Colonel John Graves Simcoe named the Township of Markham, Ontario, north of the Town of York (now Toronto), after his friend William Markham, the Archbishop of York. The town was surveyed in 1793-94, but it wasn't until 1801 that the town was divided into 10 concession roads (running north and south), and six sideroads running east/west. Many rivers in the Township soon supported water-powered saw and grist mills and, later, woollen mills. amd by 1857 most of the Township had been cleared of timber and was under cultivation.
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