German Mills Community Centre

Located in Thornhill, Ontario

The historic German Mills Community Centre built in 1874 is a quaint schoolhouse available to host small events or long-term rentals. Located in Thornhill, the schoolhouse is nestled in the quiet German Mills neighbourhood on beautiful green space. The rental includes access to the schoolhouse and a large outdoor space.

What we offer:

A cozy and intimate environment on large green space surrounded by beautiful mature trees
Access to an outdoor children’s playground located on the fenced property
Use of preferred vendors for catering, decoration and entertainment
Simple and affordable rental rates
Possible storage space for long-term rentals
Centrally located in the Thornhill area, easily accessible from major highways
Free street parking

The German Mills Community Centre is located at 80 German Mills Road, on the west side of the street north of Shellaray Drive in Thornhill, in the City of Markham. The single storey board and batten one-room schoolhouse was constructed in 1874. The building and property is owned by the City and managed by a volunteer board of directors that includes the local municipal councillor and city staff.

The property was designated as a heritage site by the Town of Markham in 1980 for its architectural value.

The German Mills Community Centre is set back from the main road on the original lot for the village schoolhouse. The structure is surrounded on all sides by lawn and rows of spruce trees planted in the late 1890s by Leonard S. Klinck that mark the perimeter of the lot and frame the schoolhouse in its natural setting.

The German Mills Community Centre was originally Public School S.S. No. 2 and the focal point for the early German Mills settlement. The one-room schoolhouse rests on the site of the first school in the community. More than thirty teachers taught at the school including Leonard S. Klinck who served as the President of the University of British Columbia from 1919 to 1944. Classes continued to be held in the building until 1962 and it now functions as a community centre.

The German Mills Community Centre is a good representation of Gothic Revival architecture following the principles of the one-room schoolhouse built throughout Ontario in the nineteenth century. Rectangular in shape and three bays deep, the schoolhouse rests on a stone foundation with walls of board and batten. A unique feature of this building's construction style, the battens rise up and curve into scallops under the boxed cornice. Decorative details such as these scallops and the wooden quatrefoil within a circle and plain segmental curve moulding above centrally positioned under the front gable show the influence of the Gothic Revival style. Arched windows attest to the Gothic Revival style. A date tablet with the building's original name is placed above the facade window.

German Mills Community Centre

Located in Thornhill, Ontario

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