In 2004, Heritage Markham, Council’s advisory committee on heritage matters, won the Napier Simpson Junior Award from the Ontario Historical Society. The award honours a municipal heritage committee in Ontario for special contributions to heritage conservation in its municipality in the recent past.
Heritage Markham members are volunteers, appointed by Council, and contribute an extraordinary amount of time at committee meetings, on site visits, advising heritage property owners on appropriate restoration and maintenance practices, and promoting heritage conservation initiatives in the community.
The award itself has a Markham connection. Napier Simpson Junior was resident in Thornhill-Markham the 1970s, during the founding years of the Heritage Markham committee. Mr. Simpson had his architectural office in the red cottage on Colborne Street. The Ontario Historical Society named this award in honour of Mr. Simpson to acknowledge his work in the preservation of both Ontario and Canadian heritage resources. Mr. Simpson died in a plane crash in 1978 while working for the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.