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In 1669 a French trader by the name of Pierre arrived at the Seneca village of Ganatsekwyagon, just east of the Rouge River in Scarborough. From there he set off across country to Lake Huron. In October of that year, Francois de Salignac de Fenelon, the first missionary to arrive in what is now Pickering Township, landed at Ganatsekwyagon.

Francois settled near the shore of Frenchman’s Bay and opened a mission school. His first winter there was one of the worst winters on record. The frost penetrated so deeply that the ground remained frozen until June. As a result, Fenelon ministered to starving Natives at Frenchman’s Bay. Food was so scarce, he was reduced to gnawing on the fungi that grew at the base of pine trees. Poor diet and rudimentary conditions led to the death of many women during childbirth. His main concern, at the time, was to prevent the Iroquois from placing live babies in the graves with their dead mothers. His attempts often failed, since few of the remaining women in the village were able or willing to care for the tiny orphans. The missionaries themselves attempted to care for the helpless infants, but were not often successful.

In 1791, surveyor Augustus Jones was authorized to survey the land between the Trent and Etobicoke Rivers and divide it into a series of townships. When Jones arrived to survey Pickering Township, he named Duffin’s Creek, a stream of water flowing into Lake Ontario, after a trader by the same name. Although he seems to be somewhat of a myth, Duffin is said to have lived there. His cabin, it is said, was always open to travellers, one of whom found the door ajar, signs of a struggle, and blood on the floor. Duffin was gone and never seen again.

William Deak, another fur trader, settled at the mouth of Duffin’s Creek in 1799. Between 1801 and 1807, a small group of houses formed a settlement at Duffin’s Creek. In July 1807 David W. Smith, surveyor-general of Upper Canada (1792–1804), sold an 850-acre block around the creek to Timothy Rogers, a prominent Yonge Street Quaker. He began to build a sawmill and a gristmill near his house, southeast of the Kingston Road bridge, but four years later he was forced to sell his property and enterprises to settle his debts. He considered Pickering Township to be the centre of Quaker settlement in Upper Canada. Roger’s grandchildren settled in both Pickering and Newmarket and pioneered the Imperial Oil Company development in Canada, as well as the Elias Rogers Coal Company. Although the Quaker population had increased the size of the settlement, it still only consisted of a few homes. By 1825 the population had reached 675.

During the early 1830s, Charles Fothergill, the noted naturalist, author, and politician, conceived an elaborate plan for a new community to be called Monodelphia. Churches, a tavern, a printing office, some mills, and a distillery were all part of his plan. Fothergill’s plan failed, but his scheme brought further construction of homes and he himself lived there from 1831 to 1837.

In 1846 the population of Duffin’s Creek was 130. There were now four churches, a grist-mill, a brewery, a tannery, several taverns, shoemakers, tailors, a blacksmith, and a wagon maker in the village. The excellent harbours, at both the mouth of the Rouge and at Frenchmen’s Bay, were used for shipping, and Duffin’s Creek was navigable for small boats as far up as the Kingston Road.

In 1856 the Grand Trunk Railway opened a line between Oshawa and Toronto. The railway benefitted the milling operations of the district. Each mill was served by a spur line of the Grand Trunk. By this time more than 50 percent of the township had been cleared of trees.

The U.S. Civil War in the 1860s hastened industrialization. War orders from the northern United States kept mills humming and encouraged farmers to put more land into wheat. Despite this, by the 1870s Pickering began to decline. Even at that time, many people could not afford to purchase Ontario farms and had headed west to homestead. The best pine and hardwood had already been exhausted and the remaining woodlots were cut again and again to pick up a little more ready cash. Many local flour mills ceased operation and were torn down or destroyed by fire.

Frenchman’s Bay Harbour Company received a $70,000 grant in 1875 to improve the harbour. It was put to good use in the construction of a lighthouse, a wharf, and a 50,000-bushel grain elevator at the bay. The formation of a tiny village, with two hotels and numerous houses, evolved. Wagons often lined up on Liverpool Road to unload barley for breweries in the United States. Later, the imposition of duty on the barley closed off the market, and the harbour activity began to fade.

In 1881 the Pickering News described the village as a growing community and drew particular attention to Pickering Woodworks and other local industries and institutions. Pickering College, a residential secondary school built by the Quakers near their yearly meeting house at Pickering, was among those institutions. The college stood on five acres of beautiful grounds with a winding, tree-lined drive that lead up to the fine red-and-white brick structure that crowned the hill. Sectarian difficulties within the Society of Friends (Quakers) in Canada forced the closure of this Quaker-run school in 1885.

Pickering was incorporated as a village in March, 1953, and on January 1, 1974, it was amalgamated with the Town of Ajax to become Ajax-Pickering.

Today a walking tour of the quaint village of Pickering allows the visitor to step back in time. Beginning at the eastern edge of the village, a 19th century home, circa 1898, numbered 145 Kingston Road, has managed to survive the march of time; at 135 Kingston Rd. E. stands a typical Victorian house built circa 1887. South on Mill Street is the Friends Cemetery where 15 or more Quaker families, who had joined in Timothy Rogers settlement, were buried. Apparently Rogers, too, lies here in an unmarked grave. The Quaker Meeting House, built around 1867 at 117 Kingston Rd. E., is now the home of the Doric Lodge. It was built as the Canada Yearly Meeting House to serve Upper Canada. The first session took place on June 28, 1867. The stone regency cottage at 124 Kingston Rd. E. was built around 1850. The attractive two-storey frame house at 107 Kingston Rd. was built circa 1911 for Dr. Fields, a general practitioner in the village.

A good example of late Victorian architecture incorporating polychromatic brickwork and Romanesque arched windows is a home, vintage 1870, at 97 Kingston Rd. E. Next door is a well-preserved red-frame cottage with an inviting entrance, built around 1842. This is one of the earliest houses in the village. Immediately opposite is a well-maintained Greek Revival white-frame house, built around 1880.

Turning north on Church Street and walking on the west side there is a white frame cottage, 22 Church Street N. This building was built circa 1880. A picturesque brick house with pointed gables at 68 Church Street south was built circa 1880. This home features a decorative front veranda with gingerbread and brackets. The spire of St. Francis de Sales Church (circa 1871), on Church Street S., was an early landmark in Pickering village.

North on Church and west on Randall Drive is St. George’s Anglican Church, built circa 1841. This church was built of brick that was supplied by the Grand Trunk Railway in exchange for a railway right-of-way. Church lands extended at that time as far south as the present 401 highway.

At 22 Linton Road is one of the earliest properties in the village. This 1.5-storey Ontario cottage, built around 1843, was an adaption of the Regency style popular in Ontario from the early 19th century.

Winding through the back streets are a host of historic buildings. For example, 23 Elizabeth Street is an archetypal Gothic Revival cottage. And there is much more!

Far from the death and starvation of the first winter here, Ajax-Pickering is now almost a suburb of Toronto. As a matter of fact, there is continuous development from Toronto through Ajax-Pickering, and Whitby to Oshawa. Despite all of that growth, the historic village of Duffin’s Creek remains visible.