Sharon (formerly Hope) is a former village now incorporated into the municipality of the Town of
East Gwillimbury
East Gwillimbury is a town (lower-tier municipality) on the East Holland River in the upper-tier municipality the Regional Municipality of York. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area of southern Ontario, in Canada. It was formed by the amalgama ...
,
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, formerly the Township of East Gwillimbury. The municipal offices of the town are in Sharon.
The community's most historic building is the
Sharon Temple, once the meeting house of the
Children of Peace (or Davidites). It is part of the musical, political, religious and architectural heritage of Ontario and is now a museum and
National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...
. The museum hosts a number of concerts and educational programs, and has hosted the Words Alive Literary Festival since 2007.
In the mid to late 1980s, housing developments were built in the area around Sharon. Further developments have continued slowly around Sharon since 2002.
History
The village of Sharon grew around the farm of
David Willson (Lot 10, Second Conc.), the leader of the Quaker denomination known as the
Children of Peace. The Children of Peace constructed a series of meeting houses on Willson's farm, which became the core of the utopian community they called Hope. They changed the name to Sharon in 1841 (after the Sharon Temple) to acquire a post office.
Transportation
Sharon has bus service by
York Region Transit
York Region Transit (YRT) is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road.
YRT operates 65 full-time rush hour and limited routes, 35 school services, and six Viva ...
(Route 50 Queensway), as well as commuter train service from
GO Transit
GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
through
East Gwillimbury Station in the southwestern corner of Sharon.
The area is served by
Highway 404 which is accessed via the Green Lane interchange. Before 2001, the nearest interchange was a couple of kilometres south at Davis Drive in
Newmarket. Plans exist to extend the highway through East Gwillimbury and further north have been completed with highway now terminating at Woodbine Avenue in
Ravenshoe, Ontario.
Surrounding communities
*
Queensville
Queensville is a village within the Town of East Gwillimbury, Ontario, Canada.
History
Originally named ''Four Corners'' and ''Hackett's Corners'' (after William Hackett owner of a general store), it was renamed as ''Queensville'' in 1843 to h ...
, north
*
Mount Albert, east
*
Newmarket south
*
Holland Landing
Holland Landing is a community in the town of East Gwillimbury, located in the northern part of the Regional Municipality of York, in south-central Ontario, Canada. Its major road is Yonge Street (bypassed by the former Highway 11) and the commu ...
, west
Government
At a local level Sharon is located in East Gwillimbury Ward 2 and represented by two town councillors.
See also
*
List of communities in Ontario {{short description, None
There are various lists of communities in Ontario, grouped by status, type or location:
*List of census subdivisions in Ontario - counties, districts and regional municipalities
*List of cities in Ontario - places which a ...
External links
Town of East Gwillimbury
{{authority control
Communities in the Regional Municipality of York
East Gwillimbury