The village of Spencerville is a rural community located in Eastern Ontario, about 80 kilometres southwest of downtown Ottawa on Highway 416. The village lies within the amalgamated municipality of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.
The twinning of former Highway 16 between the 400-series MacDonald-Cartier Freeway and Ottawa's Queensway has led to a recent spike in residential development in and around Spencerville, as more city workers find the 45-minute commute into downtown Ottawa a desirable trade-off for the larger houses and lot sizes that are available at more affordable prices than in Ottawa, or even nearby North Grenville.
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Peleg Spencer first built a wooden dam near the site in 1811.[1]Peleg and David Spencer built mills on the banks of the South Nation River. The mills enabled the economic development of a small pioneer community. The community contained a variety of small industries by the middle of the 19th century. It was the site of an annual agricultural fair.[2]
The village's best-recognized landmark is the Spencerville Mill, a restored, heritage gristmill on the South Nation River. By 1864, Robert Fairbairn had built a stone gristmill on the north side of the river and installed a steam engine to allow the mill to operate year-round. Fairburn had purchased the property from David Spencer, the father of his wife Mercy, who in turn had acquired a saw and gristmill from his father Peleg Spencer.
The Spencerville Fair is a long-standing end-of-summer tradition in eastern Ontario.
In 1854, the Leeds and Grenville County Council passed a resolution granting the founding of agricultural societies within the two counties, including the Township of Edwardsburg Agricultural Society. In 1855, the first fair was held on the south side of the Nation River on property settled by David Spencer.[3]
The countryside surrounding the village of Spencerville remains largely agricultural, with many dairy, beef, poultry, and hog farms contributing to the local economy. Those rural and agricultural roots are celebrated annually at the Spencerville Fair, which features agriculture and livestock exhibits, poultry and small animal shows, a midway and live entertainment.
Another popular event is 'A Country Christmas Remembered', which since its inception in 2004 has decorated the mill, select heritage homes and businesses around the community in the manner of 1930s-era small rural village at Christmas time. The two-day event features family-oriented events, food, crafts, displays, carolling, choirs, shopping, and entertainment and has begun to attract visitors from outling areas such as Ottawa, Brockville, Cornwall and towns in Upper New York State.
Beginning in June 2004, Spencerville also began hosting another new annual event, the Veterans Memorial Highland Games, featuring highland games, piping and drumming and other events.[4]
Spencerville has just one main intersection, but it has a number of businesses and services that seem out of proportion to its size.
The village has an elementary school, a public library, a Canada Post outlet, a restaurant, laundromat, two general stores, a gas bar that offers Beer Store and Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) products, a Royal Bank branch, a home heating and cooling dealer, a heritage restoration and construction business, a mechanic's garage, a small engine repair shop, an insurance company, a computer store, a funeral home, senior-living apartments, a Royal Canadian Legion branch and several home-based businesses. In addition, a Home Hardware franchise is located just outside of the village limits.
Four churches are found in the community: Spencerville United Church, St. Laurence O'Toole Catholic Church, St. Barnabas Anglican Catholic Church, and St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.
In recent years, a sleek new $1.066-million span has been built to replace the rusting girder bridge that once crossed the South Nation River into the village proper. The bridge project was completed under the former Canada-Ontario Rural Infrastructure Fund.
Spencerville also has an arena that hosts minor league hockey tournaments from across Ontario, and also offers public skating. The land for the arena was donated by the Spencerville Agricultural Society and the arena was constructed by volunteers. The newer buildings on the fairgrounds were built by the George Drummond family, of Drummond's gas franchises.