Chesley, Ontario

Chesley (originally Sconeville) is a community in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada, located within the municipality of Arran-Elderslie. Its town slogan is "The Nicest Town Around". Chesley is located north of both Walkerton on Bruce Road 19 and Hanover on County Road 10.

Chesley has its own high school called the Chesley District High School, a community public school called Kinghurst Community School, an arena and community centre, and several small local stores. A number of major franchises also exist in the town, including New Orleans Pizza, Rona, Home Hardware, and Rexall Drugs. The town's major source of employment is commercial manufacturing. Currently Crate Designs [1], a locally owned furniture manufacturing factory, is the only surviving furniture factory, following the recent downsizing of Durham Furniture (2007).

Chesley originally developed around mills built on the Saugeen River around 1858. It expanded further when it was connected to the Grand Trunk Railroad in 1881. A great fire destroyed most of the original downtown core in 1888, and the destroyed wood buildings were replaced by brick and stone. The town was named after Solomon Chesley, a former official in the Indian Department in Canada West. It is now an example of a typical rural Ontario community. The town is known for the statue of a giant bull on the north end of town, which is affectionately known as "Big Bruce".

Recently the town has begun to create a network of walking trails that encompasses much of the town's existing infrastructure of walking paths. Known as the heritage trail, it spans a large part of the town, and its waterside parks.

Famous residents

• Tommy Burns (boxer), inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame and World Heavyweight Champion 1906–1908
• Paul MacDermid, NHL player 1981–1995
• Ryan MacDonald, former OHL hockey star and current member of the Lausitzer Füchse
• Mickey MacKay, Hockey Hall of Fame, played 1914–1930
• Jim McDonald, medalist in the Special Olympics
• Victoria Pratt, actress
• LIGHTS, a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter