Township of Scott (1807 - 1973)

The Survey

The Township of Scott was surveyed in 1807. Scott measured about 8 ¾ miles from south to north, about 9 miles from west to east, and contained about seventy-nine square miles.

Natural Resources

The Township contains several streams and cedar swaps that run in a northerly and north-easterly direction. They drain into Lake Simcoe to the north. It was well timbered with pine and had a fair quantity of sugar maples. Records have shown that as much as a quarter of a million pounds of maple sugar has been made in the county in a year during the early 1850's.

The Settlements

The first known settler did not arrive in Scott until 1830. Most of the early settlers in Scott Township came from Scotland and the borders of England. A number of Irish settlers subsequently came in. In 1836 there were 55 people in Scott and that number increased to 76 by 1839.
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The Years of Growth (1852-1881)

Settlers continued to pour into Scott in the 1850's. From the 1871 census, the origins of the heads of households coming in the 1860's is as follows:

32% from Ontario,
29% from England,
22% from Ireland,
13% from Scotland,
3% from United States,
1% from other location

In the 1870s the peak of population was reached, with there being 2,400 people in 1877. From then on, for serveral decades, the population decreased. Every available piece of land had been settled. The search for land took members of many Scott families to other areas, and in particular to the West.

Scott Township Hall
Council meetings were held in a school until the township hall was built in 1860. The building was served also as a community hall for the 6th Concession and was also used at times for Church services. In July 1993, the Scott Township Hall was moved to the present Uxbridge-Scott Museum grounds.

The End of the Official Township of Scott

In 1974, Scott Township, Uxbridge Township, and Uxbridge Town became the Township of Uxbridge in the new Region of Durham. The following communities in Scott became part of the new Uxbridge Township:
Ashworth,
Athens,
Leaskdale,
Sandford,
Udora,
Zephyr
- How did Scott Township get its' name?
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Reference: A History of the Township of Scott 1807-1973 By Allan McGillivray
Reference: County of Ontario By J.E. Farewell, LL.B., K.C.
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