Old Markham Village was officially renamed in 1828, originally titled Reesorville and settled in 1825, established by Mennonites from Upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
The village turns into a police village in 1931. A police village was a model of municipal government used in the province of Ontario. It was needed in cases where the finances or population of the area did not permit the creation of a village. In 1965, the Ontario Municipal Act was modified to prevent the creation of new police villages, and there is no longer any community in the province with this degree.
All of the communities which once have been police village have since been boosted into villages, towns or cities, or have been amalgamated into other municipalities.