THORNHILL COMMUNITY HALL

26007 – 98th Avenue (off 256th Street) in Thornhill Park
The Thornhill Community Association plans and sponsors activities. The Association meets on the third Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM. For Hall rentals please contact Fran Norman at 604-462-7869 or Shirley Kinney at 604-476-7794.

ABOUT THORNHILL

The community of Thornhill is centred around 256 th Avenue and 100 th Street on the southern slope of Grant Hill.

The area is not clearly defined. Thornhill straddles the borders of the historic Whonnock and Albion and many residents have an affiliation with these communities as well.

The name Thornhill dates back to the 1870s when James Thorne or Thorn had a crown grant of 160 acres in Albion, west of 240 th Street. His land straddled Kanaka Creek and ran up the western slope of Grant Hill. James Thorn moved on, but the local settlers kept referring to the high land to the east of Albion as Thornhill.

Thornhill may not be a historic community by itself, but proximity and common interest welded the residents together. After the Second World War people living on the southern slope of Grant Hill between Albion and Whonnock started identifying their neighbourhood as Thornhill and gave the name Thornhill to their school opened in 1959, their community hall built around 1965 and their community association.

The prospect of urban sprawl divided the community between those in favour and against development. For now development of this area is on hold until the population of Maple Ridge reaches 100,000 inhabitants.

Thornhill is uniquely situated on a bedrock aquifer, one of three in the lower mainland. It stretches approximately from 248th Street to 280th Street in Ruskin, between the Lougheed Highway and past 108th street to the north. This aquifer provides clean drinking water for over 450 households and it is vulnerable to contamination. Therefore, concerns over urban development without careful consideration have centred around the loss of clean drinking water quality and quantity for its residents.

Thornhill or Grant Hill

Grant Hill is the name of the mountain between Albion, Websters Corners, and Whonnock since establishment of Fort Langley. Thornhill is the name adopted by a community on the southern slope of Grant Hill. Thornhill is not a geographical feature in the records of Natural Resources Canada, nor does it appear on the geographical maps of the District.