Davisville Village is named after John Davis, who immigrated to Canada from Staffordshire, England in 1840. John Davis served as Davisville's first postmaster and helped found the Davisville Public School. He also operated the Davis Pottery, which became the Village's largest employer.

The south part of Davisville was subdivided in the 1860's on land owned mostly by the Davis family. The north part of the Village belonged to the Church. This latter tract of land, known as the Davisville Glebe, remained undeveloped until 1911 when it was sold to the Dovercourt Land and Building Company, the same company that oversaw the development of the Lawrence Park neighbourhood.