Bolton (
2021 population 26,795) is an
unincorporated town and is the most populous community in the town of
Caledon,
Ontario, Canada, in the
Regional Municipality of Peel. It is located beside the
Humber River, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of
Toronto. In regional documents, it is referred to as a 'Rural Service Centre'. It has 26,795 residents in 9,158 total dwellings. The downtown area that historically defined the village is in a valley, through which flows the Humber River. The village extends on either side of the valley to the north and south.
Geography
The conservation lands' forests dominate a large part of the north and the east, including along the Humber valley. These conservation lands have created several recreational areas, including parts of the Humber Valley Heritage Trail. Farmland and the protected
Oak Ridges Moraine dominate the landscape surrounding the village.
There are two
400-series highways nearby, including
Highway 427, about 9 km southeast (the highway's northern terminus being at Major Mackenzie Drive), and
Highway 400, about 14 km east (exit at King Road).
To the northwest is the community of Glasgow, which pays homage to an earlier planned settlement also called Glasgow. The older settlement was established in 1855 but merged into Bolton in 1872. Old Glasgow was supposed to house mill workers, it later served as a summer getaway for Toronto’s Jewish community from 1925 to 1950, then home to Edelweiss Ski Club. The planned community has naturalized again and now exists as Edelweiss Park and Humber Valley Heritage Trail.
History
The community, formerly known as Bolton Mills, was founded around 1822 when James Bolton helped build a flour mill for his relative George Bolton. By 1857, Bolton was a village with a population of 700 in the
Township of Albion in
Peel County.
George Evans was a prominent early settler in the area.
It was established on the Humber River, on the line of the proposed
Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway. There were stages to and from Weston. The average price of land was $40 to $50 per acre.