Area Description
The village of Meadowvale was established in the 1820s by Irish immigrants from New York state. In the village's early years, the main industry was milling, with the mills drawing power from the Credit River. Gooderham and Worts owned and operated many businesses in the village in the 1860s and 1870s, including a mill.
The multi-lane, controlled access MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, also known as Kings Highway 401, was opened south of Meadowvale Village in 1959. In 1968, Meadowvale was incorporated into the new Town of Mississauga. In the 1970s, farmland west of the original Meadowvale Village was developed into a series of subdivisions that make up much of present-day Meadowvale. This area has continued to expand ever since, and now fills most of the northwest corner of Mississauga.
Meadowvale village is located adjacent to the largest business park area in Mississauga, with the second largest being located in between Meadowvale Village and Meadowvale along the Highway 401 corridor, where numerous major corporations have recently located their offices, factories and research and development facilities.
In recognition of its many historical buildings, Meadowvale Village was recognized as Ontario's first Heritage Conservation District in 1980. To reduce traffic through the village, the Derry Road by-pass was built in the mid-1990s. Located about one kilometre north of the Old Derry Road, the new Derry Road is a major east-west traffic artery running from Mississauga Road to Mavis Road.
In June 2006, Meadowvale found itself in an international media spotlight, as a number of former Meadowvale Secondary School students were among those charged in an alleged terror plot to bomb well-known Canadian buildings and assassinate political leaders.