Editing Aurora, Ontario (section)

=== Establishing a village ===
In 1804, Richard Machell became the first merchant at the crossroads of Yonge and Wellington and the hamlet soon became known as Machell's Corners. Charles Doan was another early businessman at Machell's Corners and became the first postmaster and later the first [[Reeve (Canada)|reeve]]. The post office was originally known as "Whitchurch".<ref name="McIntyre">{{Cite book|title=Aurora: A history in pictures|last=McIntyre|first=W. John|publisher=Boston Mills Press|date=1988|isbn=0-919783-81-3}}</ref>{{rp|10}} As postmaster, he was influential in renaming the village Aurora, after the [[Aurora (mythology)|goddess Aurora]] from [[Roman mythology]].<ref name="McIntyre" />{{rp|10}}{{efn|The source mistakenly refers to Aurora as being from Greek mythology. The Greek goddess of dawn is [[Eos]].}} Machell proposed to rename the town "Match-Ville", ostensibly for the match factory in the town, but the name Aurora was more popular and ultimately chosen as the town's name.<ref name="McIntyre" />{{rp|12}} Flour and grist mills were built around 1827. With the coming of the railway in 1853, Aurora emerged as an important centre north of [[Toronto]]. The Fleury plough works foundry opened in 1859, making agricultural implements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Plaques of York County |url=http://www.waynecook.com/ayork.html |publisher=Wayne Cook |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325203540/http://www.waynecook.com/ayork.html |archive-date=25 March 2017 |pages=Plaque #20}}</ref>

The community was first known as Machell's Corners and had only 100 residents in 1851.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttEOAAAAYAAJ&q=Newmarket%2C+ontario+war+of+1812&pg=RA1-PA181|page=185|title=History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario|publisher=C. Blackett Robinson|author=G. Mercer Adam, Charles Pelham Mulvany, Christopher Blackett Robinson|year=1885}}</ref>
The population of Aurora in 1863 was 700, and by 1869 it had grown to 1,200.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McEvoy |first1=Henry |title=The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory |date=1869 |publisher=Robertson & Cook |location=Toronto, Ontario |pages=36 |isbn=9780665094125 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6wOAAAAYAAJ&q=Gazetteer+Aurora+ontario&pg=PA36 |access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref>