Welcome to Kleinberg, Ontario
Kleinburg is comprised of a narrow section of hilly landscape situated between two branches of the Humber river. The historic village is bounded by Highway 27 on the west and Stegman’s Mill Road to the east.
Kleinburg has always been a small, quiet town, attracting affluent visitors and residents. It is characterized by larger homes and more spacious lots than typically found in Vaughan. Homes inn Kleinburg typically sell for more than a million dollars. Older, larger and more established properties are valued more than this, while homes built near conservation areas and the Humber River are by far the most expensive.
Welcome to Kleinberg!
Looking for that small-town feel close to the city? Then come to Kleinburg! This community is bursting with a historic charm that gives it a slightly European feel. Add in the unique shops and access to green space, and you have a pretty dreamy place to call home!
Why You’ll Love Kleinberg
Want to take a walk through nature? How about a weekend bike ride down a peaceful trail? With access to the Kortright Centre for Conservation, Boyd Park, and the beautiful Humber Trail, you’ll love how easy it is to get a breath of fresh air when you live here.
Kleinburg Real Estate
What You’ll Find
Kleinburg real estate definitely has a “wow” factor! Especially when it comes to the high-end homes that make up most of the real estate market. Here, you’ll find a lot of single-family detached homes, estate properties, and stunning houses that back onto the area’s best golf courses.
Real estate in Kleinburg is in demand. As densely populated Vaughan continues its sprawl, affluent residents are moving to Kleinburg for more spacious lots and a sought after lifestyle. Kleinburg is located in a narrow section of hilly landscape situated between two branches of the Humber river. The historic village is bounded by Highway 27 on the west and Stegman’s Mill Road to the east. With easy access to major highways and Go Transit, it’s no wonder that real estate in Kleinburg is in demand.
Kleinburg has always been a small, quiet town, attracting affluent visitors and residents. It is characterized by larger homes and more spacious lots than typically found in Vaughan. Homes inn Kleinburg typically sell for more than a million dollars. Older, larger and more established properties are valued more than this, while homes built near conservation areas and the Humber River are by far the most expensive.
How Kleinburg is Changing
With the expansion of Highway 427, Kleinburg and the surrounding area is set to grow! You’ll notice new developments popping up on the regular, like the luxurious Copperwood development beside Copper Creek Golf and Country Club, Wycliffe Country Estates, and the larger subdivision lots being developed in Old Kleinburg.
Lisa’s Local Tip:
You can access seven kilometres of hiking trails through Boyd Park, including the Humber Trail and Bartley Smith Greenway. Boyd Park also has a ton of green space, perfect for family picnics!
Neighbourhood Schools
Emily Carr Secondary School is the area’s main high school, located at Rutherford Road and Islington Avenue. St. Padre Pio Catholic Elementary School, which serves students from junior kindergarten to grade eight, has received awards from the Fraser Institute for Excellence in Education in Math and Language.
Community Centres
The Al Palladini Community Centre, located on Islington Avenue, features a pool, fitness centre, party rooms, indoor track, two arenas, and more. Known to many as the community’s gathering place, the centre hosts camps and programs for kids year-round.
What To Do & See
Avenue Cibi e Vini offers the best in Italian fine-dining and is much-loved for its wood-fired pizza, wine selection, and relaxing atmosphere. For a romantic night out, book a spot at Villaggio Ristorante, where you can enjoy Mediterranean-Italian dishes in a beautiful setting. If you really have something to celebrate, check out The Doctor’s House – a historic space that dates back to 1867! Built around the charming chapel, this is a popular spot for weddings and events.
If you haven’t yet visited the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery, what are you waiting for! The gallery features a host of amazing artwork, including paintings by the Group of Seven. Kleinburg is also home to one of the top 50 golf courses in Canada, Copper Creek, which features a 40,000 square foot clubhouse and golf courses with a 4.5-hour playtime guarantee.
