The origins of 5 community names in York Region

There is a lot of history in York Region, and that is reflected in the names given to some of the local communities

Yorkregion.com
August 7, 2018
Laura Finney

There is a lot of history in York Region, and that is reflected in the names given to some of the local communities. Some are named after people, others after places and some were just chosen from a list. Here are the origins of five.

1. Strange -- King Township
Originally called Williamstown, the community was named Strange in 1800 for Dr. Frederick William Strange, after he was successful at having a post office built. It is located at the intersection of Weston Rd. and 15th Sideroad.

2. Mongolia -- Markham
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Located at the crossroads of Elgin Mills Road East and Reesor Road, beside the Rouge National Urban Park, it was first settled in 1801 and was originally referred to as "California Corners." When the post office was built, the name "California" was unavailable. Mongolia was chosen from a list.

3. Pefferlaw -- Georgina 
This community in Georgina was founded in the 1820s by Captain William Johnson, after his retirement from the Royal Navy. Johnson’s brother had the idea to name it after Pefferlaw, meaning a beautiful greensward, in honour of a field on their homestead.

4. Kleinburg -- Vaughan
It is believed that Kleinburg is named after founding settler, German-Canadian John Nicholas Kline. But it could also be a combination of two German words -- "klein," which means "small," and burg which means "castle" or "fortress" but has come to mean "city." 

5. Vandorf -- Whitchurch- Stouffville
Originally called Brookvale, it had to change when postal service arrived and the name was unavailable. Vandorf was chosen during a town meeting and is a combination of "Van," after the Van Nostrand family who founded the community and "Dorf," the German word for village.