| The United Counties of Stormont Dundas & Glengarry | |
|---|---|
| — County — | |
| Location of Stormont Dundas and Glengarry United Counties | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Established | 1850 |
| County seat | Cornwall |
| Municipalities |
List
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| Area[1] | |
| • Land | 3,306.86 km2 (1,276.79 sq mi) |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
| • Total | 110,399 |
| • Density | 33.4/km2 (86.5/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Website | www.sdg.on.ca |
The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry is an upper tier county and census division in the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is Cornwall. The City of Cornwall and the sovereign Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne are included in the census division, but are politically separated from Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties.
There was a total population of 110,399 in the census division Canada 2006 Census.[1] The county borders with Quebec to the east and New York to the south; the only census division in Ontario to border both Quebec and the United States. The sovereign Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a territory partly within the county and straddling the border of both Quebec and New York.
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The area along the St. Lawrence River had been settled by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. About 2,000 years ago, the Point Peninsula Complex people built earthen mounds, such as those at Serpent Mounds Park and Cameron's Point. They were gradually replaced about 1000-1300 CE by the Owasco people, who had migrated northward. They practiced more settled agriculture.
These people are believed to have developed into the Iroquoian-speaking people, of which the St. Lawrence Iroquoians are identified as having settled along the river valley of the same name. They spoke Laurentian, practiced agriculture, and built fortified villages, such as those visited and described by explorer Jacques Cartier. They were a group distinct from the Iroquois Five Nations based in present-day New York. Historians believe the Mohawk Iroquois pushed out or destroyed the St. Lawrence Iroquoians by 1600 and used the uninhabited territory as a hunting and trapping ground.[2] In the 17th and early 18th century, some settled at Kahnawake, south of Montreal.
Some 30 families of converted Mohawk who had lived at Kahnawake founded Akwesasne upriver in the late 1750s. It is now the largest Mohawk territory in Canada, with about 12,000 people
The county comprises six of the original eight Royal Townships of Upper Canada: Lancaster, Charlottenburgh, Cornwall, Osnabruck, Williamsburgh and Matilda. These six townships were divided into 12 a few years after their creation. Each set of four townships became one of three separate counties: Lancaster, Charlottenburgh, Kenyon and Lochiel became Glengarry County, Cornwall, Osnabruck, Finch and Roxborough became Stormont County, and Williamsburgh, Matilda, Winchester and Mountain became Dundas County. The three counties were later united to form the current county.
The townships of Cornwall, Osnabruck, Williamsburgh and Matilda were impacted by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958, when construction plans required the flooding of a number of communities along the shore of the St. Lawrence River. Ten communities in Cornwall and Osnabruck, known collectively as The Lost Villages, were abandoned and completely flooded. One community each in Williamsburgh and Matilda were relocated to higher ground.
The 12 townships were amalgamated back into six, although along different boundaries from the original Royal Townships, in 1998.
The head of Council (called Warden) is elected annually by internal election from Council's members. Steven Byvelds, the Mayor of South Dundas, is the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry's 2011 Warden.
Most of the county, with the exception of North Glengarry, constitutes the federal and provincial electoral district of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry. North Glengarry is part of the electoral district of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. Both districts are currently represented federally by Conservative MPs Guy Lauzon and Pierre Lemieux, and provincially by Conservative MPP Jim McDonell and Liberal MPP Jean-Marc Lalonde in Glengarry—Prescott—Russell.