Historic Vaughan Town Hall still serving the community that grew up around it

September 2022

Within the growing and busy City of Vaughan is the former unincorporated Hamlet of Vellore. In the years after what was then known as Vaughan Township was surveyed in 1792, small communities were established throughout the 105 square miles of land within its borders.

Five years before Vaughan Township was formally incorporated in 1850, Vellore was selected for the location of the Township Hall, where municipal council meetings were held and the business of governing the township were held. Additionally, the Hall served as the headquarters of the judicial hearings for the Home District Council.

Located at Part of Lot 17, Concession 5, it was built as a simple, one-storey, Regency-style brick building, at a cost of £145.

The Vellore Township Hall was re-named Vaughan Memorial Hall in 1919, to honour the men of Vaughan Township killed in World War I. Two plaques on opposite side of the wood door list the names of the soldiers who never came home from both Wold War I and World War II.

Council meetings were held in the hall until 1943, when a new site for the Council Chambers was relocated a mile to the east in the Village of Maple.

Vaughan Memorial Hall, located at 9541 Weston Road, is still municipally-owned and can be rented for special events, corporate workshops, exhibitions and sales.

It was designated as a heritage property in 1983.

Located just north of Memorial Hall is the former Vaughan Township school, S.S. #9, also known as Vellore School The one-room school was built in 1868, remaining in service until some time after 1958.

Both the school and the Town Hall were restored to in 1989, reflecting their 1920s appearance.

Behind the two historic buildings is Vellore Heritage Park. Concrete walkways take visitors past a gazebo and dilapidated and disused drive shed, to a children’s playground at the opposite end.

Sources: Vaughan – Wikipedia, Welcome to the City of Vaughan, https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/oha/details/file?id=4566, Vellore – Neighbourhood Guide, personal recollections of Barbara Wedlale (2024).