From 75 inhabitants to 45,000; a brief history of Whitchurch-Stouffville
A look at Whitchurch-Stouffville at the time of Confederation

yorkregion.com
April 27, 2017
By Ali Raza

Canada celebrates its 150th birthday this year, and cities and towns from coast to coast have their own celebrations planned for the history they share.

Whitchurch-Stouffville is one such town that is celebrating the nation’s history but also its own. The upcoming Strawberry Festival over Canada Day weekend will celebrate the milestone at Memorial Park – just a few kilometres from one of the first roads in the town, Stouffer Street.

When Abraham Stouffer founded the then hamlet of Stoufferville in 1804, he couldn’t have imagined the change that would come to the small little hamlet over the course of 200 years. By 1832, the community’s named was changed to Stouffville when the first post office came to town.

Early settler John Boyer was the postmaster at that post office, as well as the village’s merchant, druggist (pharmacist), justice of the peace and printer. The village’s first blacksmith shop opened around the same time as the post office as well.

The village of Stouffville had three taverns, where brawls frequently broke out and the justice of peace would settle the issue the following day. Lacking television or Internet, horse racing and cockfighting were popular forms of entertainment.

The village had a population of just 600 in 1866, just a year before confederation. Just ten years after confederation, Stouffville was incorporated as a village in 1877.

It began to grow into a bustling village with its first hotel - the Mansion House Hotel - a lumber mill where Schell Lumber stands today, a barbershop, a coal yard, and seed businesses.

Main Street was packed with horses and horse-carriages until automobiles slowly made their appearance in the early 1900s. It was at the turn of the century when lumber, cement, coal and wood industries became common.

In 1877, a railway track was constructed - the second track built north to Lake Simcoe. The village became a junction seeing thirty trains run through the village per day. Not only did this attract more industry to the village, but with the increased connectivity local markets became more robust.

Market Day was a weekly social event where people bought their much-needed supplies but also engaged in conversation, met new people, discussed issues in the community and received news from outside the village. Market Day acted as a modern-day forum, what today would be a community group on social media.

Market Day also attracted agricultural products from local farms. The dairy industry was very active producing a thousand pounds of butter per day.

Road expansion sped up in the early 1900s when local industries could provide the necessary equipment and tools to tackle the challenges of building roads in boggy lands. By 1929, the roads were in poor condition. Council proposed costs of $109,000 for rebuilding and Main Street continued to Tenth Line from Ringwood Road. Residents celebrated in a street dance on Oct. 9, 1930.

Today, Main Street turns into Stouffville Road when heading west and connects to Hwy. 404 - bogs, rivers and dirt are no challenge for modern industry. But just as in 1929, town council is still making decisions to reconstruct Main Street.

In the early days of Stouffville, when the settlement had just 75 inhabitants in 1850, Whitchurch Township managed the hamlet. The inaugural meeting of the municipal government was held at Smith’s Inn in Stouffville on Jan. 6, 1851. Instead of a mayor, the town had a reeve - Joseph Hartman - who along with councillors was nominated.

Reeves were head of municipal government until Whitchurch Township and Stouffville amalgamated on Jan. 1, 1971. Ken Laushway, Stouffville’s last reeve, became the mayor Whitchurch-Stouffville and presided over the inaugural meeting of town council on Jan. 5, 1971, in the municipal building on Civic Avenue.

That building today is the Lebovic Centre for the Arts and Entertainment (19 on the Park).

Today, Whitchurch-Stouffville’s population is 45,837, in stark contrast to the 600 inhabitants on the eve of confederation. The town has expanded far beyond Main Street and continues to expand with increased housing and shopping centres.

Residents still see echoes of the past in their community; old city hall, Main Street, Stouffer Street, and the dozens of traditional homes across town. The Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum houses several artifacts from the last 150 years. A plaque commemorating Abraham Stouffer can be found on Main Street near the Latcham Gallery.