Getting Around
Walk Score: 43
Transit Score: 27
While Kleinburg’s main street is easily walkable (and filled with great shops and dining options!), you’ll definitely need a car to get around the rest of the area. Residents here have easy access to Highway 427, which will soon be extended from Highway 7 to Major Mackenzie Drive.
Senior Living
For seniors looking to stay active, The Al Palladini Community Centre has great amenities including Arthritis Aquafitness classes, which can help improve range of motion. If you’re in search of a retirement home, a nearby option is Villa Colombo Vaughan. This campus is home to 160 residents and is located just off Highway 427. It features six separate Casas, a bathing spa, a bocce court, a reflective pool, a chapel, and more.
Highlights of Kleinberg
Binder Twine Festival
Kleinburg is home to the Binder Twine Festival, held yearly in the month of September. The tradition of the Binder Twine Festival originated with Charles Shaw Jr. who, in the 1890′s, began the distribution of binder twine to the local farmers. Binder twine was used to tie together sheaves of wheat. The farmers would purchase from Charles Shaw Jr. their yearly supply of binder twine. Legend states that the Shaws gave their binder twine customers a dinner in appreciation of their business. The modest dinner eventually became a large community festival complete with games, refreshments and entertainment. The Binder Twine Festival was held once a year until 1930 and was subsequently revived in 1967.
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Directly south of the village core is found the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Originally the home of Robert and Signe McMichael this 40-acre site and log home called “Tapawingo” was donated to the Province of Ontario by the McMichaels. Since its opening in 1966, the art gallery boasts one of the finest collections of the Canadian “Group of Seven” artists, as well as numerous examples of the artwork of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples.
McMichael Gallery
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection offers its visitors a unique and truly Canadian experience. From the art within its walls, to the surrounding landscape, the McMichael Gallery is the perfect gallery for a proper introduction to Canada’s art, its people, their cultures and history. The McMichael Gallery’s permanent collection consists of nearly 6,000 pieces of art created by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, their contemporaries, and First Nations, Métis, Inuit and other artists who have made a contribution to the development of Canadian art. Through a network of outdoor paths and hiking trails, visitors can explore the newly installed Sculpture Garden as well as the unique McMichael Cemetery where six Group of Seven members and gallery founders Robert and Signe McMichael have been laid to rest.
www.mcmichael.com
Kortright Centre
The Kortright Centre for Conservation is Ontario’s premier environmental and renewable energy education and demonstration centre. Since 1982, the Kortright Centre has been a centre of excellence in the field of sustainable technology. The sustainable technology education programs are anchored around The Power Trip Trail, a 1.6 km trail which links a variety of demonstrations on renewable energy, energy efficiency, wastewater treatment and sustainable building design. The centre hosts nearly 135,000 visitors annually and offers over 50 environmental education programs for schools and 30 sustainable technology workshops for public, trades and professionals.
www.kortright.org
Copper Creek Golf Club
Designed by renowned Canadian Architect Doug Carrick, Copper Creek has been voted the best public golf course in the GTA and is currently ranked the 36th best course in all of Canada. Set amid the rolling hills and forests of the Humber River Valley, Copper Creek has a 40,000 square foot clubhouse, featuring event seating for up to 550 people. The clubhouse and grounds feature glorious gardens, an expansive terrace and gazebo, as well as lavish outdoor seating.
www.coppercreek.ca
Humber River Trails
The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, also known as the Humber Portage, was a major portage route in Ontario, linking Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes. The name comes from the Mohawk term Toron-ten, which means, “the place where the trees grow over the water”.
The Toronto end of the trail runs up the eastern bank of the Humber River and splits in Woodbridge, with one fork crossing the east branch of the Humber and going up the west side of the river to the vicinity of Kleinburg where it re-crosses the river. The other fork stays on the east side of the river and is angled cross-country to King Creek, joining the other fork before crossing the river near Nobelton. From there it runs north over the Oak Ridges Moraine to the Holland River, and from there it runs northeast into Lake Simcoe. Once into Lake Simcoe, the trail continues north through straights on the north end of the lake into Lake Couchiching. From there, the trail follows the Severn River into Georgian Bay. Many of the First Nations tribes lived in the area around and to the north of Lake Simcoe, which were easily reachable via the many rivers leading to the lake. A second arm of the trail runs from the Holland River to the southeast, eventually into the Rouge River Valley, then Lake Ontario from there|.
