Kemptville, Ontario

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Kemptville [1] is a former town located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately 2.5 to 3 km south of the Rideau River. It can be reached by way of the former Highway 16 and Leeds and Grenville Road 43, the former Highway 43, which links Perth and former Highway 38. It is now accessed by the Veterans Memorial Highway, Highway 416, which was completed in 1999, with an interchange in the east on the old road to Alexandria. Kemptville is the largest community in North Grenville, holding about 27% of North Grenville's population. The Rideau River Provincial Park is situated in the north and three bridges along with one linking with Beckett's Corners are to the north.

Kemptville has 3 elementary schools - Holy Cross Catholic School, Kemptville Public School and South Branch Elementary School -, 2 high schools - St. Michael Catholic High School and North Grenville District High School -, 2 parks, and 2 hotels. The residential area of Kemptville is generally located in the south and east parts of the town. The main streets are Rideau, Prescott, Clothier and Van Buren streets. A creek named the Kemptville Creek divides Kemptville in the southeast, where the least part of Kemptville is found. The creek begins southwest of Kemptville and empties 4 km NE into the Rideau. Much of Kemptville is forested, especially east and north of the community. Farmlands cover the rest of the land; especially the west and the southern part of the community, with some exceptions. There are some homes lying next to the farmland.

Map of the town of Kemptville

[edit] History of Kemptville

The small town of Kemptville began to emerge from the forest in the township of Oxford when Lyman Clothier, a resident of New England, bought 100 acres of land from a John Boyce, for the price of a yoke of oxen, and a fusee. Mr. Clothier had lived in the general area since 1804 or 1805, and in 1812 he made the afore-mentioned transaction with Mr. Boyce, in order to establish a lumber mill. Mr. Clothier began construction of a saw mill with the assistance of his 4 sons, and they built two dwellings in what is now present-day Kemptville. This mill was extremely important for the settling of the community, as in order to construct a crude dwelling, lumber was required - and so, the mill began to facilitate the construction of dwellings for settlers all over Oxford Township.

The village location chosen by Mr. Clothier was a location that became a point on the Ottawa - Prescott road. As a result, and as a direct consequence of the many travellers passing through the settlement, one of Mr. Clothier's sons, Asa, made a habit of opening his home to these travellers - as a resting place, and as a meeting place - thus, the "Clothier's Hotel" was born. The next major industry to be established was that of a grist mill in 1821, when the Clothiers placed some rock stones in the lower part of their saw mill. As a result of this, rather than taking their grain to a site on the St. Lawrence River, which would be a daunting hike in the best of conditions, or grinding the grain in an extremely ineffective and crude fashion, the settlers could now take it to this grist mill. After this was established, a blacksmith's shop was then established, inevitably run also by the Clothiers. Education was also an issue, and so a schoolhouse was established in 1823, and this served the surrounding communities for quite some time. In terms of medical care, the first physician arrived in the community the following year after the school was established.

The small village was fast expanding - and the residents of the region were beginning to think about officially giving a dignified name to the location in which they lived. Initially, the community was known as "The Branch", and later, for obvious reasons, "Clothier's Mill". So, during a public meeting at this time, the name "Kemptville" was suggested, in order to honour Sir James Kemp, the Governor General of Upper Canada in 1828 who had been said to have camped on the banks of the Rideau River near the settlement. The name was adopted in the late 1820s and the first map with the name "Kemptville" was produced in 1830. [2]

A weekly newspaper is published in Kemptville, called the Kemptville Advance, and has been published since 1855. The Kemptville Advance celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2005.