York Region trivia
31 facts and quiz questions about Markham, Ontario. Each one links to its source. A new fact of the day goes live every morning.
Fact of the day
Markham Quiz
Pacific Mall, at Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue, is the largest indoor East Asian mall in North America. Its Heritage Town food court and market has about 100 vendors.
Source: Wikipedia, Pacific Mall
Markham Places
The main floor is a grid. Halls that run north to south are named after Hong Kong streets, such as Nathan Avenue. Halls that run east to west have lucky Cantonese numbers, such as 188th Street.
Source: Wikipedia, Pacific Mall
Markham Quiz
Markham counted 338,503 people in the 2021 Census. That is the largest population in York Region and the fourth largest in the Greater Toronto Area.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Profile, Markham, Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham History
The Toronto and Nipissing Railway built the line in 1871. GO Transit's Stouffville line still runs on it, and the 1871 stations in Markham Village and Unionville still stand.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Numbers
Markham's record high is 37.8 degrees Celsius, on August 8, 2001. Its record low is minus 35.2 degrees, on January 16, 1994.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Quiz
Mennonite settlers from Pennsylvania founded the village and named it Reesorville, after settler Joseph Reesor. It took the name Markham in 1825.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Nature
The Don River and the Rouge River, with their tributaries, cross Markham. The land rises to the north toward the Oak Ridges Moraine, and the average elevation is about 200 metres.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham People
Shouldice Hospital in Markham treats hernias. It is known as one of the leading hernia hospitals in the world.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Quiz
Markham has been twinned with Nördlingen, in Bavaria, since 2001. It also has a sister city in Cary, North Carolina, since 2002.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham History
The Stiver Mill was a grain mill built in 1916 and run by the Stiver brothers until 1968. The family came with Berczy's settlers in 1794. Since 2009 the restored mill has hosted a farmers' market.
Source: Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham Quiz
The theatre is the city's main performing arts venue. It stands at the Markham Civic Centre, at Highway 7 and Warden Avenue, and the City of Markham owns and runs it.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Nature
Toogood Pond started as a mill pond. Part of Bruce Creek was flooded in the 1840s to power the village grist mill. Early in the 1900s it was called Willow Pond, with summer cottages along its shore.
Source: Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham Quiz
Residents started the festival to fight a provincial plan to turn Main Street into a four-lane Kennedy Road. They won: Kennedy Road was moved to the east of the village instead.
Source: Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham History
Ira White built the Union Mills here in 1839. The mills, and then the village, were named for the Act of Union of 1840, which joined Upper and Lower Canada.
Source: Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham Quiz
In the first season of Gilmore Girls, Main Street Unionville stood in for Stars Hollow, Connecticut. The street has been a backdrop for other TV shows and movies too.
Source: Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham Quiz
Frederick Varley lived his later years in the Unionville home of Kathleen McKay, who donated many of his works. The Varley Art Gallery on Main Street Unionville opened in his name in May 1997.
Sources: Wikipedia, Varley Art Gallery, Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham Places
The Markham Fair's first grounds were at Main Street and Highway 7. The library building copies the shape of the old Agricultural Hall that stood there. The fair moved north to its current grounds in 1977.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham Fair
Markham Quiz
Markham became a town in 1971. Council voted in May 2012 to make it a city, and the new name took effect on July 1, 2012.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Places
In 1801 Markham was divided into ten concessions, with north-south roads between them and sideroads running east-west. That survey grid still shapes the map, with a major crossing about every two kilometres.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Sports
Crosby Memorial Arena, an indoor rink built in 1928, is the main sports venue in Unionville. It is named after the Crosby family, who came to Markham in 1806.
Source: Wikipedia, Unionville, Ontario
Markham History
Cullen Country Barns, a farm-themed complex with shops, a theatre and restaurants, opened on the site in 1983. Its barns were moved there from Pickering. The complex came down in 1994.
Source: Wikipedia, Pacific Mall
Markham Quiz
The Markham Fair began in 1844, which makes it one of the oldest country fairs in Canada. It runs on the weekend before Thanksgiving and draws up to 80,000 people.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham Fair
Markham Numbers
More than 700 volunteers on over 70 committees run the fair. About 3,000 exhibitors enter more than 12,000 items to be judged and shown.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham Fair
Markham History
In 1794 William Berczy led German families from Upstate New York to the area now called German Mills. Each family got 200 acres, but with no roads many moved on, and German Mills later became a ghost town.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Places
Heintzman House in Thornhill was home to Charles Heintzman of Heintzman and Co., the Canadian piano maker. Colonel George Crookshank lived there before him.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Numbers
More than 1,000 technology and life-sciences companies have offices in Markham. IBM Canada is one of its biggest employers, and graphics chip maker ATI Technologies, now part of AMD, was based here.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Culture
Markham Museum has a working cider mill. At AppleFest it presses fresh cider from local apples, while artisans give demonstrations in the blacksmith shop and the print shop.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham Museum
Markham History
The Locust Hill station was built in 1936 and served the Canadian Pacific Railway until 1969. It was moved to the museum grounds in 1983.
Sources: Wikipedia, Markham Museum, Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Quiz
Markham Museum is a 25-acre open-air museum with more than 30 historic buildings. It opened in 1971 in the old Mount Joy School, on just 2 acres.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham Museum
Markham Quiz
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe named the township after his friend William Markham, who was the Archbishop of York from 1776 to 1807.
Source: Wikipedia, Markham, Ontario
Markham Places
After Heritage Town opened in 1999, the mall was named a tourist attraction. That status exempts it from Ontario's Retail Business Holidays Act, so it can open every day of the year.
Source: Wikipedia, Pacific Mall