Stouffville got its name from Abraham Stouffer who emigrated to the area in 1804.  The community sprang up around the grist and sawmills that he built between 1817 and 1824. Stouffville eclipsed and absorbed the Community of Ringwood, which at its heyday, had eclipsed Stouffville. Ringwood was settled by the Fockler family in the late 1790s at the four corners of Markham Road and Stouffville Sideroad. Nicknamed Circle City by the locals, the community was originally divided between two townships, Markham and Whitchurch. The fields in Ringwood that you see now formerly contained many businesses including a hotel property.