Brighton, Ont, Town, pop 9449 (2001c), 9022 A (1996c), area 222.57 km2, is located 12 km west of TRENTON, near Lake Ontario. The community was originally known as Singleton's Corners, after an early settler and the first postmaster, but was renamed Brighton in 1831, presumably after the city of the same name in England.
The first settler in the area was Obeyed Simpson, a LOYALIST who arrived in 1796. He was soon joined by other Loyalist families, but growth was slow until the opening of a road between York and Kingston. Brighton became a small industrial town in the 1880s with manufacturers producing carriages, sleighs, clothing and farm equipment. Brighton also had a sawmill, harness shop, and cheese factory. An apple elevator operated there, and Brighton is still an apple growing area today.
A local museum is located in Proctor House, a restored 19th-century merchant's home overlooking Lake Ontario. A former lighthouse keeper's cottage contains another local museum. Brighton is located close to Presqu'ile Provincial Park, which is a recreational area as well as a migration stop for birds on the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways.
A plaque south of town commemorates the foundering of the schooner Speedy in 1804. The schooner sailed from Toronto in October 1804 with members of a circuit court and lawyers, witnesses and the accused in a local case. All were drowned when the vessel foundered off Presqu'ile Point.