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p6 weekender september 28 1985- locust hill a shadow of former self by nancy hoskin dont blink while driving through or youll miss locust hill once a prosperous trading center and transportation link near markhams east ern boundry it has ailbut vanished in the wake of government red tape and exprop riation locust hill was officially established as a hamlet in 1885 and whats left of it is now celebrating its 100year anniversary it re ceived its name for the cluster of locust trees planted on a hill overlooking the area on the william armstrong farm the community grew up around the ontario and quebec railroad which began operation in 1884 the railroad provided transportation for goods produced by fac tories in whitevale and green river it also gave the farmers easy access to transport their produce and supplies a creamery was located on the south side of hwy 7 and a grain elevator was also in operation much of the land surrounding the hamlet is now owned by the government and fami lies whose roots stem back to the beginning rent their property back for farming when expropriating land for the prop osed airport in the 70s the government decided to abandon the idea of including the actual hamlet for historical reasons said ann armstrong mrs armstrong has spent several years researching the backgrounds and archives of local churches she explained that you have to know the history of the area before you can fully understand the research as a whole when driving through locust hill one wonders where the actual centre used to be there are few original buildings re maining one surviving structure is the large blue building housing an antique store and cabinet maker on the south side this was first built as a temperance hotel and general store there were several drinking houses beyond locust hill and as religion played an important part of life in this era the nighswander brothers an old markham family decided to start a house for the non drinkers explained mrs armstrong at different times the building was occu pied by the post office a bank during the first world war and an ice crean parlor when rural oneroom school houses be came obsolete over 20 years ago many were torn down or converted for other pur poses for example the box grove com munity center locust hills school built in 1864 and located on the lotlvline is now a home the founding families in the hamlet were predominantly methodist first forming a small congregation which met at different homes the first church built in 1856 was located next to the cemetery the present church structure now a united church on the north side of hwy 7 was erected in 1891 according to the book historical com plexities of pickering markham scarbor ough and thornhill under the church cor nerstone copies of 1890s issues of the globe mail empire econom ist sun and pickering news were deposited by trustees who felt they would better serve the community in circulation no coins or bills were accepted as the trains were very important and locust hill became a major transportation link for south and central markham and the central western portion of pickering a water tower was erected the pumping house located on the little rouge river supplied the water for the stream trains the speed and surety of the railroad over horsedrawn vehicles opened up to rural re sidents a new world beyond their immedi ate vicinity many of the original founding families names including reesors buttons and reynolds have long moved from the area new young families move in many to get away from the hectic lifestyle brought ab out by city living the small community is still quiet and though there isnt even a general store or a train station still in existance the old sta- tionis on display in the markham district museum it offers a calm surrounding and beautiful country backdrop sssgs i once a temperance hotel this building now houses an antique store and cabinet maker shop it remains one of the few original buildings left in locust hill the original locust hill railway station burned down many years ago and was replaced by this wooden structure which is now on display at the markham museum built in 1891 this church was originally a methodist place of worship in 1925 when the methodist and prysbytcrian chur- mcmkvibbe the home of 150 stores services including eatons woolco miracle foodmart famous players cinemas presents markham business investment showcase wed oct 2nd sat oct 5th computers word processing home business security financial planning investment insurance personnel auto travel driving services markham board of trade hwy 7 mccowan rd markham ont 4776603 another jds development reupholstering by t0r0mark the mark of quality since 1950 markham district upholsterers since 1950 let oui craftsmen completely rebuild and recover your suite 5 year guarantee on workmanship you choose the fabric from our many samples 2 piece plain suite rebuilt and recovered only ilq0q 499 nylon or polypropolene in tweed or plaid for free home estimate call 2942581 toromark furniture house ltd fret armcaps pickup datvery monthly piynwus sl nolnufmt quality furniture reupholstering carpeting draperies sherwood plaza 4772055 2942581 hwy f j just west hwy 4 markham ches combined it became locust hill united church pickering pursuing toyota a portion of the ontario governments north pickering land holdings could be given to toyota canada to entice the auto mobilemaker to move there according to mayor jack anderson mayor anderson said housing minister alvin curling has responded favorably to a suggestion that the province give toyota 600 to 800 acres of ontario land corpora tion olc property the proposal for a parcel located at brock road and cone 4 would be the re sponsibility of industry and trade minister hugh oneiu industry ministry officials have asked mayor anderson to prepare a package de tailing the available land and its zoning status pickering council has off ically endorsed the provincial plan in a motion which was forwarded to mr curling the housing ministers return letter assured mayor anderson that the ocl would cooperate with the town and durham region in supplying land to an in dustry such as toyota but its largely up to the car- manufacturer to take that initiative said ocl official bill wilson who added well cooperate if toyota in its analysis decides durham is the place to go the pickering mayor said a meeting will be arranged with premier david peter sons advisers to discuss strategies of approaching the company