King Creek was the one time name for the East Humber River and a former community on Mill Road in the Township of King. Originally settled by Christopher Stokes in 1834 and known as Stoke's Hollow, later King Creek, the community grew around his grist mill and later included a flour mill, general store, shoe shop and in 1866 a Post Office. In July 1937, a plan of subdivision was registered for Humber Trails as a summer residential district nestled in the valley around King Creek west of Mill Road. After Hurricane Hazel, in the fall of 1954, the Toronto Regional Park Authority expropriated the land creating the Humber Trails Conservation area. One street named Elmpine Trails, on the south side of the King Creek, was not expropriated as the homes were on high ground with no chance of a flood damaging the houses. Several properties on Mill Road were also not expropriated for the same reason. For approximately fifteen years the Humber Trails Conservation Area was a manicured park. However a decision was made to allow the park to become a nature preserve. Today there are few signs that streets and homes and later, a manicured park had existed in the valley, except for a few walking paths and a King Creek post office structure that was assimilated into the buildings of a private residence and working farm located on either side of Mill Road.
King Township,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. The area is located immediately east of
Nobleton. To the east is
King City.
Environment
The Humber Trails Forest and Wildlife Area is a protected park in King Township. A tributary to the Humber River (Ontario), the East Humber River, formerly The King Creek passes through this park.
The King Creek Marsh is a provincially significant
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
, wholly
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
es, primarily composed of
submergent vegetation and narrow-leaved
emergents. It rests upon a 41,800 square metre
palustrine
Palustrine wetlands include any inland wetland that contains ocean-derived salts in concentrations of less than 0.5 parts per thousand, and is non- tidal. The word ''palustrine'' comes from the Latin word ''palus'' or marsh. Wetlands within this ...
site of
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
,
loam and
silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...
.
Residents vote in
Ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
2 in King Township municipal elections.
In film
* An episode of ''
The Forest Rangers'', "The Dog Catcher", was shot at King Creek in 1963. Mill Road and Elmpine Trail can be seen, as well as the former concrete bridge over the creek.
References
Government of Ontario - Ministry of Natural Resources - Natural Areas Report: KING CREEK MARSH
Communities in King, Ontario
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