Strathroy-Caradoc

Strathroy-Caradoc
—  Township  —
Corner of Caradoc St. N and Front St. W in Strathroy
Motto: "We Advance"
Strathroy-Caradoc
Coordinates: 42°57′27″N 81°37′00″W / 42.9575°N 81.6166667°W / 42.9575; -81.6166667Coordinates: 42°57′27″N 81°37′00″W / 42.9575°N 81.6166667°W / 42.9575; -81.6166667
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Middlesex
Settled	1832
Incorporated	1860 (as village) 1872 (as town)
Amalgamated	January 1, 2001
Government
– Mayor	Joanne Vanderheyden
– Gov. Body	Strathroy Municipal Council
– MP	Bev Shipley (CPC)
– MPPs	Maria Van Bommel (OLP)
Area[1]
– Land	274.19 km2 (105.9 sq mi)
Population (2006)[1][2]
– Total	19,944
– Density	72.7/km2 (188.3/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code	N7G
Area code(s)	519 and 226
Website	www.strathroy-caradoc.ca

Strathroy-Caradoc is a municipality located just west of London, Ontario, Canada. It was created through the merger of the former township of Caradoc and the town of Strathroy in 2001. Its two largest settlements are Strathroy and Mount Brydges.

Strathroy-Caradoc is a primarily rural municipality. Industries include turkey and chicken hatching and processing, corn and tobacco. Some industrial products are manufactured in Strathroy, the township's largest locality and its commercial, cultural and industrial centre.

Settlements within Strathroy-Caradoc largely grew up around the Sydenham River and the southwestern Ontario railways. Three major railway lines pass through the municipality: the CN (Canadian National Railway) Chatham Subdivision (connecting Windsor and London, Ontario), the CP (Canadian Pacific Railway) Windsor Subdivision (also connecting Windsor and London), and the CN Strathroy Subdivision (connecting London and Sarnia, Ontario).

Municipally, Strathroy-Caradoc is situated within Middlesex County. At the federal and provincial levels of government it is represented by the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.

Communities

Strathroy is located 40 kilometres west of the City of London, Ontario, and is the largest community in Middlesex County outside of London. The community is situated next to Highway 402 between London and the border to Port Huron, Michigan, USA at Sarnia, Ontario. Strathroy's economy is diverse, and major industries include automotive manufacturing, agriculture and food processing.

Mount Brydges has a small commercial "downtown" featuring mostly local businesses and shops. Local agriculture includes maize, tobacco and wheat. The soil composition of the region is largely sandy (a phenomenon referred to locally as the "Caradoc Sand Plains") as a result of deposits created on the bottom of the glacial Lake Whittlesey which covered the area approximately 13,000 years ago.

The village came into existence as a result of the construction of the western division of the Great Western Railroad from City of London, Ontario to Windsor, Ontario, at the point where it crossed the existing road from Delaware, Ontario to Strathroy. This crossing happened to be at the point of greatest elevation on this division, the railroad having just climbed out of the valley of the Thames River from London. The station was named for Charles John Brydges the Managing Director of the Railroad. Contrary to a previous suggestion the name had nothing to do with an early settler named Mount, who had left the area more than two decades earlier.

The township also contains the smaller communities of Cairngorm, Campbellvale, Caradoc, Christina, Falconbridge, Glen Oak, Longwood, Melbourne and Muncey.

History

Strathroy was first settled in 1832 by John Stewart Buchanan at a location on the Sydenham River with flow and fall sufficient enough to power a grist mill. A general store opened in the settlement in 1840. Strathroy was incorporated as a village in 1860 and became a town in 1872 under the motto "We Advance". Buchanan named the settlement after his hometown of Strathroy in Ireland, now a suburb of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

In 1866, The Age newspaper was established to compete with the already-established Western Dispatch newspaper. The Western Dispatch was purchased by The Age in 1923, which later became The Age Dispatch. The newspaper is still published weekly.

Arthur Currie, who would later become the commander of Canadian forces in Europe during World War I, was born here on December 5, 1875.

In the fall of 1876, Bixel Brewery opened in Strathroy, producing lager beer for a century before its closing. Other breweries in the town have included the "Western Steam Brewery", "Strathroy Brewing and Malting" and "West End Brewery".

In 1896, the Strathroy Furniture Company opened its doors, and was renowned for nearly a century for making residential furniture. On July 15, 1992, the company declared bankruptcy and a liquidation sale was held in October 1992.

