(see; Politics of the Oak Ridges Moraine for a more extensive discussion and; Development in Oak Ridges for ongoing development in Oak Ridges). The natural areas around Bond Lake, known as the Oak Ridges Corridor, is the last contiguous conservation connection along Yonge Street, connecting the eastern and western portions of the Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine. The Oak Ridges Corridor features an extensive trail system around Bond Lake and the eastern side of Lake Wilcox, with some of the best hiking and mountain biking terrain in Southern Ontario. Before earning protected land status in the 1990s and 2000s the area to the east of Lake Wilcox was a popular ATV and dirt-bike location for local residents. History Oak Ridges was established along Yonge Street in 1799 by Joseph Geneviève and a group of French Royalists, who were granted land to settle by the British government. They were also provided with rations and agricultural implements. It was originally named Windham in honour of Geneviève's friend William Windham, Secretary at War for Britain at the time. Geneviève soon departed to search for another site to settle, and by 1840 the settlement and the area from the King-Vaughan town line to the 15th sideroad became known as Oak Ridges. This included lots 61 to 70, the western half of which were in King, and the eastern half in the township of Whitchurch. From 1896 until 1927, the Schomberg and Aurora Railway operated a rail service from Schomberg to Oak Ridges. The Oak Ridges station was located north of Bond Crescent on the west side of Yonge Street, and resulted in the community being split into Oak Ridges north of the station and Schomberg Junction south of the station. The latter name was discontinued sometime after the railway ceased operations. Remnants of the old Bond Lake Station can be seen around the lake. The former Bond Lake Park and Bond Lake Hotel also once stood along the shores of the lake. Oak Ridges was annexed from King and Whitchurch by the Town of Richmond Hill in 1971 when York County was reconstructed into the Regional Municipality of York. Oak Ridges had been in steep decline in the 1960s, largely due to high unemployment, lack of commercial development and motorcycle gang activity, specifically around Lake Wilcox. However, in recent decades, suburbanization stimulated growth in the community, after being annexed by Richmond Hill. Oak Ridges