Milliken, Ontario

Milliken
—  Neighbourhood  —
The Toronto portion of Milliken
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City Town	Toronto Markham
Community	Scarborough
Changed Municipality	1998 Toronto from Scarborough 1859 Markham, Ontario

Milliken or Milliken Mills is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto and Markham, Ontario. It is located in the North East section of Scarborough and South East section of Markham. The neighbourhood is centered around Old Kennedy Road (see also Kennedy Road in York Region) and Steeles Avenue, bounded by 14th Ave E to the North, Markham Road to the East, Finch Avenue East to the South and Warden Avenue to the West. The area is heavily residential.

There is a very large Asian contingency in this area, with 35% speaking Chinese as a first language at home.^{[citation needed]} A huge percentage of people own their homes, which are primarily single detached homes.^[1][2] As the homes were built when the farming left (1980s) there are many two storied houses with garage, typical of the time of building and affordability.

History

The community is named after Norman Milliken, a United Empire Loyalist from New Brunswick who settled in Markham, Ontario. In 1814 he received the deed for lot 1, concession 5, where he settled. Milliken operated a lumber business in the town when it was first called Milliken Corners.^[3]

The community's post office was established in 1859 on the Markham side. The Ebenezer United Church (1878; originally Milliken Primitive Methodist Church) is one of a few structures remaining in the area. The church once stood on the south side of Steeles Avenue with another church on Brimley Road. Plots at the church are many of the early families of Milliken: Thomson, Rennie, Harding, Hood, Hagerman and L'Amoreaux. The church is now located on Brimley Rd, north of Steeles Ave in Markham.^[4]

To the Milliken community, municipal boundaries were just lines on a map and the community's history can be found in the Archives of both Scarborough and Markham. School Section # 2 was established here in 1847, and a log school was built during the same year.

The neighbourhood only gave up its final farming activities in the early 1980s and is modernizing by the year. There are green spaces such as Milliken Park, Goldhawk Park and many others, also the Milliken Trail is a walking tour of the neighbourhood.

Culture

Once agricultural land, much of which disappeared with residential development beginning in the 1970s and ending near the late 1980s. The Town of Markham has recently initiated an initiative to develop "Main Street Milliken" around Old Kennedy Rd. The area has suffered from years of neglect, and revitalization plans have been welcomed by community members. New developments include a condominium development on Kennedy and Denison, Dairy Queen, Major Milliken Pub and a new housing project on Old Kennedy Rd.

A growing hub of community activity is Milliken Park Community Recreation Centre, which is located on the Northwest corner of Milliken Park and at the Southeast corner of the intersection of Steeles Avenue and McCowan Road. The centre is home to a variety of camps, after-school programs and cultural activities designed to cater to local demand. To provide optimal service for the area, City of Toronto staff are in regular consultation with an advisory board, which includes representatives from local community associations, such as the Goldhawk Community Association, Brimley Forest Community Association, Richmond Park Association, and the Milliken Park Community Association. Annually, the City of Toronto staff, the advisory board, and the community associations organize special events for the communities at Milliken Park Community Recreation Centre. Some examples of these major events include the annual Community Christmas Party, Spring Fling, and Fall Fair.

The demographics of the community is made up of mainly immigrants with a strong Chinese Canadian presence. It is home to one of several Chinatowns in Toronto. For this reason, a new retail commercial condominium project is underway in the area called The Landmark. The Chinese-theme mall will become one of the largest Asian malls in the Greater Toronto Area. In recent years, the South Asian population has also boomed within the region, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Gujarati community. For example, a South Asian movie theatre is now located at the Woodside Square Mall at McCowan and Finch and plans are also in place for a major South Asian mall to be developed at Finch and Middlefield.

Schools

Elementary Schools

Milliken, Markham

• Aldergrove Public School, Markham
• Armadale Public School, Markham

Coppard Glen Public School

• Highgate Public School, Markham
• Milliken Mills Public School, Markham
• Randall Public School, Markham
• Parkland Public School, Markham
• Wilclay Public School, Markham
• St. Benedict Catholic Elementary School, Markham
• St. Francis Xavier Catholic Elementary School, Markham
• St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Elementary School, Markham
• Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School, Markham

Milliken, Toronto

• Agnes McPhail Public School, Toronto
• Alexmuir Junior Public School, Toronto
• Banting and Best Public Elementary School, Toronto
• Brimwood Public School, Toronto
• Milliken Public School, Toronto
• Macklin Public School, Toronto
• Our Lady of Grace Catholic Elementary School, Toronto
• Port Royal Public School, Toronto
• Prince of Peace Catholic Elementary School, Toronto
• St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Elementary School, Toronto
• St. Rene Goupil Catholic Elementary School, Toronto

