| Strathroy-Caradoc | |
|---|---|
| — Township — | |
| Corner of Caradoc St. N and Front St. W in Strathroy | |
| Motto: "We Advance" | |
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Strathroy-Caradoc
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| Coordinates: | |
| 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.
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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.
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.
| 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 |
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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]
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.
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.
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.
| Adelaide Metcalfe | Middlesex Centre | |||
| Strathroy-Caradoc | ||||
| Southwest Middlesex | Chippewas of the Thames FN 42 | Oneida 41 IR |