Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Grand Falls-Windsor
other_name =
native_name =
nickname =
settlement_type = Town
motto =


imagesize =
image_caption =


flag_size =
image_

seal_size =
image_shield =
shield_size =
city_logo =
citylogo_size =
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = left
pushpin_map_caption = Location of Grand Falls-Windsor in Newfoundland
pushpin_mapsize =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Canada
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = Newfoundland and Labrador
subdivision_type3 = Census division
subdivision_name3 = Division No. 6
established_title =
established_date =
established_title2 = Incorporated
established_date2 = January 1 1991
established_title3 =
established_date3 =
government_type =
government_footnotes =
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Rex Barnes
leader_title1 = MHA
leader_name1 = Ray Hunter
(Grand Falls-Windsor-Green Bay South)
Susan Sullivan
Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans
leader_title2 = MP
leader_name2 = Scott Simms
(Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor)
unit_pref =
area_footnotes =
area_total_sq_mi =
area_total_km2 =
area_land_sq_mi =
area_land_km2 = 54.48
area_water_sq_mi =
area_water_km2 =
area_water_percent =
area_urban_sq_mi =
area_urban_km2 =
area_metro_km2 =
area_metro_sq_mi =
population_as_of = 2006
population_note =
population_footnotes = [ [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1006017&Geo2=PR&Code2=10&Data=Count&SearchText=Wood%20Point,%20Bonne%20Bay&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All Population and dwelling counts] ]
population_total = 13558
population_urban =
population_metro =
population_density_sq_mi = 400.8
population_density_km2 = 248.9
timezone = Newfoundland Standard Time Zone
utc_offset = -3:30
timezone_DST = Newfoundland Daylight
utc_offset_DST = -2:30
latd = 48
latm = 56
lats = 13
latNS = N
longd = 55
longm = 38
longs = 42
longEW = W
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_ft =
elevation_m = 48
postal_code_type = Canadian Postal code
postal_code = A2A
area_code = 709
blank_name = Highways
blank_info = Route 1
website = [http://www.grandfallswindsor.com Town of Grand Falls-Windsor]
footnotes =
url=

Grand Falls-Windsor is a town of 13,558 people located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is the largest in the central region, the second-largest town in the province, behind Conception Bay South, and is home of the annual Exploits Valley Salmon Festival. [ [http://www.grandfallswindsor.com/salmonfestival/history.asp Exploits Valley Salmon Festival] ] Grand Falls-Windsor was incorporated in 1991 when the two former towns of Grand Falls and Windsor amalgamated.

History

In 1768, Lieutenant John Cartwright while following the Exploits River through the Exploits Valley named the waterfall he found, "Grand Falls", however it took until 1905 before the town of Grand Falls was established. [ [http://www.grandfallswindsor.com/town/about.htm About Grand Falls-Windsor] ] Worried about the impending war in Europe, Alfred Harmsworth (Baron Northcliffe) began looking for an alternative source of newsprint for his family's newspaper and publishing business. During their search for a suitable location to build and operate a pulp and paper mill, Harold Harmsworth and Mayson Beeton, son of Mrs Beeton the famed author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, found Grand Falls. The site had great potential due to access to lumber, the possibility of hydroelectricity and a deep-water port was available in nearby Botwood. On January 7, 1905, the Harmsworth's and Robert Gillespie Reid, owner of the Newfoundland Railway, formed the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company, the mill was constructed and opened on October 9 1909. Workers came from all over the world to help develop the new area and more and more people were coming with hope that they would find work at the mill. At that time, only employees of the mill and workers from private businesses were permitted to live in Grand Falls. Other people settled north of the railway in a place known as the Grand Falls station, which served as a bedroom community for people that worked in Grand Falls.

Grand Falls also catered to the social and athletic needs of the people living there. The Grand Falls Athletic Club was formed in 1907. Sports such as hockey, boxing, golf, soccer and baseball were played in the area. Increasing interest in music and the arts reflected in the creation of several clubs, including the Northcliffe Drama Club, as well as several musical groups. From 1905-1906, the religious needs of the residents were filled by visitng clergy. However, because of the increasing population of Grand Falls, several churches were built.

