Port Union / Rouge Hills / West Rouge

Port Union was also part of the Highland Creek community. (Although most of the buildings were across the Town Line in Pickering.) Port Union was located in the south east corner of Scarborough, at Lawrence Avenue and Port Union Road. In 1865 a post office opened in Port Union Station. Early 19th century businesses in the area included the Scarborough, Markham, and Pickering Wharf Company (est. 1847), and hotels operated by Will Hetherington and Thomas Laskey.

In the 1920s, real estate developer Cecil White & Co. purchased multiple tracts of land east of Port Union Village with intentions of creating a large community along the west bank of the Rouge River intended to become “The Venice of the North”. Although the dream was never completely realized, the name of White’s subdivision “Rouge Hills” lives on to this day as the name of the local commuter railway station.

The West Rouge community, a modern name associated with Port Union, was originally part of Pickering. Scarborough annexed the West Rouge in 1973 following several years of negotiations. There were concerns about meshing taxation and other costs to the municipality that had to be addressed following the initial annexation discussions in 1969. The West Rouge was east of the town line and west of the Rouge River containing 857 acres and a population of 3,414 at the time of annexation.

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Port Union – Historical Image Gallery: