Thornton is an unincorporated place in

Essa Township Essa is a township in Ontario, Canada, west and south of the city of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is bounded by County Road 90 to its north, County Road 27 to its east, and Ontario Highway 89 to its south. The township is about from Toronto. Th ...

Simcoe County Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...

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. It had a population of 986 as of the 2016 Census. It is north of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

History

The town of Thornton developed during the 1820s, and in 1833 was established as Henrysville (or Henry's Corners) after early settler John Henry, who was the first teacher and then the schoolmaster, and later became the postmaster when an office opened in 1854. The name Henrysville caused confusion in the mail system at the time, so the community became Thornton in 1854 after Henry Thornton, who owned a grist mill, saw mill and planning mill.

Recent history

Thornton has had two subdivisions built within the hamlet in the last 10 years. As of January 2019, there is a new residential subdivision of estate homes currently under development on the west side of Hwy. 27 (Barrie Street). The Thornton Crossing Plaza has also been built with a variety of businesses including the Thornton Post Office and a few private businesses.

Geography

Thornton is located on generally flat and fertile soils about north of

Cookstown, Ontario Innisfil is a town in Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County, immediately south of Barrie and north of Toronto. It has historically been a rural area, but due to being geographically sandwiched in between ...

, and south of Barrie, Ontario. The

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross- Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail exten ...

runs through Thornton and the intersection of Country Road 21 and County Road 27 marks the core of the hamlet of Thornton.

Attractions

* The fire station in Thornton is run by volunteers and is a municipal service that provides help in emergency situations, education about fire prevention, and fire permits. The fire station building is shared with Essa Public Library.Thornton Fire Station
/ref> * The Essa Public Library was founded in December 1996. It also has a meeting room for community events and activities and provides internet access to its clients.
/ref> * Thornton Arena is where the Thornton Tigers play, a minor hockey league team.Thornton Tigers
/ref>

References

{{authority control Communities in Simcoe County Designated places in Ontario