Norman Milliken

Norman Milliken (b.1771 Trenton, Maine d.1843 Markham Township, York County, Canada West, Province of Canada) was a farmer, lumber mill owner and hotel/tavern keeper in York County.

The communities of Milliken, in Toronto and Milliken Mills in Markham (Milliken, Ontario) were named for either Norman Milliken, or for his family at large.

He moved to Bocabec , New Brunswick with his father American Loyalist Benjamin Milliken in 1782-4 after the American War of Independence. During the period 1803-1805 he lived in Pennsylvania and then returned to Bocabec. He moved to York, Upper Canada in 1805.

He used a flour mill on the west side of Yonge Street opposite Steeles Avenue for milling lumber (before Steeles Avenue was opened west of Yonge). Milliken operated the first lumber mill in the Township of Markham at German Mills, Ontario. He subsequently purchased a share in a lumber mill located at Markham Village in 1807 and supplied the Royal Navy with ship's planking.

The community now called "Milliken" formerly the rural hamlet of "Milliken's Corner" was first settled in 1798 by William Dumont. Norman Milliken settled in the area around 1807. In 1814 Norman Milliken received the deed for 200 acres of land at lot 1, concession 5, Markham Township which was the location of Milliken Corners. Norman Milliken built a hotel/tavern and livery stables there. The rural hamlet of Milliken's Corners eventually consisted of Milliken's Corners Methodist Church, a post office established 1858, a hotel and a general store. The hamlet became a postal village in 1858 and was called Milliken after Norman Millken.

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