The Municipality of Chatham-Kent (2006 population 108,177) is a city-status single-tier municipal government in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, Canada. The municipality is mainly rural and agricultural, with industry in the larger urban areas.
History
The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790s, as it straddles the Thames River. The town was named after Chatham, Kent, England, which was also developed around a naval dockyard. In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ceto and the Old English ham thus meaning a forest settlement. Following the American Revolution and the Gnadenhutten Massacre, a group of Christian Munsee Indians settled in what is now Moraviantown.
In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place between Moraviantown and Thamesville on October 5, 1813.
During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States. John Brown, the abolitionist, planned his raid on the Harpers Ferry Virginia Arsenal in Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. The small village of North Buxton, part of the African Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in the Underground Railroad.
Kent County consisted of the townships of Camden, Chatham, Dover, Harwich, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Romney, Tilbury East and Zone. In some of Canada's earliest post-Confederation censuses, some residences in Kent County were incorrectly reported as being in Bothwell "County", which was a separate electoral district comprising parts of Kent and Lambton counties but not a distinct county in its own right.
In 1998 the County of Kent and the city of Chatham were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
Much paranormal activity has been reported in and around Chatham-Kent, mainly due to its rich and often turbulent history. The downtown area, following the Thames River, is rife with ghost stories, both past and present. The most famous case in the area is the Baldoon Mystery-which actually took place just outside Wallaceburg. In 2004, local author/historian Sheila Gibbs wrote a book titled The Ghosts of Chatham-Kent , which quickly became a best-seller among the locals. A sequel was released in October 2007.
Communities
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent currently consists of the communities of Appledore, Arkwood, Bagnall, Baldoon, Bates Subdivision, Bearline, Beechwood, Blenheim, Botany, Bothwell, Bothwell Station, Bradley, Briarwood Estates, Cedar Springs, Chatham, Clearville, Coatsworth, Croton, Darrell, Dawn Mills, Dealtown, Dover Centre, Doyles, Dresden, Duart, Eatonville, Eberts, Electric, Erie Beach, Erieau, Fargo Station, Fletcher, Florence, Glenwood, Grande Pointe, Guilds, Highgate, Holiday Harbour, Huffman Corners, Jeannette, Jeannette's Creek, Kent Bridge, Kent Centre, Lake Morningstar, Louisville, McKay's Corners, Merlin, Mitchell's Bay, Morpeth, Muirkirk, Mull, New Scotland, North Buxton, North Thamesville, Northwood, Oldfield, Oungah, Ouvry, Pain Court, Palmyra, Pinehurst, Port Alma, Port Crewe, Prairie Siding, Quinn, Raglan, Renwick, Rhodes, Ridgetown, Ringold, Rondeau Bay Estates, Selton, Shrewsbury, South Buxton, Stevenson, Stewart, Thamesville, Thornecliffe, Tilbury, Troy, Tupperville, Turin, Turnerville, Valetta, Van Horne, Vosburg, Wabash, Wallaceburg, Wheatley, Whitebread, Wilson's Bush.
Geography
At 2,458 square kilometres, Chatham-Kent is the twelfth-largest municipality by area in Canada and the largest in southwestern Ontario. Over 59,000 of the 110,000 residents live in the former City of Chatham. Other population centres in the municipality include Wallaceburg, Blenheim and Tilbury, Ridgetown and Dresden.
The Lower Thames River runs through Chatham-Kent to Lake St. Clair in the west, while the Sydenham River flows through Wallaceburg and Dresden. The municipality has several kilometres of shoreline along lakes Erie and St. Clair.
The Indian reserves of Moravian 47 and Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) border Chatham-Kent.
Adjacent counties and municipalities
- Lambton County (north and northwest)
- Middlesex County (northeast)
- Elgin County (northeast and east)
- Across Lake Erie lies Erie, Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties, Ohio, US (south)
- Essex County (southwest and west)
- Across Lake St. Clair lies Macomb and St. Clair Counties, Michigan, US (west)
Language
Although most of the population of Chatham-Kent is English-speaking, a few of its communities and Catholic parishes were settled by francophone (French-speaking) farmers in the mid-nineteenth century. These include Pain Court, Tilbury and Grande Pointe, where French is still spoken by a significant percentage of the population. These communities are designated French language service areas under Ontario's French Language Services Act.
Appoximately 8,500 residents of Chatham-Kent have French as a mother tongue and 1,500 have French as their home language. Essex County also has a relatively large francophone population, especially in the municipality of Lakeshore. Together, Chatham-Kent and Essex Counties make up one of the concentrations of Franco-Ontarians in the province of Ontario.
Both elementary and secondary francophone schools exist across the municipality. A French cultural organization, La Girouette , which is based in Pain Court, promotes French-Canadian culture and language in the area.
Economy and industry
Chatham-Kent's economy has a base in the agricultural and automotive sectors. The municipality and senior levels of government are keen to promote continuing diversification.
Located in the "industrial heartland", Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. (Chatham was also the birthplace of Hank Chrysler, father of Walter P. Chrysler, founder of the Chrysler automobile company). Today, a heavy truck plant operated by Navistar International Corporation (NYSE symbol NAV) was one of the largest employers in the city. Established in 1912, the operation was threatened with closure in 2002, but remained open thanks to $65 million in government grants and a new collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers local representing the workers. Other auto industry plants in the municipality include AutoLiv Canada in Tilbury (airbags), Mahle in Tilbury (emissions controls and plastics).
Blenheim is home to RM Auctions, the world's largest vintage automobile auction house and RM Restorations, the world's largest vintage automobile restoration company. The nickname "The Classic Car Capital of Canada" comes from the company's position in the industry and abundance of classic car events in the community.
Chatham-Kent is the headquarters for Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (a division of DuPont), a major agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology company. Omstead Foods, founded in Wheatley in 1911 is now the largest fresh fish producer in Canada and second largest frozen vegetable processor. In 1996, Chatham became the home of Commercial Alcohols, which is the largest ethanol plant in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. It produces ethanol for industrial, medical, and beverage uses. In January 2005, the plant was named as one of Canada's 50 best managed companies. There are plans to double the size of the current Chatham facility. The plant faced criticism in the past due to corn mash odour from its stack, but has installed technology to eliminate the problem. However, these efforts need to be readressed, due to the fact that this technology has been discovered to be faulty by many of the local residents.
There are many farms in the municipality, and a number of vineyards have been opened in the last few years.
Many international workers come to Chatham-Kent, especially in the warmer seasons, to do farm labour. In the past there have been allegations of low pay and poor living and working conditions for these agricultural labourers. 'El Contrato', a film by The National Film Board of Canada, addresses these issues in depth.
Chatham is home to the headquarters of Union Gas, a natural gas utility and Spectra Energy company. Other energy related activities include wind farms near the shores of Lake Erie.
Chatham also serves as a retail centre for the municipality and surrounding area. This has included the development of large big-box stores particularly at the north end of Communication Road in Blenheim, and at the north end of St. Clair Street in Chatham.
Mallory Industries is a third generation family owned business started in 1891 by George W. Mallory at his home in Guilds. The factory moved Blenheim in 1914 in order to secure electricity, and moved to its current location on Communication Road south of Blenheim in 1957. Their international operations in Blenheim, ON and Sioux City, Iowa supply squeegees and wash brushes to many top retailers across North America.
Thompsons Limited, formerly known as W.G. Thompson and Sons, Limited, is a third generation family owned and operated business headquartered in Blenheim serving the agricultural industry . Thompsons has a network of modern elevators located across southern Ontario and the United States that receive, process and ship grain and edible beans for domestic and e