Alton is a community located in Caledon,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. It is also part of the

Region of Peel The Regional Municipality of Peel (informally Peel Region or Region of Peel, also formerly Peel County) is a regional municipality in the Greater Toronto Area, Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of three municipalities to the west and northwest ...

. It was established in 1820. Alton has a population of 1,116 people.

History

Alton was originally settled in the 1816 by Martin Middaugh Jr, a

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

who received a 200 acre land grant from the Crown, likely for military service. In the ensuing years a hamlet emerged thanks to a prosperous milling operation on Shaw Creek a tributary of the

Credit River The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately . The total l ...

. In 1852 with the population growing this community needed a post office and therefore an official name. A town hall meeting was held to come up with a name. John Meek, son of Robert Meek who owned the popular general store in the village suggested the name Alton, as he held in hand a newspaper from

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) * Alton (surname) Places Australia * Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zeala ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and it was chosen as name of the village. The new post office opened in 1854. Soon after Meek opened Alton’s first hotel. Alton prospered thanks to the mills which powered a number of different industries over the year. Alton was built up largely between the 1850s and early 1900s. Prior to its amalgamation into the Town of Caledon, Alton was a

police village A police village was a form of municipal government that was used in the province of Ontario, Canada in the early 19th century if the finances or the population of an area did not permit the creation of a village. Formation In the early 19th centu ...

similarly to other villages located within Caledon, such as Caledon Village. There were also several mills built throughout the village, and for a considerable period of time, it was the main form of economic activity from Alton, likewise to

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Geography

1877 Peel Atlas pg48-49 Alton Cataract etc PN2019 21774-7

Alton is located near the Caledon Creek and the Alton Pond, where the Millcroft Inn is located upon. It is also located on the banks of Shaw's Creek. An old 1-track rail line lies at the east end of the community. New houses are currently being built west of Main Street (Peel Regional Road 136), as part of the ''Ospey Mills Community''. The

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...

runs north of the community.

Places of interest

* Alton Mill Arts Centre * Millcroft Inn and Spa * TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley * Paul Morin Gallery

References

{{Reflist Neighbourhoods in Caledon, Ontario