Summary
While a railway station was not initially built here, the Great Western Railway was constructed through modern-day Clarkson in 1855. The first station only appears on timetables after the rival Grand Trunk Railway gained control of the Great Western in 1882. It was a small shelter and platform that was built on the property of Warren Clarkson, and was originally called Clarkson’s as a short form of nearby Clarkson’s Corners. The building itself contained little more than the station agent’s office, and in lieu of a proper waiting room had outdoor seating beneath a canopy next to it.
A larger station was built by the Grand Trunk to replace its inadequate predecessor in the early 1900’s, capable of handling the growing population of the nearby community. It was around this time that it became known as the “Strawberry Capital of Ontario”, and in 1915 a sign was placed at the station which read “Through this station passes more strawberries than any other station in Ontario”. The station’s name lost the apostrophe around this time, changing from Clarkson’s to Clarksons. The interior of the station had a waiting room and a freight room, with the station agent’s office located in the bay window between the two. For an unknown length of time there was also a small canopy towards the west end of the platform. After the financially ailing Grand Trunk was nationalized and merged into Canadian National in 1923, CN continued the trend by further shortening the station’s name to Clarkson.
As automobiles gained popularity throughout the early to mid 20th century, passenger ridership began to decline. This was further affected by the completion of a four-lane divided highway initially called the Middle Road, now known as the Queen Elizabeth Way between Toronto and Hamilton. It ran parallel to the railway approximately 1.5 kilometers north of Clarkson Station. On December 15th, 1962, a defective oil burner caused the station to go up in flames. The fire completely destroyed the station and numerous christmas parcels inside the freight room. A replacement station was never built by CN, but five years later the newly-formed GO Transit would build one just a kilometer to the west in 1967.
An early station at Clarkson’s Corners, most likely the former Great Western Railway station, photographed circa 1900. Courtesy of the Harold Hare collection. 
An unidentified Grand Trunk steam locomotive passes the new Clarksons Station at speed in 1910. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives. 
A 1915 postcard of the station showing a train approaching and a crowd of people waiting on the platform. Courtesy of Heritage Mississauga. 
A group of people wait on the platform of Clarksons station on May 25, 1915. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives. 
A particularly busy day at Clarksons in 1918, showing the separate canopy at the end of the platform on the left. Courtesy of Heritage Mississauga. 
MLW S3 no. 8471 is sitting on the team track with an unidentified caboose in this photo dated July 1st, 1955. Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library.
Condensed Station Info:
| Location: | Served By: | Current State: | Date Built: | Date Demolished/Burned: |
| Clarkson Road North | GTR (1882 – 1923) CNR (1923 – 1962) | Demolished (First) Burned Down (Second) | 1882 (First) 1900’s (Second) | 1900’s (First) 1962 (Second) |