King (2021 population 27,333) is a township in York Region north of Toronto, within the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.
The rolling hills of the Oak Ridges Moraine are the most prominent visible geographical feature of King. The Holland Marsh, considered to be Ontario's "vegetable basket", straddles King Township and Bradford West Gwillimbury. King is known for its horse and cattle farms.
Though King is predominantly rural, most of its residents inhabit the communities of King City, Nobleton, and Schomberg.
History Around 15,000 years ago, a prehistoric lake named Lake Schomberg covered the Lake Simcoe Lowlands, including most of modern-day King Township as far south as the moraine line near Nobleton. The water level of this lake was perhaps as high as 120 meters above the current level of Lake Simcoe. Lake Schomberg eventually drained and was succeeded by Lake Algonquin around 14,000 years ago, which saw somewhat of a retreat of the waters. However, a geographic feature named the Schomberg embayment was left behind. It was a shallow bay within the lake which covered areas such as the modern-day Holland Marsh. A number of Paleo-Indian sites are situated along the former shoreline of this bay. One of the most prominent is the Zander site (BaGv-7), where projectile points, bifaces, and scrapers have been found. The stone used for the tools found at the site was from a variety of sources such as near modern-day Collingwood, Bobcaygeon, Ancaster, and possibly more distant locations. Based on geographic elements such as position of the former lakeshore, the site's occupation would likely date to no earlier than 11,200 BP, and continued through to the Late Paleo-Indian period.
There is some evidence of a large Wendat (Huron) encampment at Hackett Lake. Residents in the area in the 1950s and 1960s discovered arrowheads and other archaeological items indicating a Wendat presence. This is consistent with the fact that the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, a major route used in the 17th and 18th centuries, passes through the township. The route was used by explorer Étienne Brûlé, who first travelled along the trail with twelve Wendat guides in 1615.
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe named King Township for John King (1759–1830), an English Under-Secretary of State for Home Office from 1794 to 1801 for the Home Department in the Portland administration when Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool was Secretary of State.
The township was created as part of the subdivision of York County, itself a subdivision of the Home District. The lands were originally acquired by the British in an agreement with the Mississaugas, known as the Toronto Purchase; it was enacted in British parliament as the Toronto Purchase Act in 1787. Acquisition of the lands for the townships of Etobicoke, King, Vaughan, and York, Upper Canada was completed at a meeting between the Mississaugas and the British at the Credit River on 1 August 1805, where were exchanged for £1,700.
Simcoe planned Yonge Street, which was built between 1793 and 1796 by the Queen's Rangers. The first seven land patents were issued in 1797. By 1801, Timothy Rogers, a Loyalist from Vermont, had travelled the road and found an area on its western boundary immediately southwest of Newmarket very appealing. He applied for and received a grant for land totalling 40 farms, each of , and subsequently returned to Vermont to recruit families to operate those farms. By February 1802, he had set out for King Township with the first group of settlers for those forty farms. A second group followed later that month.
The area would become known as Armitage, in honour of its first settler Amos Armitage. It was the first of King's settlements, and now part of Newmarket. Soon after the establishment of Armitage, the communities of Kettleby and Lloydtown were established to the west. More settlers arrived from New York, Pennsylvania, and other Loyalist enclaves over the subsequent years to populate the region, drawn by the abundant, fertile land being apportioned relatively cheaply to newcomers. A "considerable area of land...in different concessions" of King were patented to the Canada Company after its establishment in 1826.
By 1842, the township consisted of of land, of which had been cleared and was being cultivated.: This is a 1970 reprint by Coles of the original 1846 work, part of the Coles Canadiana Collection. The principal villages at the time were Lloydtown, Brownsville (now Schomberg), Bogarttown (now a part of Newmarket), and Tyrwhitt's Mills (now Kettleby).
In 1851, the township annexed from West Gwillimbury the portion of land north of its extant and east of the Holland River as a result of the formation of Simcoe County. Approximately of land were administered by the township in 1878, according to the Historical Atlas of York County, but by 1973 this had been reduced to 82,000; some of its land has been ceded to what are now known as Newmarket, Aurora and Oak Ridges.
The first survey of King Township was conducted in 1800 by Hessian soldier Johann Stegmann. At the time, the area's population was twenty residents. According to a letter by Benjamin Cody to the Newmarket Era published on 7 May 1892, there were church records listing births in the area, and the first white child in King may have been Sarah Rogers, born April 1800. At least four children were born in King by July 1802. By 1809, the township's population had increased sevenfold, to 160. It wasn't until 1820, with the construction of roads into the township, that its population began to grow. By 1842, the population of 2,625 residents was principally Irish, and also included those of English, Scottish, Canadian, and American descent. Further surveys were conducted in 1836–1838 by Callighan, in 1852 by John Ryan, and completed in 1859 by Whelock. The townships population grew to 5574 in 1850, and nearly 8000 in 1875, after which it declined to 4588 in 1914.
