Pickering (Ontario)

While Jesuit missionaries report contact with a native community here (likely Onondaga) in 1669, by 1813 Pickering was a small rural village with 180 residents. A post office established in 1829 was called Pickering; this name was later extended to the 1807 Quaker settlement in the area. The Kingston Road (a muddy 1817 horse carriage trail, which became the "Provincial Highway" or Ontario Highway 2 a century later in the motorcar era) passed through the village as a first stop on the then-arduous Toronto to Montréal stagecoach journey; anyone who completed the trip in a mere week was making very good time. The steam-powered Grand Trunk Railway cut the journey to 14 hours in 1856 and brought commerce to the area, a grist milling centre. The internal combustion engine sped travel further; by the 1960s. the 401 freeway brought motorists from Montréal through Pickering into Toronto in about six hours.
The 1877 Pickering College, originally a seminary, burned in 1905 and was a total loss; the school rebuilt in Newmarket. The town of Ajax was split from Pickering Township in 1941 and named for a wartime battleship; this left "Pickering Village" and the former college site (now Hermitage Park) as part of Ajax, while "Pickering Township" remained Pickering. As the nearby city of Toronto has expanded, surpassing Montréal to become Canada's largest city in the 1970s, traffic through and suburban sprawl into Pickering has steadily increased. The township was incorporated as a town in 1974 and is now a city. By 1996 there were 79,000 people, by 2001 there were 87,000 people as rising housing prices within Toronto sent commuters further afield.
Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, Pickering's largest employer, first went on-line in the early 1970s; it later expanded to eight reactors and now generates 4.12 gigawatts to power the Greater Toronto Area. A second generating station (Darlington, to the east of Oshawa) was added to Durham Region; each site has a public Information Centre. The southern portion of the municipality is primarily suburban, although one can still find rural areas in Pickering by heading north. A major airport continues to be proposed for this area but, due to strong and continued local opposition since the mid-1970s, has never been built.

By car

• The 401 freeway is fourteen lanes wide into Toronto from Pickering, carrying ever-growing quantities of traffic from more distant suburbs; a pedestrian bridge across the freeway links the GO commuter station to the downtown. This busy motorway continues eastward through Montréal and Lévis to Rivière-du-Loup as Québec Autoroute 20 and westward through Toronto and London to Windsor-Detroit, although the traffic becomes less hectic as one gets further from Toronto.

By train

• GO Transit

  phone: +1 416-869-3200
  address: 1322 Bayly St. at Liverpool Rd
  GO Transit is the commuter train operator in the region, operating "Lakeshore" double-decker passenger train service through Hamilton-Toronto-Oshawa seven days a week.
• VIA Rail intercity trains stop in Oshawa, Scarborough (Guildwood) and Toronto/Downtown (Union Station). One must transfer to a local bus or train at these points to reach Pickering, as the main VIA service from Ottawa and Montréal passes through Pickering without stopping.

By bus

• Intercity bus (Coach Canada, Megabus) stops at Whitby GO and at the Scarborough Town Centre on its way into Toronto from Kingston and Montréal. One must transfer to local services at these points to reach Pickering.
• GO Transit also offers bus service, in addition to train service, between Toronto and Pickering.

By air

Oshawa has an airport with small charter planes but no scheduled passenger service. Toronto Pearson International Airport in Malton (YYZ) is the one major airport in the area, but travellers must cross all of Toronto to reach it as it's on the far side of the city, in Peel Region. There is a small Toronto Islands Airport in downtown Toronto with a few domestic and US short-haul flights.

By boat

Pickering is on Lake Ontario.

• Frenchman's Bay Yacht Club

  phone: +1 905-831-7899
  Sailing events and programs, keelboat racing, a sailing school, dinghy racing programs, regattas. Safe and protected dinghy-basin and dockage within Frenchman's Bay harbour, modern clubhouse, docks, cranes, pumpout facilities. Various reciprocal clubs in Ontario and western New York state.

• East Shore Marina

  phone: +1 905-839-5036
  address: 1295 Wharf Street

• Swans Marina

  phone: +1 905-420-2141
  address: 590 Liverpool Rd.

