Harrow is a community located in the town of Essex, Essex County, Ontario, Canada.
Hiram Walker, of Canadian Club Whisky fame is credited with putting Harrow on the map. Walker built the railroad, which then brought grain from the South end of the County into the city for use in his distillery. The tracks remained for over 100 years, and were finally removed in 1992 to be replaced with the Chrysler Canada Greenway, part of the Trans Canada Trail.
Walker's distillation operations remained in Harrow until 2009, when the Canbar, Inc cooperage closed.
Though early settlers were mostly German, many decendents from slaves came during the mid-to-late 19th century as well as a thriving community of Portuguese came later and still remain. Today Harrow is a quaint community situated along scenic County Road 20 that offers unique shops and many places for antique hunters to explore. It is also the proud home of Canada's southernmost high school. Attractions include Colio Winery, the Harrow Research Station, and historic John R. Park Homestead.
Harrow has organized and hosted an annual agricultural fair every Labour Day weekend for over 150 years, and many people from Essex County and other parts of Ontario attend. Highlights of the fair include a mom calling contest, a pie auction, "bossy" bingo and a tractor pull. Harrow is also the location of The Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre, one of 19 research centres of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada across the country.
The 2001 Census was the last Canadian census to record demographic statistics for Harrow as a separate community. In the 2006 Census, statistics were published only for Essex.
For 2001 census:[1]
| Population: | 2,935 (+4.6% from 1996) |
| Land area: | 2.75 km² |
| Population density: | 1,067.3 people/km² |
| Median age: | 35.6 (males: 34.2, females: 37.1) |
| Total private dwellings: | 1,075 |
| Mean household income: | $29,932 |