Due to its continued growth, Grand Falls Station became a vibrant town. Main Street, in what is now the Windsor portion of the town, featured lines of small business that catered to the needs of the residents and the town was officially incorporated on November 1, 1938. During the incorporation, Grand Falls Station changed its name to Windsor in honour of the British Royal Family, the House of Windsor.

In 1961, Price Brothers and Company Limited acquired a large amount of A.N.D. Company stock. An election for the first municipal government was soon held which eventually led to the incorporation of the town of Grand Falls. Thirty years later, in 1991, the towns of Grand Falls and Windsor amalgamated to become the current town of Grand Falls-Windsor.

Today the 2^nd Battalion of the The Royal Newfoundland Regiment, part of the Land Force Atlantic Area is stationed in the town.

Geography

Grand Falls-Windsor is centrally located on the island of Newfoundland. It is approximately an hour west of Gander, two and a half hours west of Clarenville and about four hours west of St. John's. On the other hand, the town is slightly over two hours east of Deer Lake, two hours and forty-five minutes east of Corner Brook and close to five hours east of Port Aux Basques, when traveling on the Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1, part of the Trans-Canada Highway.

The town itself consists of the former towns of Grand Falls and Windsor. The Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1 runs through the middle of town, with exits for Main Street, Station Road, Cromer Avenue, Union Street, Grenfell Heights and New Bay Road. Main throughfares in the town include Lincoln Road, Cromer Avenue, Main Street and Scott Avenue, though this list isn't extensive.

Economy

As highlighted in the history section, the economy of Grand Falls-Windsor primarily revolves around the pulp and paper mill - Abitibi-Consolidated, the town's largest employer, though the tertiary sector is also strong in the town with many small businesses and public services. Like most other communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, Grand Falls-Windsor has suffered from outmigration though the town's economy still remains strong.

ervices

The town is part of the Nova Central School District [ [http://www.ncsd.ca/ Nova Central School District] ] and is served by Woodland Primary [ [http://www.ncsd.ca/schools/WoodlandPrimary/WoodLandPrimary.asp Woodland Primary] ] (Kindergarten to Grade 3), Sprucewood Academy [ [http://www.ncsd.ca/schools/SprucewoodAcademy/Sprucewood.asp Sprucewood Academy] ] (Kindergarten to Grade 6), Millcrest Academy [ [http://www.ncsd.ca/schools/MillcrestAcademy/MillcrestAcademy.asp Millcrest Academy] ] (Grade 4 to Grade 6), Exploits Valley Intermediate [ [http://www.evi.k12.nf.ca/ Exploits Valley Intermediate] ] (Grade 7 to Grade 9) and Exploits Valley High [ [http://www.evh.k12.nf.ca/ Exploits Valley High] ] (Grade 10 to Grade 12).

For higher education education there is a campus of the College of the North Atlantic, a community college formed in 1977, [ [http://www.cna.nl.ca/ College of the North Atlantic] ] along with Keyin College [ [http://www.keyin.com/ Keyin College] ] and Corona College, [ [http://www.coronacollege.com/home.htm Corona College] ] both of which are private colleges.

The town is within the Health and Community Services Central Region.

Although there is no airport in Grand Falls-Windsor, the nearest is Exploits Valley (Botwood) Airport in Botwood, there is a public heliport, Grand Falls-Windsor Heliport, operated by the town. The nearest national airport is Gander International Airport, approximately 100km east in Gander.

Communication services are provided by AT&T Canada, Primus Canada and Aliant, formerly NewTel Communications. [ [http://www.grandfallswindsor.com/business/default.asp?industry=Telecommunications+Industry Telecommunications Industry] ] The companies provide mobile phones, high speed Internet and digital television, including CJON-TV (NTV), the only privately owned television station in Newfoundland and Labrador, and other services.

Private radio stations in the town include and CKXG-FM, CKCM, a VOCM affiliate, both owned by Newcap Broadcasting and CHOZ-FM owned by Geoff Stirling. The other private radio station is VOAR, which is part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has CBT, CBC Radio One and CBN-FM, CBC Radio 2.

CBNAT is the call sign for the local CBC rebroadcaster of CBNT from St. John's. Rogers TV which provides a community channel that includes a local talk show focused on community events called Grand Central.