• Wharf Street Marina

  phone: +1 905-839-3681
  address: 1289 Wharf Street

By bus

• {{listing

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| address= | lat= | long= | directions=
| phone= | tollfree=+1-866-247-0055 | fax=
| hours= | price=$3.75 cash fare
| lastedit=2018-08-03
| content=Durham Region Transit operates bus service]] within Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa-Whitby and to University of Toronto's Scarborough campus.
}}

By taxi

• Durham Rapid Taxi

  phone: +1 905-831-2345
  address: 979 Brock Rd

• Pick-N-Go Taxi

  phone: +1 905-686-1515
  address: 177-1895 Clements Rd.

• Pickering Museum Village

  address: 2365 Concession Rd 6, Greenwood
  Living history museum with live pioneers in 18 heritage buildings including a blacksmith's shop, general store, school house, temperance hotel, steam barn and chapel. Souvenir shop with toys and games from yesteryear, some handmade by the museum's Woodwrights' Guild. A variety of prints, cards, books, candies and beverages. Dinner triangles and fire pokers made in the village Blacksmith Shop, home-style preserves in season.

• Nautical Village

  address: Frenchman's Bay, on lakefront
  Part of the Waterfront Trail in Pickering, seasonal free musical entertainment at Millennium Square, children's playground and water feature, waterfront boardwalk, cafés, restaurants, shops and an art gallery. On weekends between May and September, the "Sunday on the Porch" series at the SilverStone Gallery features visual and performing artists.

• Pickering Farmers’ Market

  address: Pickering Town Centre
  Seasonal (spring, summer and fall) local market with outdoor stalls, ready-to-eat foods, desserts, live entertainment by local artists.

• Pickering Markets

  address: 1400 Squires Beach Rd. at Bayly St.
  Flea market, crafts, antiquities.

• Pickering Town Centre

  phone: +1 905-831-6066
  address: 1355 Kingston Rd
  Two-storey mall at Kingston Road and Liverpool Road.

• The Big M

  phone: +1 905-837-9332
  address: 711 Krosno Blvd
  1965-style burger joint.

• Crabby Joe's

  phone: +1 905-831-2722
  address: 780 Kingston Rd
  Regional (Sarnia to Napanee) tap & grill chain.

• Herongate Barn Theatre

  phone: +1 905-472-3085
  address: 2885 Altona Rd, Whitevale
  Live theatre in former dairy farm, dinner included.

• Kobo Sushi

  phone: +1 905-839-4824
  address: 512 Kingston Rd.
  Japanese food, sushi and sake, dine-in and take-out, closed Monday.

• Massey's

  phone: +1 905-839-5758, +1 905-839-5721 (takeout)
  address: 774 Liverpool Rd
  Neighbourhood restaurant.

• Port Restaurant

  phone: +1 905-839-7678
  address: 1289 Wharf St.
  Bar, dining room and patio, Saturday/Sunday brunch. Food served daily 11:30AM–3:30PM and 4:30PM–9PM (later on weekends); bar open until 11PM (1AM weekends).

• Bear and Firkin

  phone: +1 905-420-3967
  address: 1294 Kingston Rd
  One of thirty British-style pubs in an Ontario regional chain; names vary but all end in "...and Firkin".

• Fox and Fiddle

  phone: +1 905-831-1000
  address: 1294 Kingston Rd.
  Pub with extensive food menu.

• The Fox Goes Free

  phone: +1 905-509-6464
  address: 339 Kingston Rd
  Pub with extensive food menu, takeout, reservations.

• Harp and Crown Pub

  phone: +1 905-509-6565
  address: 300 Kingston Rd
  Locally-owned pub and eatery, discounted wings Tuesdays, sports bar, live bands on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

• Comfort Inn

  phone: +1 905-831-6200
  address: 533 Kingston Rd.
  Two-storey economy limited service hotel.

Wi-Fi is available at the Pickering Public Library; the main branch at One The Esplanade (+1 905-831-6265 or +1-888-831-6266) is open M-F 9:30AM-9PM, Sa 9AM-5PM, Su 1-5PM.

• Toronto Zoo, a tautology, lurks just across the Toronto boundary in Scarborough.