Clarkson, Mississauga, Ontario

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Clarkson Village is a community located in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto. The community is located in the south west corner of Mississauga, along the banks of Lake Ontario. The community is bordered by Lake Ontario to the south, Oakville to the west, Erindale and Erin Mills to the north, and Lorne Park to the East.

Contents 1 History 2 Today 3 Sites of Interest 4 Transportation

[edit] History

In 1808, fifteen year old Warren Clarkson and his brother Joshua left their home in Albany, New York to seek their fortune in Canada. They had been invited to come work for a friend of the family who had bought land near Lake Ontario. Warren liked the area very much and decided to stay. He worked hard so that someday he would be able to own property. When he was twenty-six he had saved enough money to buy land and build a home. Warren married and began to raise a family. As the years went by Warren bought more land. He built the community's first store along the stagecoach trail. Fifteen years later the town council named this trail Clarkson Road.

A post office was opened in the family store and William Clarkson, Warren's son became the postmaster. For the next forty five years a member of the Clarkson family would run the post office. Clarkson community never grew very large. It had a few houses and shops along Clarkson Road, a railway station, a school, and a church. Less than one hundred people lived in this quiet community.

In 1856, Captain Edward Sutherland (1794-1885) moved to Clarkson with his seven children. A widower, he purchased "Bush's Inn," a former inn and coach house that was the halfway point between Hamilton, Ontario and Toronto (this building, a private residence, still stands on Clarkson Road South). Here, he is said to have introduced both strawberry and raspberry cultivation to the area. Clarkson eventually became the "Strawberry Capital of Ontario," and commercial fruit farming expanded in the area through the rest of the 19th and into the early 20th century. In 1915, a sign was erected at the Clarkson railway station declaring "Through this station passes more strawberries than any other station in Ontario." The Sutherlands later became connected by marriage to the Harrises of Benares (see "Sites of Interest" below).

[edit] Today

Although the community and the surrounding area consists mostly of a mix of upper and middle class homes, some of the last major industrial sites in Mississauga outline the community, including:

• a Petro-Canada Oil Refinery, which produces lubricants
• a St. Lawrence Cement Terminal, which distributes Cement via truck throughout Toronto.
• Clarkson Secondary School, grades 9 through 12.
• 4 identical guyed masts which stand appoximatly 550-600ft tall, making them the tallest structures in Mississauga.
• CFRB 1010 and 1050 CHUM AM Radio Transmit from these antennas.
• Orion Bus Industries. A major manufacturer of buses for public transportation.
• Electrovaya A manufacturer of portable computers and batteries.
• and an assortment of small farms.

[edit] Sites of Interest

Clarkson is home to both of the City of Mississauga's historic museums: Bradley Museum and Benares House.

The Bradley Museum provides a window into the everyday life of early settlers in Ontario, and hosts Sunday teas, rotating exhibits, and special events. The museum grounds include the original farmhouse built in 1830 by Lewis and Elizabeth Bradley, a United Loyalist couple who lived in the house with their seven children. The Anchorage, a Regency-style cottage built in 1837, was moved from its original location on the shores of Lake Ontario to the Bradley grounds in 1978. The Anchorage was the retirement home of Royal Navy Officer John Skynner (1762-1846), and remained derelict after being moved to the museum grounds until sufficient funds for its rehabilitation were raised in 1991.

Benares House, located on the border between Clarkson and the neighbouring community of Lorne Park, was built in 1918 and inhabited by four generations of the Harris and Sayers families. Rumored to be the inspiration for Canadian author Mazo de la Roche's famous "Whiteoak Chronicles" (or "Jalna series") novels, the Benares estate and most of its contents were donated to the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1968 by the great-grandchildren of Captain Harris. The site was fully restored and opened to the public in 1995. Benares now houses an interpretive gallery and hosts special events including monthly screenings of Hollywood classics, including the 1935 movie "Jalna" based on the first novel in Mazo de la Roche's popular series.

In addition to discovering these historic sites, visitors may also explore Rattray Marsh. This ecologically sensitive wetland is the last remaining lakefront marsh between Burlington, Ontario and Toronto, and provides superb opportunities for bird watching while strolling along boardwalks and well-maintained trails. Amazingly abundant displays of white trilliums, the floral emblem and provincial flower of Ontario, may be seen in late April and early May.

[edit] Transportation

Although Lakeshore Road passes right through Clarkson Village, the area is one of Mississauga's transportation hubs with a commuter rail and bus station as well as two major highways crossing nearby: The Clarkson train station GO Transit and the bus terminal Mississauga Transit. The train trip takes 29 minutes from Clarkson to downtown Toronto.

Clarkson also has quick access to the provincial freeways Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 403, 5km further to the north.