History of Richmond Hill, Ontario - Electric Rail Arrives

Electric Rail Arrives

On November 19, 1896, the first electric train of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company arrived in Richmond Hill from Toronto. The line ran along Yonge Street from Toronto to Richmond Hill. The electric cars shortered the time to travel from Toronto's northern limit to Richmond Hill to forty-five minutes from the previous three-hour rides by stagecoach. The electric train brought immediate change to Richmond Hill. John Thompson's stagecoach line was soon out of business. Other businesses fared much better, with general trade going up thirty-five percent from 1896 to 1898. The electric rail line was quickly extended north, reaching Newmarket in 1899, but Richmond Hill was now connected to Toronto, with the Toronto World predicting Richmond Hill would become a suburb of Toronto, and The Liberal repeating their thoughts. The Metropolitan Street Railway Company bought some land adjacent to Bond Lake, then a short journey north of Richmond Hill. Bond lake was the first electric park (a park lit with electric lights) built in Ontario. The park featured a baseball diamond, a display pavilion and the lake for swimming, fishing and boating. It drew tourists to the area with its own stop on the Metropolitan Street Railway Company line.

In 1904, the Metropolitan Street Railway Company was acquired by the Toronto and York Radial Railway Company, which led to more tracks being laid across southern Ontario, and more trains passing through Richmond Hill. 1904 also saw the construction of a second railway through Richmond Hill. The James Bay Railway built a railway station in Richmond Hill on its line from Toronto to Sudbury. The new station Centre Street East was much closer to the centre of Richmond Hill. It opened in November 1906 and soon was the main route for shipping freight, although the electric line along Yonge Street remain the dominant method of passenger travel.

Richmond Hill made a deal with the Toronto and York Radial Railway Company in 1912 to buy electrical power from them as they were generating a surplus from their Bond Lake generator. The system was set into place and on December 30, 1912 the electric streetlights on Richmond Hill were lit up for the first time. Some commercial stores began using electric lighting that same day and the next. Other shops, factories and homes began to connect to the network.