |
| GNBC Code | FAPKR |
Cedar Grove is a community in Markham, Ontario on the Little Rouge River. It is centred around 14th Avenue and Reesor Road (10th Line) and within the boundaries of the future national Rouge Park.
Contents |
James Osborne of North Carolina, with wife and children, first settled in the Cedar Grove area in the late eighteenth century. In 1804 Mennonite settlers from Pennsylvania (sometimes called the Pennsylvania Dutch) arrived in Cedar Grove, headed by Peter Reesor, who first scouted the area for his community in the 1790s. Reesor bought the Osborne lot (lot 4, conc. 9) and performed the settlement duties for the original grantee in 1804; he then acquired lot 5 in 1805.[1] The stone house on the Reesor homestead was built in 1832.[2]
By 1820, John Eby Reesor helped to construct a log building at the corner of Steeles Ave. and 11th Line to serve as both a school and a church, for Mennonites and Presbyterians. About 1850, a frame school building was constructed on the north side of 14th Ave., east of 10th Line to accommodate the growing community. In 1869, this building was replaced by a red brick school across the south side of 14th Ave. "Cedar Grove school was unique ... in having a gallery where in winter any adult could come and get a bit of learning by listening to the classes below."[3]
By 1878 the hamlet also had four mills, a post office and general store, tavern and inn, and blacksmith shop (now at the Markham Museum and Historical Village).[4] A Mennonite Meeting House was built on lot 4, conc. 9 in 1867, although the grounds were used as a cemetery as early as 1824.[5] The Zion Presbyterian Church constructed a frame-building on the 11th Line near Steeles in 1856, which was replaced by a stone building in 1890.[6]
Today Cedar Grove is best known as the home of Cedarena, an outdoor skating facility built in 1927. Once one of the largest rinks in the province (olympic size), the historical rink is still in use.[7]
While much of the Town of Markham immediately east of Cedar Grove has become residential, the land immediately around Cedar Grove is still in agricultural use. In 2011 the Canadian Federal Government announced plans to create a national Rouge Park. The park will completely encompass the community of Cedar Grove.[8]
The Little Rouge River which flows through Cedar Grove is a tributary of the Rouge River, with water flowing south from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario.
|
||||||||
| Box Grove Locust Hill |
||||
| Milliken | Pickering, Ontario | |||
| Cedar Grove | ||||
| Toronto, Ontario |