The town has two hockey teams, the senior team, Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts and the Central Junior Cataracts of the Central/West Junior Hockey League winners of the 2007 Central West Junior Hockey League championship. [ [http://glendalegolfs.com/?p=181 2007 Review for Sports and Sporting News] ] [ [http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=juniorcataracts Central Junior Cataracts] ] [ [http://www.gfwcataracts.com/index.php?view=category&id=25%3Athe-project&option=com_content&Itemid=37 Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts] ] The town also belongs to the Newfoundland Hockey League.

Demographics

Data from Statistics Canada 2006 census shows that at the time there were 13,558 residents in Grand Falls-Windsor, a change of -1.6% from 13,340 in 2001. There were a total of 5,564 private dwellings. The town's land area is 54.48 km² (21 sq mi) and has a population density of convert|248.9|PD/sqkm|PD/sqmi.

As of 2006, there are 6,420 (47.35%) male residents and 7,140 (52.66%) female residents with the median age of male residents at 42.4 and the median age of female residents at 42.8. The median age of the town's population is getting older, from 36.2 at the 1996 census to 40.2 in the 2001 census and to 42.6 in 2006, compared to the province as a whole at 41.7. [cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil/Details/details1pop.cfm?SEARCH=BEGINS&PSGC=10&SGC=1006017&A=&LANG=E&Province=10&PlaceName=Grand%20Falls%2DWindsor&CSDNAME=Grand%20Falls%2DWindsor&CMA=10&SEARCH=BEGINS&DataType=1&TypeNameE=Town&ID=1643 |title=1996 Community Profiles |accessdate=2008-04-22|author=Statistics Canada] cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/Profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1006017&Geo2=PR&Code2=10&Data=Count&SearchText=Division&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=10&B1=All |title=2001 Community Profiles |accessdate=2008-04-22|author=Statistics Canada] cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1006017&Geo2=PR&Code2=10&Data=Count&SearchText=Grand%20Falls-Windsor&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=10&B1=All&Custom= |title=2006 Community Profiles |accessdate=2008-04-22|author=Statistics Canada|authorlink=Statistics Canada]

Of the population in 2006, 790 (5.83%) people were in a common-law relationship, 3,160 (23.31%) were single, 650 (4.79%) divorced, 830 (6.12%) were widowed, 315 (2.32%) separated and the rest, 6,455 (47.54) were married. Visible minority groups in the town are Aboriginal people (225 or 1.66%) followed by Chinese Canadians (70 or 0.52%), Arab Canadians (35 or 0.26%), Indo-Canadians (South Asian Canadian) (30 or 0.22%) and Filipino Canadians (15 or 0.11%).

In 2001 the majority of the residents - 8,405 (63.01%) of them - were Protestant, 4,420 (33.13%) were Catholic, 10 (0.07%) were Christian Orthodox, 35 (0.26%) were Christian, 10 (0.07%) were Hindu and 285 (2.14%) residents had no religious affiliation.

Unemployment in the town in 2006 was 17.0% slightly down from 17.7% in 2001 and below the provincial average of 18.6%. In 2000 the average annual earnings of part-time working residents was $26,671, compared to the provincial average of $24,165. The average earnings of full-time workers was $38,665, again slightly above the provincial average of $37,910.

Notable people

* Demasduwit, one of the last Beothuk people, died at Botwood and the Mary March Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor is named after her
* Nelson Hart, convicted on 28 March 2007 of murdering his twin daughters in 2002
* George Ivany, President of the University of Saskatchewan from 1989 to 1999
* Gordon Pinsent, television, theatre and film actor
* Fred Sanger, local hockey player with the Quebec Citadelles and grandfather of Laura Vandervoort

ee also

* Gander—Grand Falls
* Labrador (electoral district) (formerly known as Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador and Grand Falls—White Bay)
* Nonosbawsut
* Terra Nova Tel

References

External links

* [http://www.grandfallswindsor.com Town of Grand Falls-Windsor]

Geographic Location (8-way)
Centre = Grand Falls-Windsor
North = Division No. 6, Subd. C
Northeast =
East = Exploits River
Southeast =
South = Exploits River
Southwest =
West = Division No. 6, Subd. C
Northwest =

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