Chatham-Kent, Ontario
The Municipality of
Chatham-Kent, is located in
Southwestern Ontario,
Canada. The municipality is mainly rural and agricultural.
The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790's, as it straddles the
Thames River.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, establisherd in 1841 by
Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States.
In 1998 the
County of Kent and the
city of Chatham were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. The Municipality of Chatham-Kent consists of 23 communities.
Chatham-Kent has an increasingly diverse economy, with a base in the
agricultural and
automotive sectors. Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to
Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. The municipality and senior governments are keen to promote continuing diversification.
*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.
*Chatham is home to the headquarters of
Union Gas, a natural gas utility. Union Gas is a
Duke Energy company.
*Chatham is also home to a truck plant operated by
Navistar International Corporation (NYSE symbol NAV)
*
Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited, a DuPont company, one of Canada's leading agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology companies, has operated from headquarters in Chatham since 1946.
*Olsen furnaces are made in
Wallaceburg. Olsen is a division of ECR International.
*
RM Classic Cars, and automobile restoration company and auction house, is located in Chatham. The nickname "The Classic Car Capital of Canada" comes from this company and numerous related community events.
Recent developments in rural Chatham-Kent include
wind farms and
vineyards near the shores of
Lake Erie.
According to the
May 2001 census, the population of the
municipality of Chatham-Kent was 107,341 people, compared with a resident population in the province of
Ontario of 11,410,050 people.
In 2001, 15.1% of the resident population in Chatham-Kent were 65 or over compared with 13.2% in
Canada. The average age is 38.6 years compared to 37.6 for all of
Canada. 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female. Children under five account for approximately 5.7% of the population. This compares with 5.8% in
Ontario, and almost 5.6% for
Canada overall.
Of the current population of Chatham-Kent, 9.5% were born outside Canada, with 70 countries of origin represented. Recent immigrants comprise only 1.5% of the population, compared to the Canadian average of 6.2%.
In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Chatham-Kent declined by 1.8%, compared with an increase of 6.1% for
Ontario as a whole. The loss of population in Chatham-Kent can be attributed to economic stagnation and industry closures, university graduates not returning to their home communities, and a lower than average rate of immigration.Major Communities (Population 2001 Census)
*
Chatham 43,690
*
Wallaceburg 11,114
*
Blenheim 4,780
*
Tilbury 4,599
*
Ridgetown 3,358
*
Dresden 2,572
*
Wheatley 1,686
*
Bothwell 1,002
*
Thamesville 928
Race
*
Caucasian: 94.6% (chiefly
British,
French,
Irish,
German,
Italian,
Dutch)
*
Black: 2.0% (mostly
Jamaican)
*
Aboriginal: 1.6%
*
Other: 1.9% (includes
mixed race,
Chinese,
Asian)
Religion
*
Protestant: 48.4%
*
Catholic: 36.0%
*Other
Christian: 2.7%
*Other religions: 0.7%
*No religious affiliation: 12.2%
Language
*
English: 87.4%
*
French: 3.4%
*French and English: 0.4%
*Other: 8.8%
Television Stations
*
CHWI A-Channel: a
CHUM Limited television station. The station operates out of
Windsor, Ontario and has offices in both Chatham, Ontario and
Wheatley, Ontario (where it is licensed). This television station has been operating since
October 19,
1993.
*
CKCO-TV (
CTV): The station operates out of
Kitchener, Ontario, and has offices in
Sarnia,
London, Ontario, and
Chatham, Ontario.
Radio Broadcast Stations
*
CKSY 94.3FM: an adult contemporary music station on the air since
July 1,
1986. In
2002, CKSY swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKUE.
*
CKUE 95.1FM:
The Rock, a rock music station established on
October 6,
1999. In
2002, CKUE swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKSY. CKUE operates a repeater station in
Windsor, Ontario, also on 95.1 FM, and thus the broadcast day originates from both the Chatham and Windsor studios.
*
CFCO 92.9FM and 630AM: a news, sports, and oldies music station. The original AM broadcasting station was launched in 1926; the repeater FM signal, meant to improve the station's reception in office buildings in Chatham-Kent, was launched in 2000. CFCO boasts a large daytime signal that covers much of
Michigan, including the
Detroit metropolitan area, and some of
Ohio and
Indiana in addition to southwestern Ontario.
*
CBEE 88.1FM: the radio rebroadcast station for CBC Radio One (CBE) out of Windsor, Ontario.
CKSY, CFCO and CKUE are owned by
Blackburn Radio.
Print Media
Chatham Sun a free local newspaper published Monday to Friday by
Bowes Publishers Limited.