High Schools

Toronto

• Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, Toronto
• Francis Liberman Separate Secondary School, Toronto
• Mary Ward Separate Secondary School, Toronto

Markham

• Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy, Markham
• Milliken Mills High School, Markham
• Middlefield Collegiate Institute, Markham

Transportation

• York Region Transit
• Toronto Transit Commission
• GO Transit-Milliken Station

Malls

• Pacific Mall, Markham
• Market Village, Markham (proposed: Remington Centre)
• Splendid China Tower, Toronto
• Woodside Square, Toronto
• Super Centre, Markham
• The Landmark, Toronto

Parks

Parks in Milliken, Markham

• Miliken Mills Community Park, Markham
• Wilclay Park, Markham
• Aldergrove Park, Markham
• Denison Park, Markham
• Armadale Park, Markham
• Randall Park, Markham
• Harvest Moon Park, Markham
• Risebrough Park, Markham
• Highgate Park, Markham

Parks in Milliken, Toronto

• L'Amoreaux Park, Toronto
• Goldhawk Park, Toronto
• Port Royal Park, Toronto
• Audrelane Park, Toronto
• Alexmuir Park, Toronto
• Brimley Woods Park, Toronto
• Bridletowne Park, Toronto
• Warden Avenue Park, Toronto
• Fundy Bay Park, Toronto
• Terry Fox Park, Toronto
• Milliken Park, Toronto

People from Milliken

A list of people who lived or attended schools in the area:

Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School alumni

• Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther, professional musicians (Dala)^[5][6]
• Brittnee Habbib, gymnast, participated in the 2006 Commonwealth Games^[7]
• Craig Kielburger, Free The Children (Cofounder)^[8]
• Jerome Liu, Our Kids Our Future (Cofounder)
• Joshua Liu (attended 2002–2006), SMARTS (Founder), Our Kids Our Future (Cofounder) and Top 20 Under Twenty Awards recipient^[9]
• Pat Mastroianni, Degrassi Junior High (1987–89), Degrassi High (1990), Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2005); (Joey Jeremiah)
• Cassie Steele, Degrassi: The Next Generation (Manny Santos), 2003–2004

Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute alumni

• Mark Taylor (actor) - Canadian actor
• Cherie Piper - Olympic hockey player
• Sunny Fong - fashion designer, winner of Project Runway Canada

Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute alumni

• Dianne Buckner - Host of CBC Television's Venture
• Jamillah Ross - Cast member of PopCultured on The Comedy Network
• Paul Bernardo - Serial killer and "Scarborough Rapist"

Francis Libermann Catholic High School alumni

• Merella Fernandez - CityTV reporter and host

Dr Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute alumni

• Steve Chao, journalist for CTV News
• Jay Manuel, makeup artist, fashion photographer and creative director of the America's Next Top Model and Canada's Next Top Model TV shows
• Dwayne Morgan, spoken word artist
• Mike Ricci, retired NHL player
• Kevin Weekes, professional ice hockey player for the National Hockey League

Milliken Mills High School Alumni

• George Kottaras - Professional Baseball Player, Milwaukee Brewers, Major League Baseball

References

1. ^ Housing sample in Markham, Ontario Census Tract 0401.03
2. ^ Housing data on Census Tract 0376.05
3. ^ See Isabel Champion, ed., Markham: 1793-1900 (Markham, ON: Markham Historical Society, 1979), pp. 276f; 74f (Milliken family); 339 (post office). See also the detailed 1878 map, "Township of Markham," Illustrated historical atlas of the county of York and the township of West Gwillimbury & town of Bradford in the county of Simcoe, Ont. (Toronto: Miles & Co., 1878).
4. ^ See Isabel Champion, ed., Markham: 1793-1900 (Markham, ON: Markham Historical Society, 1979), p. 156.
5. ^ Raposo, Nelia (2005-10-20). "Tuneful twosome". http://media.www.thevarsity.ca/media/storage/paper285/news/2005/10/20/ArtsCulture/Tuneful.Twosome-1028348.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
6. ^ umusic.ca :: Dala
7. ^ 2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne
8. ^ Director's Annual Report 1998. Retrieved on 2007-05-27. "Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School student Craig Kielburger received the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship."
9. ^ 2005 Top 20 Under 20T Award Recipients

External links

• Milliken
• http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/profiles_map_and_index.htm

Coordinates: 43°49′31″N 79°18′01″W / 43.82528°N 79.30028°W / 43.82528; -79.30028