Communities

Scarborough Community Names

(All information excerpted from “Scarborough Then and Now: 1796-1996”
published by the Scarborough Historical Society)

In 1793 Elizabeth Simcoe noted the resemblance of the bold highlands east of Toronto to the chalk cliffs of Scarborough in Yorkshire, England. Accordingly, her husband Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, renamed the newly surveyed township north of the bluffs, changing it from Glasgow to Scarborough.

In 1796, the first land patents were issued, and the township was opened to new settlement. Some time later, settlers from the British Isles and the United States began to hew out homes here in the forests.

Scarborough’s earliest communities were established during the 19th century along the roads frequented by stage coaches and around the popular intersections where general stores and the like sprang up. Later, as the railways came to Scarborough, communities grew up around the train stations. Some villages prospered as a result of the railways, some declined and others simply merged to form larger communities. A sign of a growing community was the establishment of a post office in the area.

Several of the early communities of Scarborough share their history with other municipalities. O’Sullivan’s Corners and L’Amoreaux were located on the border between Scarborough and what is now North York. Similarly, the communities of Armadale and Milliken stretched across the boundaries of Scarborough and Markham.

For information on the establishment of the individual communities in Scarborough, click on the names listed below.

Several of the early Scarborough communities that were established have since grown or divided into new communities. The pages listed above will also lead you to pages for the newer communities that evolved from them.