Kent County, Ontario

Kent County, area 2,458 sq km (949 sq mi) is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. Population in 2006 was 108,589.^[1]

The county was created in 1792 and named by John Graves Simcoe in honour of the English County. The county is in an alluvial plain between Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie, watered by two navigable streams, the Thames River and the Sydenham River.

On January 1, 1998, the county, its townships, towns, and Chatham were amalgamated into the single-tier city of Chatham-Kent.

Original Townships

Camden

Area 40,625 acres (164 km²). Surveyed in 1794 and named from the Earl of Camden. Community centres: (Dresden, Thamesville)

Chatham

Area 83,964 acres (340 km²) Surveyed in 1794. Community centres: City of Chatham and (Wallaceburg)

Dover

Area 68,617 acres (278 km²). Dover Township was named after Dover, England. It was surveyed in 1794 and incorporated in 1850. Within the boundaries of Dover along the Chenal Ecarte of the river St. Clair is the site of Lord Selkirk's Baldoon Settlement, established in 1803. Communities include Mitchell's Bay, Grande Pointe and Pain Court.

Harwich

Area 88,349 acres (358 km²). Surveyed in 1794 and named from the English port at the mouth of the Thames. A resident of Harwich, Valintine Zimmer, co-founded with friends of the same nationality the German Concession of Harwich. (Blenheim, Erieau, Erie Beach, Shrewsbury)

Howard

Area 58,607 acres (237 km²). Surveyed in 1794 and named after Thomas Howard, Earl of Effingham, father-in-law of Sir Guy Carleton. Community centres: (Morpeth, Ridgetown)

Orford

Area, 49,677 acres (201 km²). Surveyed in 1794 and named from the English port of Orford in Suffolk. Community centre. (Highgate)

Raleigh

Area 72,100 acres (292 km²). Surveyed in 1794. Likely named for Walter Raleigh. Community centres: (Charing Cross)

Romney

Area 26,193 acres (106 km²), Surveyed in 1794. Named for the Kentish port in England. Community centres: (Wheatley)

Tilbury East

Area 54,116 acres (219 km²). Surveyed in 1794, named for the English Tilbury fort in Essex. Community Centres: (Merlin, Tilbury)

Zone

Area 27,154 acres (110 km²). Separated from Oxford in 1821 to provide a special organizational district, "the zone", for the Indians of the Moravian Mission on the Thames. Community Center. (Bothwell)

Municipalities (as of 1997)

• City of Chatham: County Seat, largest town in the county, at around 54,000.
• Town of Blenheim: Incorporated in 1885.
• Town of Bothwell
• Town of Dresden: Incorporated in 1882.
• Town of Ridgetown: Incorporated in 1875.
• Town of Tilbury: Incorporated as Village of Tilbury Centre in 1887 and Town of Tilbury in 1910.
• Town of Wallaceburg: Incorporated as a village in 1875 and a town in 1896.
• Village of Erie Beach
• Village of Erieau
• Village of Highgate
• Village of Thamesville
• Village of Wheatley
• Township of Camden
• Township of Chatham
• Township of Dover
• Township of Harwich
• Township of Howard
• Township of Orford
• Township of Raleigh
• Township of Romney
• Township of Tilbury East
• Township of Zone

See also

• List of Ontario census divisions.
• Chatham-Kent, Ontario

References

1. ^ "Kent County (Chatham-Kent), Ontario". 2006 Community Profiles. Statistics Canada. http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CD&Code1=3536&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=chatham-kent&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=35&B1=All&Custom=. Retrieved 2011-05-14. 

External links

• 1951 map of Kent County

Coordinates: 42°22′37″N 82°11′20″W / 42.377°N 82.189°W / 42.377; -82.189