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 Thornhill Settlement Village The thriving hamlet scrambled north from the valley - plank cabins in the forest clearings, frame loyalist buildings, snake fences and a few brick houses of prosperity. Thorne's Hill overlooked the great mills - the source of village trade, Thorne's wealth, and the site of his untimely death in 1845. These properties on Yonge Street survive
from the 'original' village:
No. 8000 - Mortimer House built in 1834 for the first Pastor of Holy Trinity Church. No. 8038 - Soules Inn, hosting travellers since 1830, later a Temperance Inn and a stagecoach depot. Nos. 8046, 8054, 8064 - Old houses from the picturesque village; one refreshed rebels of 1837, another was a rectory for 100 years. No. 8201 - Langstaff School, the fourth on this site dedicated to education since 1811. Other 'survivors' from this historic time are Cricklewood, Sunnyside Manor, Holy Trinity Church and the Methodist Church on Centre Street. [Time has continued to take its toll on the surviving features of early Thornhill since this plaque was placed here in 1983. The house referred to at "8046" Yonge St., a c.1830 frame cottage, was demolished in 1997 despite efforts to save it. The "Methodist Church on Centre Street" was damaged by fire on June 19, 1983, not long after this plaque was cast, and was later dismantled. Note: "Sunnyside Manor" is better known as the Heintzman House]. |
