Newmarket Ontario may best be known as the birthplace of famous actor/comedian Jim Carrey, but its history dates all the way back to the year 1800. In June of that year, a Vermont Quaker named Timothy Rogers traveled to the area surrounding Holland's Landing towards Lake Simcoe, looking for an appropriate place for a new Quaker settlement. Because of the anticipated violence from the American Revolution, several Pennsylvania and Vermont-based Quaker families wanted to move north to get away from the unrest, and did so with Timothy Rogers in 1801. The first mill and mill pond were constructed by Joseph Hill on the Holland River by December 1801; that pond is now known as Fairy Lake. From there, the town began to grow under the name "Upper Yonge St.", and Hill built more mills, a tannery, the first house, and the first store. A market was held in what's now known as the present-day downtown area, and that gave the town its name "Newmarket". Incorporated as a village in 1857, Newmarket had a population of 700. It became a town in 1880 as its population had risen to 2,000; William Cane was the first mayor elected. Later on, Cane's factory became the first to manufacture lead pencils in Canada. Additional businesses opened in 1858, including the future Simpsons department store then called, "Simpson & Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes and Dry Goods". By 1899, two railways had arrived in Newmarket, the first being Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad, and the second being the Toronto and York Radial Railway. This railway brought a large number of people making day trips to Newmarket's market to shop. A canal system was almost completed by 1912, but canceled by Robert Borden's incoming government. The locks for the canal are still visible today. In the 1950s, Newmarket experienced a large suburban growth because of its close proximity to the city of Toronto. The years have produced many famous Newmarket residents; as mentioned earlier actor/comedian Jim Carrey, NHL payers Herb Cain, Dit Clapper, Curtis Joseph, Jamie Macoun and Joe Murphy, rock band Glass Tiger, sprinter Ben Johnson, figure skater Elvis Stojko and politician Belinda Stronach to name a few. Many of Newmarket's 77,518 residents are single and therefore looking for that special someone to settle down with. Luckily with Newmarket's close proximity to Toronto, it's easy for singles to meet other eligible singles through dating services like 25dates.com 25dates.com is Canada's leading speed dating company; participants sign up for an event online based on their sexual preference and age group. They then attend a speed dating event where they meet up to 25 people in one night for 3 minutes each. After each date they mark down on their "matchcard" whether they'd like to see each person again, choosing as many or as few as they like. If they don't receive a match (meaning 2 people picked each other) or if they didn't find anyone they liked, participants can attend a future event for free.