History of Kleinberg, Ontario
Early Settlement
The settlement of many early villages in Ontario was directly related to the establishment of a local industry. Kleinburg, like many riverside villages developed around the existence of numerous mills.
In 1848, John Nicholas Kline bought 83 acres of Lot 24 in Concession 8, west of Islington Avenue. On this land, John N. Kline built a sawmill and a gristmill. Land plans from 1848 show Lot 24 in Concession 8 divided into smaller, individual, one-quarter acre lots, thus encouraging the establishment of a village core. The Kline mills not only served the local farming community, but became the impetus for a growing commercial centre.
Kleinburg has had variations to the spelling of its name: Klineburg and Kleinburg. It is assumed that Kleinburg was named after John N. Kline, however, its present spelling was derived from a combination of two German words: Klein, translating as “little or small” and “berg” meaning “mountain”. The name “small mountain” perfectly describes the topography and the environmental setting of Kleinburg.
Kline Family
John N. Kline, a man involved in the local community, operated his business with the help of his son John Kline Jr. (born 1823). John Kline Sr. appears in the 1850 directory as a justice of the peace. He was also a member of the Home District (pre-Vaughan Township) Council in the 1840s and was responsible for petitioning for the first school in Kleinburg.
The Klines remained in Kleinburg until 1851. Though their stay was relatively brief, their contribution to the village would change its future course of growth and development.
John N. Kline sold his property, including his mills, to James Mitchell, who shortly thereafter, in 1852, sold it to the Howland brothers: William Pearce, Fred and Henry Stark Howland. The Howland brothers owned successful mills at Lambton, Waterdown and St. Catherines.
Howland Family
The Howland family was one of Ontario’s most successful families in both private business and public politics. William Pearce Howland held numerous prestigious positions in his lifetime: a minister in the first Dominion cabinet of Canada; the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1868 to 1873, and Postmaster General of Canada in 1867.
Henry Stark Howland was equally successful as his brother. His positions included: the first post-master of Kleinburg; reeve of Vaughan Township from 1859 to 1860; warden of York County; vice-president in 1867 of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and first president of the Imperial Bank of Canada in 1875. William Pearce’s sons held the position of mayor in Toronto; William Holmes held the position from 1886 to 1887 and Oliver A. from 1901 to 1902.
The mills owned by the Howland family, however, were not the only mills responsible for the growth of the community. A second sawmill was established on the east side of the Humber River, across from the original Kline mills. By 1850, George Stegman is listed as the proprietor of this second sawmill located on the east side of the Village off of what is today Stegman’s Mill Road. George’s father, John Stegman was a German mercenary soldier who was paid by the British to fight the colonists in the American Revolution. John Stegman was compensated for his services with free land in Canada. In 1790, John Stegman was deputy-surveyor of Upper Canada.
Growth of Community
By 1860, the community that grew from the establishment of the mills included : a tanner, a tailor, a boot and shoemaker, a carriage maker, a doctor, a saddler and harness maker, an undertaker, two hotels, a church and a school. By 1870, a chemist (druggist), a cabinet maker, an insurance agent, a butcher, a milliner and a tinsmith, were added to the directory of local businessmen.
The mills built by John N. Kline were the largest between Toronto and Barrie. Kleinburg also became popular as a resting stop for farmers or merchants on their way to, or from Toronto. The original Humber (Indian) Trail used by the early traders remained the most efficient route to Toronto. The Humber Trail in Vaughan, runs along what is today Islington Avenue and extends down to Dundas Street in the City of Toronto.
Lisa Sinopoli
Broker, ABR, SRS, ASA, CPCA
Remax Hallmark Realty, Ltd