On February 14, 1914, the first patients were admitted to what would become Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital. At the time, the hospital was municipally-owned. The current building opened on June 23, 1962 as a two-story structure with 82 beds. The hospital was the location at which Native Canadian "Dudley" George succumbed to the gunshot wound he suffered at the Ipperwash Standoff at nearby Ipperwash Provincial Park on September 7, 1995.^[3]

On January 13, 1954, West Middlesex Memorial Arena opened in Strathroy. To commemorate the occasion, the NHL's Montreal Canadiens played an exhibition game at the arena, defeating the local Junior 'B' team the Strathroy Rockets 14-3 in front of 3,100 spectators.^[4]

On March 22, 2004, the town's 117-year-old train station ^[5] was destroyed by a fire that took more than 35 firefighters to get under control. Adolescent boys were charged with starting the fire.^[6]

In 2005, Strathroy was connected to the Lake Huron Water Pipeline. This ended the town's existing reliance on groundwater and wells.

Demographics

Census	Population
(for Town of Strathroy only)
1871	3,232
1881	3,817
1891	3,316
1901	2,933
1911	2,823
1921	2,691
1931	2,964
1941	3,016
1951	3,708
1961	5,150
1971	6,592
1981	8,748
1991	10,566
2001	12,860
2006	13,541

Population trend:^[2][9]

• Population in 2006: 19,944
• Population in 2001: 19,114 (or 19,154 when adjusted to 2006 boundaries)
• Population total in 1996: 17,930
  • Caradoc (township): 6,248
  • Strathroy (town): 11,852
• Population in 1991:
  • Caradoc (township): 6,147
  • Strathroy (town): 10,566

Education

Strathroy has two secondary schools that share basic facilities, Strathroy District Collegiate Institute and Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School. Each serves the town and its outlying area. Strathroy was ranked 161st out of 714 Ontario secondary schools in 2007/2008 by the Fraser Institute's Report on Ontario Secondary Schools.^[10] Holy Cross was ranked 339th out of 714 in the same report.^[10]

Media

Strathroy has two weekly newspapers, The Age Dispatch and the Middlesex Banner, and a local radio station, 105.7 myFM (CJMI-FM). myFM provides local news and sports daily. The region is otherwise served by media from London.

Events

Strathroy's largest annual event is the Strathroy Turkey Festival, also known as Turkeyfest, run in June. The town is home to the headquarters of Cuddy Farms, the world's top turkey hatching company.

Sports

Strathroy is home to the Strathroy Rockets of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Strathroy Royals baseball team. Mount Brydges is home to the Mount Brydges Bulldogs of the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Notable people

• Harry H. Bentley, politician
• Robert Brett, politician, physician
• Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks, NHL All-Star defenceman and 2010 Stanley Cup Champion.
• Chris Daw, Mutli attending Paralympic athlete and 2006 wheelchair curling Gold medalist
• General Sir Arthur William Currie
• Darryl Edestrand, NHL hockey player
• Francis Henry Keefer, Canadian lawyer and politician
• Alexander Knox (1907–1995), actor and author
• John Burton Martyn, politician
• Andy McDonald, St. Louis Blues, NHL All-Star forward and 2007 Stanley Cup Champion
• Tara McLeod, guitarist for Ontario based metal band Kittie
• George Orton, Canada's first Olympic champion, born in Strathroy in 1873. Won a gold medal for the Canada in the steeplechase event at the 1900 Olympics
• Warren Rychel, NHL hockey player
• James T. Shotwell
• Pat Stapleton, retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association
• Mike Stapleton, retired ice hockey forward who played 697 games for 8 NHL teams, and won a silver medal at the 1986 World Junior Championships.
• Janaya Stephens, film actress
• Don Van Massenhoven, NHL official

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Strathroy-Caradoc community profile". 2006 Census data. Statistics Canada. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3539015&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=strathroy&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Corrections and updates". 2006 Census data. Statistics Canada. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census06/corrections/updatepages/Cgen001.cfm?Lvl=H. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
3. ^ [1][2]
4. ^ A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey - We
5. ^ [3]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ CN Strathroy
7. ^ "2006 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. 2009-02-24. http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/index.cfm?Lang=E. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
8. ^ "2001 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. 2007-02-01. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Index.cfm?Lang=E. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
9. ^ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census
10. ^ ^{a b} [4]

External links

• Township of Strathroy-Caradoc
• Statistics Canada 2006 Community Profiles: Strathroy
• Strathroy Museum
• Pictures of the train station after the fire of 2004