Heritage Partners

There are many individuals and organizations that can contribute to Markham heritage conservation efforts including municipal and community organizations as well as provincial and federal associations.

Municipal Partners

Within the City, there are a number of groups and organizations involved in heritage conservation:

• Heritage Markham is Council's advisory committee on heritage properties.
• Heritage Section staff of Markham's Development Services Commission coordinates and implements the City’s heritage conservation program.
• The City Historian is also very knowledgeable of historic issues.
  Email Lorne Smith lorne.smith@sympatico.ca
• The Main Street Markham Committee helps to promote and protect the village character of Markham Village
• City staff and community organizations help operate a number of municipally owned heritage properties

Local Research Facilities

Historical information is available at these local research facilities:

• The Markham Library offers books and resources on local history as well as the Lunau Collection
• Markham Museum's Research Centre offers an extensive archival collection of historical research materials.
• The Thornhill Archives offers a growing collection of historical information focused on the Thornhill area.
• Educational research can be found at the Heritage Schoolhouse in Buttonville

Local Heritage Groups

Want to know more about local history? Consider joining one of these organizations:

• Society for the Preservation of Historic Thornhill – SPOHT
• Markham Historical Society — Established in 1969, the Markham Historical Society is the oldest historical association in our community. Members research, record and interpret the history of Markham. Meetings are held monthly at Markham Museum and the society publishes a quarterly newsletter. All are welcome. To join, please contact Markham Museum at 905.305.5970.
• Markham Village Conservancy
• Markham Berczy Settlers Association
• Pennsylvania German Folklore Society of Ontario (York Chapter)
• Pomona Mills Park Conservationists
• Unionville Historical Society - email: unionville150@bellnet.ca

Property Owners Associations

• Ward 1 South Thornhill Ratepayers Inc.
• Thornhill Conservation District Ratepayers Association
• Unionville Villagers Association
• Old Markham Village Ratepayers
• Vinegar Hill Ratepayers

A number of property owners associations have a special interest in protecting and preserving the heritage character and resources within their specific boundaries. Find out more by contacting:

See our list of Markham Ratepayers Associations

Business Improvement Area Associations

The City has two BIA associations which are located within the Markham Village and Unionville heritage conservation districts and both are excellent heritage partners:

• Markham Village BIA
• Unionville BIA

Other Heritage Groups/Organizations

(non-governmental)

• Community Heritage Ontario (the umbrella organization for municipal heritage committees in the province of Ontario)
• Architectural Conservancy of Ontario
• Ontario Historical Society
• Ontario Genealogical Society
• Ontario Genealogical Society (York Region Branch - provides services for local family history research)
• Archives Association of Ontario
  (provides access to Ontario's Archival Information Network)
• Heritage Canada Foundation (Canada’s national non-government voice of heritage conservation)
• Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals (professional heritage consultants on a wide variety of heritage subject matter)
• ICOMOS Canada (Canadian National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites)

Provincial and Federal Partners

• Rouge Park Cultural Heritage
• Ontario Ministry of Culture – Heritage
• Ontario Heritage Trust (an agency of the provincial government preserving and protecting provincially significant sites)
• Archives of Ontario (preserves the province’s documentary heritage and makes it available to the public)
• Department of Canadian Heritage
• National Archives of Canada