I found this article on the Heritage Mississauga website [http://www.heritagemississauga.com/page/Whaleys-Corners]
---------------------------

Whaley’s Corners
By Nicole Mair

Picture this: it is the mid-nineteenth century and you are travelling north on Town Line – modern Winston Churchill Boulevard. The road is made out of wooden planks, worn smooth by the continuous travels of horse-drawn wagons and stagecoaches. On either side of the road there is nothing but farmland and trees as far as the eye can see. The occasional farmhouse dots the landscape, perhaps it is made of logs cleared from when Toronto Township – present-day Mississauga – was nothing but bush. Eventually you come to a crossroads, and a toll gate comes into view. You know you have reached the small community of Whaley’s Corners, located at the present day intersection of Winston Churchill Boulevard and Steeles Avenue.

The history of Whaley’s Corners goes back to the beginning of the nineteenth century, before too many early settlers had arrived to start new lives in Canada. According to William Perkins Bull, the famed Peel historian, in the early 1800s a wealthy American syndicate purchased land at Whaley’s Corners in order to set up a small colony of American citizens. The project was quickly abandoned however, possibly due to losses suffered in the War of 1812. This land was sold off to private citizens, including many United Empire Loyalist settlers, particularly those who had originated from the North of Ireland. One of these settlers was William Whaley, after whom the crossroads community came to be named.

The Whaley family originally hailed from England; they fled to County Armagh, Ireland, during the Cromwell regime. William Whaley and his family emigrated from Belfast, Ireland to the state of Delaware in the United States, before taking up land at Whaley’s Corners in 1819. By April of 1822, William had cleared 5 acres of his 100 acre property, fenced off his land and built an 18x20 foot house. He had 200 acres in Esquesing Township in Halton County and 100 acres in Toronto Township. He would become integral to the commercial and physical growth of Whaley’s Corners.

There was a plank road that ran down the Town Line, present-day Winston Churchill Boulevard – and it was said that a stagecoach used to travel down it. There was a toll gate on the plank road right at the corners. The toll gate was operated by William Alexander. He charged a ten cent toll, according to Mrs. Bell, daughter of John Whaley. William Alexander had a hut on the corners near the toll gate so no one could pass without his notice. He married Miss McCoy who, according to family tradition, had brought a set of dishes with a pink willow pattern with her from Ireland.

The school at Whaley’s Corners was a log schoolhouse built in 1832, located on John Whaley’s farm, near the west corner of Winston Churchill Boulevard and Steeles Avenue. The school was listed under Chinguacousy Township, which is present-day Brampton. By 1888 it was known as the Victoria Union School Section, S.S. 21. One of the early teachers at the school was a Miss Bollard, who lived in Toronto Township. Another teacher was a J. Black, who taught 32 students at the school in 1851. Before a school was established at the neighbouring village of Churchville, children from that community also attended the school at Whaley’s Corners. In 1888 a new school was built, and it was located on the south side of Steeles Avenue and to the east of modern Winston Churchill Boulevard. The school was used until 1959, when it was closed and turned into a residence. It was torn down around 2003.

In 1827 land was purchased from the crown for the purpose of a cemetery at Whaley’s Corners. The first person to be interred in the new cemetery was Nicholas Kennedy. A short time later a frame structure was built on the burial ground for a community church. Reverend Heyland was the first minister. In 1867 a new log and frame church was built, and this building would come to be known as Mount Zion Methodist Church. This second church was dedicated on November 17, 1867. The church was at different points in time part of the Streetsville and Brampton circuits. James Gooderham, of Streetsville, a local preacher, gave sermons at Mount Zion. Inside the church there were tin candlesticks and candles, each about a foot long, to light the interior of the church. The congregation often held local events to raise money to support the church, however, as the years passed the church collections decreased considerably.

There were a number of other very important aspects to the community of Whaley’s Corners. At one time a tavern was located at Whaley’s Corners, owned by William Whaley. It was known as Whaley’s Inn. When John Whaley became the proprietor of the hotel and tavern, balls were often held there. One of Hannah Whaley Bell’s aunts, probably a sister of John Whaley, would play the dulcimer to provide music at the balls. In October of 1848, William Whaley put an advertisement in the Streetsville Review: he advertised a farm and tavern for rent, with excellent stables and out-houses. The tavern was later taken over by Aaron Laidlaw and renamed the Royal Albert Inn. The blacksmith shop at Whaley’s Corners was also likely owned by William Whaley. Andrew McFarlane, Thomas Nicholl and Richard Howell all worked as blacksmiths there. Whaley’s Corners had an ashery as well, where soap was made from lye. There was no post office in Whaley’s Corners; the mail was delivered from nearby Churchville.

The community of Whaley’s Corners remained small throughout its existence, including up to the early nineteenth century when the community was practically no more. While it is difficult to determine exactly how close-knit the hamlet was, it is clear that the residents and the families of Whaley’s Corners often came together in support of their community: families such as Alexander, Arnott, Hillis, Kent, Mason, May, McClure, Switzer and Whaley, among others.