It was named for Uxbridge, England, a name which was originally derived from "Wixan's Bridge". The Wixan were a 7th-century Saxon tribe from Lincolnshire who also began to settle in what became Middlesex.
The first settlers in the area were Quakers who started arriving in 1806 from the Catawissa area of Pennsylvania. The community's oldest building, the Uxbridge Friends Meeting House, was built in 1820 and overlooks the town from Quaker Hill, a kilometre to the west.
The township was incorporated as a municipality in 1850 and became part of the newly formed Ontario County two years later.
The first passenger carrying narrow gauge railway in North America, the Toronto and Nipissing Railway arrived in Uxbridge in June 1871, and for over a decade Uxbridge was the headquarters of the railway. In 1872, the Village of Uxbridge was separated from the Township and incorporated as a separate entity.
In 2009 Uxbridge Township received federal designation by Industry Canada as The Trail Capital of Canada, resulting from the over 220 kilometers of managed trails on over 8,000 acres (32 km2) of protected greenspace within its borders. Uxbridge trails run through and alongside historic villages, mixed forests, meadows, ponds, streams, and wetlands. A number of major trail systems run through the Township, including the Oak Ridges Trail and the Trans-Canada Trail.
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| Thomas Foster Memorial Temple |
Being a bit of a film buff I was surprised and pleased to see how many films used Uxbridge at least partly, as their location. Films such as:
The House Without A Christmas Tree - 1972
The Littlest Hobo - 1980's (dog story)
Road To Avonlea
Once Upon A Hamster - 1995
Christmas In My Hometown - 1996
The Long Kiss Goodnight - 1996
Jerry and Tom - 1998
A Map of the World - 1999
Driven - 2001
Serendipity - 2001
Prancer Returns - 2001
A History of Violence - 2005
Lars and the Real Girl - 2007
Grey Gardens - 2009
The Township of Uxbridge
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