Holland Landing, Ontario

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Holland Landing is a village in the town of East Gwillimbury, located in the northern part of the Regional Municipality of York, in south-central Ontario. Its major road is Yonge Street (bypassed by the former Highway 11) and the village has bus service by GO Transit and York Region Transit. The East Gwillimbury GO train station is in the south-east corner of Holland Landing, providing weekday commuter train service. The East Holland River runs through the town and has several marinas for recreational boats.

Most of Holland Landing's internal economy is based on the service industry, and some manufacturing. The village has three primary schools, Holland Landing Public School (YRDSB), Park Avenue Public School (YRDSB) and Good Shepherd Catholic School (YCDSB).

In 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe discovered what would be the future site of Holland Landing, originally known as St. Albans, and believed this area would make an ideal shipping and defense point between York (now Toronto) and Georgian Bay. Holland Landing was named after Samuel Holland, first Surveyor General of British North America, who had served on the HMS Pembroke, under Captain John Simcoe, for whom Lake Simcoe is named.

Holland Landing was the northernmost point on the original alignment of Yonge Street. North of the town the Holland River is easily navigable, and the location was selected as a well sited inland port for Lake Simcoe, via the river. It was intended that Yonge Street, in combination with the similar Penetanguishene Road further north, would provide access to the upper Great Lakes from the city of York (now Toronto). Holland Landing, then known as St. Albans, would be a major point on this route.

However it never served this intended role in any real capacity. The closest it came was during the War of 1812, when the British decided to re-take the entire lake system through the construction of a number of first-rate ships in Kingston and Penetanguishene. A large anchor, over fifteen long and weighing approximately 4000 lbs, for the frigate under construction at Penetanguishene was shipped from England and made it as far as Holland Landing when the war ended. Today it serves as the gate guard at Anchor Park.

The town proper was not formed until the early 19th century, settled by the same Quaker immigrants as nearby Newmarket and Aurora.

Samuel Lount, a martyr of the 1837 Rebellion led by William Lyon Mackenzie, farmed and operated a smithy here. Lount was captured later, convicted of treason, and hanged on April 12, 1838.