Todmorden Village grew up around a complex of mills and a brewery that operated near the banks of the Don River beginning in 1795. Many of Todmorden's original families, including the Helliwells and Eastwoods, came from Todmorden Village in Yorkshire England. It is this English Village that Todmorden is named after. 

The Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum (situated at the foot of Pottery Road and a small number of workers houses east of Broadview Avenue), are vivid reminders of this pioneer community. The history of the Todmorden area north of O'Connor is dominated by the Taylor family, who came to the Don Valley in 1834. The Taylors owned all of the land north of O'Connor between Broadview and Woodbine Avenues. The Taylor's business empire in the Don Valley included paper mills, saw mills, grist mills, and the Don Valley Pressed Brick Works, which supplied the bricks for many of Toronto's houses and commercial buildings.