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Heritage sidewalk markers
Visitors may have trouble keeping their eyes off the new Main Street sidewalks. That’s not just because the new cement, appealing brickwork and abundant planters will adorn the sidewalks with tremendous appeal!
Heritage markers have been implanted in these sidewalks telling stories of Main Street’s most historic locations.
Did you know that 1837 Rebellion leader William Lyon Mackenzie kicked off his campaign for government change in the old colony of Upper Canada with a speech from the balcony of a hotel at Botsford and Main Streets? Or that Robert Simpson, founder of Simpson’s department stores – one of Canada’s retailing giants in the 20th century – got his start on Main Street? You might also learn from the plaques that an early 1800s fur trading post was one of Newmarket's first businesses.
The Newmarket Historical Society will provide research and the Newmarket Downtown Development Subcommittee (NDDS) will install the plaques – just part of the effort to give Newmarket one of the most interesting downtowns in Canada.
Street plaques
West side
Charles Hargrave Simpson Building 184 Main St. S
Ontario’s first woman druggist, Anne Mary Simpson, operated an apothecary here from 1886 to 1914. Building is c. 1850.
Wesley Block 200 Main St. S.
Site of the North American Hotel, a coaching house where William Lyon Mackenzie made an important pre-rebellion speech in August, 1837. In 1903 the Sovereign Bank building replaced the hotel.
Robert Simpson store 226 Main St. S.
Robert Simpson opened his first business with partner William Trent on this corner in 1858. In 1871 he moved to Toronto, founding department store chain Robert Simpson Co
King George Hotel 232 main St. S.
King George Hotel, circa 1845, was established by James Forsyth as the Forsythe House on the site of an earlier hotel owned by fur traders Roe & Borland.
Cawthra House 262 Main St. S.
Cawthra House, c. 1830, replaced John Cawthra’s trading post on this site. It was his home, store and Newmarket’s first bank (est. 1865). Danforth Roche’s general store was here from 1876 to 1923.
East side
Dr. William G. Hutt home and practice 145 Main St. S.
First six-bed hospital in York County opened here in 1922 by Drs. Lowell Dales and J.H. Wesley, forerunner of York County Hospital (Southlake Regional Health Centre). It became a public institution in 1924.
Roadhouse And Rose 157 Main St. S.
Roadhouse & Rose is Newmarket’s oldest business. Founder Samuel Roadhouse became a cabinetmaker apprentice with John Botsford in 1838 and five years later owner of the business. In 1921 the firm took its present name.
William N. Starr building 189 Main St. S.
Constructed 1863, building was a hardware, bakery, books and stationary store, an early telephone exchange (1910), and 1919-45 Theodore Bolton’s bakery. Elman Campbell follwed with a stationary and china business here.
Caldwell Block 205 Main St. S.
In 1864 Robert Simpson and partner M.W. Bogart moved their business here. Burned out in October, 1870, the store reopened two months later. In June, 1871 Simpson left to open a Toronto department store.
William Roe fur trading post 253-261 Main St. S.
William Roe became a fur trader at the ford on the Holland River in 1814. His first post was here. It eventually grew into a substantial home, a general store and post office.
