portion of the railway from Clarkstown to Glencairn, about half way to Collingwood.
Alliston was upgraded from "village" to "town" in 1891. On May 8th the same year a fire started in the stables of the Queen's Hotel, and was quickly spread by high winds. Collingwood was telegraphed for assistance and sent their fire engine by train, but the downtown area was gutted long before it could arrive. When it did arrive at about 3 in the afternoon, it was sent to the southern side of town where the fire was still burning. In all, 30 acres (120,000 m) of the town were destroyed by the fire, which received the attention of John A. Macdonald. This led to the creation of a waterworks the next year, which included twenty fire hydrants, and the addition of a hook and ladder truck in 1894.
A census in August 1902 stated that 1,475 people were living in the town. A new line of the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the town in 1905 or early 1906, with trains arriving later in 1906. The local electric power company, Alliston Electric, was merged into Ontario Hydro on May 24, 1918
