Milliken was named after a local family headed by Norm Milliken, a United Empire Loyalist from New Brunswick, who settled on Lot 1 Concession V, Markham in 1807. Norm Milliken operated a lumbering business in the area as well as the local hotel. Descendants of the family continue to live in the area.

As the Kennedy Road in Scarborough ended at Steeles, and the Markham Concession Road continued northward about a quarter mile east, both separated by the Toronto Nipissing Railway, Milliken was not the typical crossroad community.

The post office, established in 1859, stood on the Markham side of the town line but served both townships. The local church, known as Ebenezer, began on the Scarborough side of Steeles but moved across the road into Markham in 1878 where it still stands today. The early families: Milliken, Thomson, Rennie, Harding, Hood, Hagerman and L’Amoreaux could be found on both sides of the Town Line.

To the Milliken community, municipal boundaries were just lines on a map and the community’s history can be found in the Archives of both Scarborough and Markham. School Section # 2 was established here in 1847, and a log school was built during the same year.