Early settlements in the area developed primarily around gristmills and sawmills. These were important economic engines in the region during the 19th century, which resulted in the establishment of other communities and businesses nearby. By 1842, there were eight grist mills and 12 saw mills in King. Some settlements have since been abandoned, or are no longer communities per se, including Bell's Lake, Davis Corners, and King Ridge.
In 1971, with the formation of the Regional Municipality of York and dissolution of York County, the township's boundaries were changed, shifting west by one concession from Yonge Street to Bathurst Street, and north by one lot from the King-Vaughan town line.
In 2017, the township lent its name to the Barenaked Ladies song "Township of King", written by band member Kevin Hearn. The lyrics allude to the construction of Canada's Wonderland, which is actually located in the City of Vaughan, several kilometres south of the Township of King's southern boundary.
Geography
The township's boundaries are
East: Bathurst Street South: a line north of the King-Vaughan Road West: the Caledon/King Townline, which connects two roads (Caledon/King Townline North and Caledon/King Townline South) in a roughly straight line North: Highway 9 from the Caledon/King Townline to slightly east of Highway 27, then cuts north following branches of the Holland River until it meets Bathurst Street
The majority of King is located on the Oak Ridges Moraine, which is the origin for the headwaters of many rivers throughout its extent, including the Humber River in King. Numerous interconnected provincially and regionally significant areas are located in the township. The most prominent are seven Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, and the wetland complexes adjacent to or within those areas.
Climate Slightly removed from the urban heat island of Toronto, the climate is warm-summer humid continental (Köppen: Dfb).
Local government
King Township was incorporated in 1850 as The Corporation of the Township of King. Its current mayor is Steve Pelligrini, who was sworn into office in December 2010. The Town Council includes the mayor and six councillors representing the township's six wards. The mayor is also a member of York Regional Council via double direct election.
2018 Municipal Election Source:
Mayor: Steve Pellegrini
Councillors:
Ward 1 (Eastern King City, Eversley, Snowball, Temperanceville): Jordan Alexander Cescolini Ward 2 (Nobleton, King Creek, Laskay, Strange): David Boyd Ward 3 (Hammertown, Happy Valley, Holly Park, Linton, New Scotland): Jakob Schneider Ward 4 (Schomberg, Pottageville, Lloydtown): Bill Cober Ward 5 (Western King City, Heritage Park, Kettleby, Kinghorn): Debbie Schaefer Ward 6 (Ansnorveldt, Glenville and northeastern King Township): Avia Eek
2014 municipal election
In the 2014 municipal election, the mayorship was uncontested and Steve Pellegrini was acclaimed for a second term. Cleve Mortelliti was acclaimed for Ward 1 owing to no opposing candidates. Candidates for the other wards were:
Ward 2: Joe Buscema, David Boyd, Peter Grandilli, and Jim Streb Ward 3: Linda Pabst and John Workman Ward 4: Greg Locke and Bill Cober Ward 5: Chris Gafoor, Anna Roberts, and Debbie Schaeffer Ward 6: Avia Eek and Simon Lloyd
The elected candidates were Steve Pelligrini (acclaimed, mayor), Cleve Mortelliti (acclaimed, ward 1), David Boyd (ward 2), Linda Pabst (ward 3), Bill Cober (ward 4), Debbie Schaeffer (ward 5), and Avia Eek (ward 6).
Budget The township draws revenues from various sources. The most significant in 2007 were municipal taxes (67.9% of revenue), fees and service charges (14.0%), water charges (4.3%), grants (3.5%) and reserves (2.9%). The most significant expenditures for 2007 were general municipal government (27.6%), recreation and culture (21.7%), transportation (17.8%), protection (16.6%) and environmental projects (11.6%).
The Township offices reside at the King City Plaza, a strip mall purchased by the municipal government in the 1990s which also has several business tenants. In 2013, the township purchased the disused former Holy Name Catholic Elementary School building and adjacent of land from the York Catholic District School Board for $2.95 million. In 2016, township planning staff announced that the school building would be redesigned for use as office space for the township, for community and non-profit groups, and to house a satellite office for the York Regional Police. In May 2016, the Police Services Board approved the King City substation and announced that a 20-year lease would be executed for use of about of space in the building. In June 2016, township staff announced the building would be destroyed in mid-2016 and replaced by a structure on the site at a cost of about $15 million. It will include a public-use gymnasium. The capital project will be partially financed by selling the strip mall.
Provincial and federal politics +King federal election results Year Liberal Conservative New Democratic Green 2021 33% 3,843 55% 6,369 6% 656 2% 189 2019 35% 4,775 50% 6,851 6% 760 7% 998
+King provincial election results Year PC New Democratic Liberal Green 2022 60% 5,584 5% 499 25%2,364 4% 395 2018 62% 7,177 12% 1,409 18%2,018 7% 807
As a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2022, starting with the 2025 federal election the township is represented solely in the House of Commons by the Member of Parliament of King—Vaughan, which is represented by Anna Roberts of the Conservative Party of Canada.