Brooklin, Ontario

Brooklin is a community in the town of Whitby, Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the urban area of Whitby, at the south junction of Ontario Highways 12 and 7.Brooklin is located primarily in a rural area, with hills covering the north and the west. The hills and forests that dominate the north are part of the South Slope of the Oak Ridges Moraine. It is located within the Lynde Creek Watershed which retains 19 to 26% of its forest cover The population has grown steadily since the early 1990s, with the addition of thousands of homes surrounding the heart of Brooklin.GeographyPopulation: estimated 20,000 Area: 9 km²-density: - low Location: northern area within The Corporation of the Town of WhitbyName of inhabitants: Brooklinite sing., -s pl. Farmlands dominated and some farms have now become residential areas to the south and east; hills and forests are covered with pine and other types of forests especially oaks and birches covers the west, the north and east with some farming. Macedonian Village is located about 6 km to the southwest, housing about 100 residents. The villages of Ashburn and Myrtle are about 5 km to the north of the village. Highway 407 opened on June 20, 2016 and travels just south of Brooklin along a power line transmission corridor.HistoryThe area around Brooklin began to be settled in the 1820s. The community itself grew after 1840, when brothers John & Robert Campbell built a flour mill on Lynde Creek. (The present mill building was built in 1848 after a lightning fire destroyed the original.) The village was originally named Winchester, but renamed when the post office was established to avoid duplication with a village named Winchester in eastern Ontario. In 1847, the residents chose to rename the community Brooklin, possibly from Brooklyn, New York or Brooklin, Maine. It could have been named for the "brook" that ran through the town, but this waterway has always been described as a "creek", and naming the village after a community in New England or New York is logical since several prominent early residents migrated from there.