Buttonville, Markham

Buttonville is a suburban neighbourhood and former hamlet in the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada, bordering the larger Unionville district. The hamlet was named after its founder, John Button.

About 30,000 residents live in the area, which is located along the Woodbine Avenue corridor from approximately Highway 7 in the south to Sixteenth Avenue in the north, with the historic hamlet itself located roughly midway between the two arterials. The Rouge River flows through the northeast and Highway 404 passes by in the west (forming Buttonville's and the City of Markham's boundary), with two interchanges. The residential area is located in the eastern, northeastern, and the northern sections, and the industrial area is to the west and the south down to Highway 7.

There is talk about renaming the community to the John Button Community after its founder since there has been confusion between Unionville and Buttonville, which is popularly considered to be part of Unionville.

History

The area was first settled by

Housing developments began to appear in the 1960s as

Buttonville Municipal Airport was located at 16th Avenue and Highway 404 and was a medium-sized general aviation airport that operated from 1953 to 2023. Weather data was collected there by Environment and Climate Change Canada.^[4], but closed along with the airport. The former airfield is planned to be redeveloped for residential and commercial uses.^[5]

Geography

• Population:
  • 1990: about 10,000
  • 2002: about 30,000

Farmlands formerly surrounded Buttonville and between 1980 and 2000, the farmlands were developed. Forests were also found around Buttonville, especially to its south. The area is home to several technology companies in the northeast.^[6]

Transportation

One major highway and several arterial roads pass through or near the neighbourhood:

• Highway 404 runs north–south on the west side of and connected to east-south streets
• Highway 7 runs east–west on the south side.
• Sixteenth Avenue runs east–west on the north side.
• Woodbine Avenue runs north–south through its centre. The historic settlement itself is located along it south of Sixteenth Avenue.

Public transit in Buttonville is provided by:

• York Region Transit / Viva Rapid Transit routes Viva Purple, 1 Highway 7 (both serving Highway 7), 85 Rutherford-16th (Sixteenth), and 24 Woodbine (Woodbine) operate regular bus service.

Nearby places

• East Beaver Creek (City of Richmond Hill), west
• Unionville, east
• Milliken, south
• Cachet, north

Education

• Buttonville PS
• YRDSB Museum and Archives housed in 1850 Buttonville Schoolhouse

References