The town of Ajax, Ontario in Canada evolved out of the Defence Industries Limited Pickering Works munitions plant built during the World War II, but its history begins much earlier. The indigenous peoples were active in the watersheds of the Duffins Creek and the Carruthers Creek since the Archaic period (7000-1000 BCE), although they did not build any major settlements in the area. After the British conquest of New France in 1760, the area became part of the Pickering Township. The conversion of a local trail into the Kingston Road in 1799 contributed to increased settlement in area. In the first half of the 19th century, the Pickering Village, now a neighbourhood in Ajax, evolved as the major population centre of the Township, supported by a timber and agricultural boom. In the mid-19th