City of Pickering Official Plan- Edition 6

In the early 1800s, dense forests extended from
Lake Ontario to the Oak Ridges Moraine, and thousands
of salmon could be caught in the Duffins Creek and other
streams that flowed into the Lake. Early settlers survived
mostly on wild game, fish and berries. However, as land
was cleared, people turned to farming and the raising of
animals. As this occurred, millers, innkeepers and
businessmen also came into the area.
As early as 1816, stage coaches criss-crossed Pickering
along Kingston Road, Brock Road, and the Sixth and
Ninth Concession Roads into Markham. Harbours existed
at the Rouge River and Frenchman’s Bay, and the
Duffins Creek was navigable for small ships as far as
Kingston Road.
POPULATION
GROWTH
IN PICKERING
(1796 -1996)
In 1825, Pickering had three small mills and a population
of 830 people. The population had swollen to
2,642 people by 1835, and pressure mounted on
governments to provide roads, bridges, land titles and
needed social reforms. Peter Matthews, a Pickering farmer
and father of 15 was hanged for his part in the 1837
Rebellion lead by W.L. Mackenzie. By 1850, a number of
important villages had appeared in the area, including
Fairport, Dunbarton, Majorville (now Whitevale), and
Duffins Creek (now Pickering Village and located in Ajax).
75,000
50,000
25,000
0
1796
1836
1876
1916
1956
1996
A number of other villages and hamlets were also
established, usually surrounding a mill, church or school,
or located at important crossroads. Timber was the most
important export product of the time (some of the world’s
finest lumber came from the area). By 1848, there were
26 sawmills operating in Pickering so that by 1851, over
half of the township was cleared of its trees.
The mid-1800s brought prosperity to Pickering. However,
wheat and lumber prices eventually fell, and with increased
industrialization and railroad expansion, the importance of
Frenchman’s Bay as a harbour declined. Population
dropped, and did not begin to increase again until about
1915. It was not until 1952 that Pickering’s population was
the same as it was in 1860.
PICKERING OFFICIAL PLAN EDITION 6: Introduction 5