Unionville is a suburban district and former village in Markham, Ontario, Canada, 2 km (2.5 mi) west of Markham Village (the City of Markham's historic downtown), and 33 km (20.5 mi) northeast of Downtown Toronto. The boundaries of Unionville are not well-defined. Several neighbourhoods claim to be part of it however, this has been disputed between the various wards.
Unionville was founded north of 16th Avenue in 1794, and many of the farms on and around Kennedy Road. The Unionville Ratepayers Association designated a newer street, Rodick Road, as its western boundary, in the 1980s. Main Street Unionville, which was Kennedy Road in the mid-to-late 20th century, runs through Unionville while the new Kennedy Road runs to the east. Rouge River runs north of the central part of Unionville and to the southeast. Highway 404 is to the west, with the nearest interchange with Highway 407 is south on Kennedy Road. Unionville is predominantly residential except for the south central industrial area, which is slated for massive intensification.
Tourism is a major part of Unionville's economy. The village itself still resembles the small town that developed over a century or so starting in the early 1840s (when Ira White erected his Union Mills) through the middle to late 20th century. Now a 'heritage conservation district', it attracts thousands of visitors each year — as of 2006 it boasted nine restaurants, including three pubs. Main Street (originally the laneway from the village's first grist mill) also has a number of "century homes" dating back to the 19th century. Each year, thousands of people visit Unionville during the Unionville Festival.
The main street has been a stand-in for fictional Connecticut town Stars Hollow during the first season of Gilmore Girls television show, and for other television and movie backdrops.
Most of the historic buildings in Unionville are included in List of historic buildings in Markham, Ontario.
History
Unionville's name was derived from American-born Ira Allen White's Union Mills built in 1839, which in turn was named for the Act of Union 1840 of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. White would remain in the area at least up to 1860 but by 1878 his property as per York County Atlas belong to Hugh Powell Crosby as White moved to Yarmouth, Ontario were he died in 1887 (but buried in Cedar Grove Mennonite Cemetery Markham).
William von Moll Berczy brought the first settlers to Markham Township in 1794; they were originally from Germany but first moved to New York State. After arriving here, they acquired large tracts of land near current day Berczy Village at 16th Avenue and Kennedy Road.
Illness and famine in 1795–1796 reduced the population but the others remained on the develop a settlement:
Johann Niclaus Stober or John Stiver was another Berczy settler who is descendant of Charles and Francis Stiver whom established Stiver Mills Philip Eckardt who is a Berczy settler who descendant farmed lands in Markham. Eckardt is tied to the Bethesda Lutheran Church
By 1851, the population was 200, served by a grist mill, a saw mill and two churches (Primitive Methodist and Presbyterian).
Unionville was a police village within what was then Markham Township within York County until the end of 1970, at which time the county was reorganized into Regional Municipality of York. Unionville and the two other police villages in the township (Buttonville and Thornhill) as well as the Village of Markham were abolished and amalgamated with Markham Township, which was reincorporated as the Town of Markham (changed to city in 2012), with some of the township's lands being ceded to neighbouring Richmond Hill and Whitchurch–Stouffville. The town and the township were named after two different people named "Markham".
A historic concrete bridge carrying Unionville Main Street was built by Octavius Hicks in 1909.
The name "Unionville" remained a valid postal address until the early 1990s at which time most addresses were changed to "Markham". In 2009, Markham Town Council reinstated the name "Unionville" for that portion of postal addresses within its Ward 3, which lies between Warden, 16th, McCowan and the 407. However, the Post Office used "Unionville" as the postal address for a larger delivery area that included the farms and later urban areas that it considered to be "in Unionville". Unionville's historical boundaries, therefore, may be based on the historic Post Office delivery area for the name "Unionville". These varied somewhat over a century and a half, as neighbouring post offices came and went, but at some time or other the following areas had a "Unionville" address: