Postcard of Maple, ca. 1900
Originally, the main road in the community ran eastward from Dr. Wallace’s Hill to Yonge Street. It did not run through the village as in the early days, as the south end was a swamp. This lasted until 1829 when local settlers built a Presbyterian Church on the eastern side of the road. It was first known as Rupertsville, but by 1852 had been renamed Maple and consisted of the James Wood family, Oliver, Rupert and Noble families.
Early businesses included a blacksmith shop, sawmill, planning mill, pump works, photo studio, rope factory, a bank (Sterling Bank) and two hotels, as well as a retail store, two shoemakers’ shops, a funeral parlour operated by Mr. William Knight and a creamery which was managed by Bill Robinson.
About 1852, a corner store was built on the northwest corner of the intersection of today’s Major Mackenzie Drive and Keele Street. This store would later house the first post office and with Joseph Noble as postmaster. In 1853, a station of the Northern Railway was constructed in the east part of the village and with its opening the village prospered. Trains stopped at the station five times a week carrying mail.
Other prominent developments in Maple included telephone service coming to the village in 1910, the arrival of hydro from Woodbridge in 1914, becoming a Police Village in 1928 and the Superior Propane Explosion on August 4, 1962.
City of Vaughan Archives: M997.20
Postcard of Maple, ca. 1900
Originally, the main road in the community ran eastward from Dr. Wallace’s Hill to Yonge Street. It did not run through the village as in the early days, as the south end was a swamp. This lasted until 1829 when local settlers built a Presbyterian Church on the eastern side of the road. It was first known as Rupertsville, but by 1852 had been renamed Maple and consisted of the James Wood family, Oliver, Rupert and Noble families.
Early businesses included a blacksmith shop, sawmill, planning mill, pump works, photo studio, rope factory, a bank (Sterling Bank) and two hotels, as well as a retail store, two shoemakers’ shops, a funeral parlour operated by Mr. William Knight and a creamery which was managed by Bill Robinson.
About 1852, a corner store was built on the northwest corner of the intersection of today’s Major Mackenzie Drive and Keele Street. This store would later house the first post office and with Joseph Noble as postmaster. In 1853, a station of the Northern Railway was constructed in the east part of the village and with its opening the village prospered. Trains stopped at the station five times a week carrying mail.
Other prominent developments in Maple included telephone service coming to the village in 1910, the arrival of hydro from Woodbridge in 1914, becoming a Police Village in 1928 and the Superior Propane Explosion on August 4, 1962.
City of Vaughan Archives: M997.20