Bronte, Ontario

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Bronte is the community that makes up much of the west end of Oakville. Twelve Mile Creek, which is known more informally as Bronte Creek, flows through the middle of Bronte and empties into Lake Ontario. Main roads include Bronte Road (north-south), Lakeshore Road West which runs parallel to Lake Ontario and Rebecca Street (both east-west). Streets in the business section include Lakeshore, Jones, Marine, and Ontario Street. Bronte is also accessed via a superhighway (the Queen Elizabeth Way) located to the north of the former village. Riggs Road was planned but never opened. Other main roads include Third Line, Speers Road and Burloak Drive to the west (the latter was named after the boundary of Burlington and Oakville.)

Bronte is a former fishing village which became annexed in 1962 with the former Township of Trafalgar, forming the Town of Oakville, along with the other formerly autonomous communities, including Sheridan.

The Bronte Harbour yacht club. In the background the high rise apartment buildings of the Bronte community can be seen

1 Nearest places
2 Geography and Information
3 Other
4 History
5 External links

[edit] Nearest places

Burlington, west
Milton, north
Oakville, east
Toronto, east
Hamilton, South

[edit] Geography and Information

Population: about 10,000
Area:
density:
Location: The southwest area within the Town of Oakville
- Latitude: about 43.6 N
- Longitude: about 79.85 W
Area code: +1-905 (part of Oakville)
Name of inhabitants: Brontonian sing., -s pl.
Postal code: - L6L ---

The urban area of Bronte is to the north, east and the southwest. The north-central part is industrialized while the west is mixed with some farmland, a former Petro-Canada refinery (which has closed and will be dismantled by 2007) and forests cover the northwest and includes Bronte Creek Provincial Park which cuts off Upper Middle Road. The park area is also used for trailers and tents. Farmland used to cover most of Bronte (except for the northwest) before suburban housing came in the 1960s and the 1970s. Lakeshore houses are situated along the shore of Lake Ontario. The narrow creek valley of Twelve Mile Creek (informally know as Bronte Creek) is undeveloped, except at the mouth which serves as a boat harbour.

[edit] Other

Bronte has schools, high schools, churches, plazas, a sports park near the unplanned Riggs Road and a few parks. A pier is situated to the south with hundreds of boats and the Bronte Harbour yacht club. There is little crime in the area despite the presence of "The Bronte Crew", a relatively non-violent crip gang that resides in the region.

[edit] History

Officially founded in 1834, the Village of Bronte was named as a tribute to British Naval Hero, Admiral Nelson, who was granted the "Duchy of Bronte" in Sicily for his naval victories. His duchy was on the slope of the volcano, Mount Etna. Some of Bronte's original settlers were United Empire Loyalists. Many of the streets were named for these founding fathers such as Sovereign, Hixon, Nelson and Belyea. These names can still be found in families that continue to reside in the village. Bronte's first harbour was completed 22 years after the village was founded.

For years it was a commercial shipping centre for grain and timber but with the coming of the railway, the villagers turned to commercial fishing and, in the late 18th century, Bronte became a fishing port.

Another notable resident of the village was the world famous author, Mazo de la Roche, whose works, the "Jalna Series", have been widely read around the world. She wrote these books while she and her family lived in one of the founding fathers' homes, the Sovereign House. This home has been preserved and is home to the Bronte Historical Society and is open to the public.

In the 1920s, Middle Road (the former name of Queen Elizabeth Way) was opened with 3 interchanges including Service Road and became the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in 1939. In the mid-20th century, a refinery began construction which lasted a few years and later opened. The refinery was owned by Petro-Canada and Shell. Also, the former Shell refinery was to the south having entrance off Rebecca Street The streets are numbered from east to west and lettered from A to L or N? from north to south. The housing came in the 1960s and the 1970s and later north of the QEW in the late-1980s and adjacent to Burlington also in the late-1980s. Presently, the housing developments which began in 2002 continues north of Bronte.

Also in the 1970s, a highway linking north to Milton (Highway 25) moved from Guelph Line to Bronte Road. Later in the 1980s, an interchange for Burloak was added. This major arterial route is now not legally a highway, but a "regional road" but is, in fact, called "The Veterans Highway."

In 1996, an accident occurred near Bronte in Oakville. The QEW was closed for nearly a day and the eastbound lanes were rerouted to South Service Road which had an eastbound entrance at the South Service Road (exit 110) and in 1997 or 1998 reduced to only the westbound exit.

In the 2000s, a new two-lane bridge was built to connect New Street at Mississauga Rd and Rebecca Street at Bronte Rd.

In early March 2006, Stoneboats restaurant, which was located in one of Bronte's most historical buildings (built 1840), suffered heavy fire damage but is being rebuilt. A large portion of the historical part of the building was destroyed. Aritcle from The Oakville Beaver