German Mills, Ontario
| German Mills | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 German Mills
|
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| Coordinates: 43°48′58″N 79°22′07″W / 43.81611°N 79.36861°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Regional municipality | York |
| City | Markham |
| Established | 1805 |
| Elevation | 173 m (568 ft) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 905 and 289 |
| NTS Map | 030M14 |
| GNBC Code | FBHCY |
German Mills is a community within the city of Markham in Ontario, Canada. Located in the Thornhill area, German Mills was named for the early German settlers in the area.
The German Mills history is closely associated with the founding of Toronto, then called "Muddy York". It is also part of the early history of Markham, previously known as "Mannheim", "the home of man".
German Mills was part of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe's plan to establish a city with a bulwark against a possible American invasion. In doing so, there was a critical need to find people that can settle this province while being in hot pursuit to build the capital of York with its surrounding areas. Simcoe generally favoured settlements with township grants where the military could be located and act as consumers for local markets and town centres. German Mills was seen to be as an agricultural settlement for the food supply to the military and its citizens from the hinterland of the then "Infant Toronto" when in 1793, Toronto was little more than an outpost in the wilderness.
German Mills became the first significant industrial complex in Markham township, thanks to William Moll Berczy, a multi-talented entrepreneur with leadership, architectrual, engineering and painting skills. He led a group of 64 families with 182 people to York in the summer of 1794. This group consisted of bakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, weavers, a preacher, school teacher, brewer, cartwright, locksmith, miller, potter, tanner, stonemasons as well as farmers. It represented the first classic immigration model in Canada to fill the critical need of its time.
In the fall of 1794 William Berczy hired men to erect a large house and a sawmill building at what is now German Mills. To bring prosperity and new settlers, a warehouse for the Northwest Fur Trade Company was constructed as an intermediate stop for the northern route of the fur trade on the Nin (Rouge River) in Ontario at what later became Unionville, Ontario. Toronto and Markham was then a thick, mature forest ideal for the supply of lumber. The forest consisted of pine, oak, maple, butternut and other trees so thick that sunlight penetrated it only when the leaves had fallen.
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