Chatham This Week a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday by
Bowes Publishers Limited.
Chatham Daily News: a local newspaper for Chatham owned and operated by the
Osprey Media Group.
Chatham Pennysaver: a free local shopping and
classifieds paper owned by
Bowes Publishers Limited.
Wallaceburg News: a weekly newspaper operated by the
Osprey Media Group.
Wallaceburg Courier Press: A weekly newspaper published every Wednesday by
Bowes Publishers Limited.
North Kent Lader: a weekly newspaper for
Dresden%2C_Ontario operated by the
Osprey Media Group.
Elementary and Secondary
There are two school boards in Chatham-Kent. These are the Lambton-Kent District School Board (headquartered in Sarnia) and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (headquartered in Wallaceburg). The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 7 secondary and 21 elementary schools. The St. Clair Catholic board consists of two secondary schools, one French and one English and 16 elementary schools. There are also private schools, such as Wallaceburg Christian School and Chatham Christian Schools, an elementary and high school in the same building.
Post-Secondary
Chatham-Kent is the home of two colleges -
St. Clair College and Ridgetown College.
St. Clair College is a satellite of St. Clair College of Windsor. There are two campuses located in the municipality - Thames Campus (located in Chatham) and the Wallaceburg Campus (located in Wallaceburg). There are over 5,000 full time and 12,000 part time students that attend the college each year.
Ridgetown College is actually a campus of the
University of Guelph, and offers diplomas in
agriculture,
horticulture, and
veterinary technology.
* 1891
Harry Garnet Bedford Miner: Victoria Cross winner during World War 1, born in Cedar Springs
* 1913
Robertson Davies: novelist
* 1924
June Callwood: a prominent magazine writer in the 1950's. Became an Officer in the
Order of Canada in
1986* 1924
Judy LaMarsh: former Canadian
Minister of Health* 1940
Sylvia Tyson: one half of singer/songwriter duo
Ian and Sylvia* 1943
Fergie Jenkins:
Baseball Hall of Famer
* 1961
Michelle Wright: Award winning Country Singer
* 1964
Dave Gagner: retired
NHL hockey player. His sister-in-law,
Diane Gagner is currently the mayor of Chatham-Kent.
* 1972
Courtney Babcock:
Olympic distance runner
* 1974
Todd Warriner: former
NHL hockey player, picked 4th overall in the
1992 NHL Entry Draft by the
Quebec Nordiques.
* 1976
Shae-Lynn Bourne: championship
figure skater* n/a
Doug Melvin:
General Manager of the
Milwaukee Brewers* n/a
Tracey Hoyt: plays Aurora Farqueson on the hit
CBC television series "The Tournament"
Ice Hockey
Chatham has a team in the
OHA Western Junior B league:
*
Chatham Maroons -
club siteThere are also four teams in the
Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League*
Blenheim Blades*
Dresden Kings*
Wheatley Sharks*
Wallaceburg LakersRoad
Chatham-Kent is situated on
Highway 401 (the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway), connecting
Montreal,
Toronto,
Kitchener-Waterloo,
London, and
Windsor, Ontario; and
Detroit, Michigan via the
Ambassador Bridge. Blenhiem, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked with
Sarnia, Ontario and the
Blue Water Bridge to the United States by
Highway 40.
The sections of
Highway 2 and
Highway 3 (the
Talbot Trail) in Chatham-Kent were downloaded by the province in 1998, becoming local roads 2 and 3, but they remain siginificant through routes and are still locally known by their old names.
Rail
Chatham is served by
VIA Rail passenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of the
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, and is served by both the
Canadian National Railway and the
Canadian Pacific Railway for freight transportation.
Bus
There are four local bus routes within the city of Chatham, providing services every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday. There are no services between Chatham and other towns in the municipality, however.
Chatham-Kent also has intercity
bus services, with
Greyhound Canada services to and from Windsor, London and Toronto, and through
Detroit, Michigan to
Chicago, Illinois. These services stop at
Thamesville, Chatham and
Tilbury.
The
Indian reserves of
Moravian 47 and
Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) border Chatham-Kent.
There are two
Provincial Parks in Chatham-Kent,
Rondeau Provincial Park and
Wheatley Provincial Park, and
Point Pelee National Park is nearby. There are also numerous local conservation areas.
The local military regiment, The Essex and Kent Scottish, has in the past years, sent over 15 people to serve in NATO and UN operations around the world. Currently there are 3 from Chatham operating in Afganistan.
*
Chatham-Kent website*
Chatham-Kent weather*
Google map of Chatham-Kent
