United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry
United counties (upper-tier)
United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

Location of Stormont Dundas and Glengarry United Counties
Coordinates: 45°10′N 74°57′W / 45.167°N 74.950°WCoordinates: 45°10′N 74°57′W / 45.167°N 74.950°W
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
Region Eastern Ontario
Established 1850
County seat Cornwall
Municipalities
Government
 • Warden Eric Duncan
Area[1]
 • Land 3,296.97 km2 (1,272.97 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 111,164
 • Density 33.7/km2 (87/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 in the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is Cornwall. The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is included in the census division, but is politically separated from Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties.

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.

History

The area along the Saint 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 a more settled form of 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 a population of 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 Saint 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.

Subdivisions

County Courthouse and offices in Cornwall

City

Townships

The Akwesasne First Nations reserve is within the Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry census division but is independent of the county.

Historical counties

Demographics

Figures below are for the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry census division.

Historic populations:[4][5]

Politics

SDG County highway sign

The head of Council (called Warden) is elected annually by internal election from Council's members. Eric Duncan, the Mayor of North Dundas, is the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry's 2014 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 Grant Crack in Glengarry—Prescott—Russell.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United counties census profile". 2011 Census of Population. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  2. ↑ James F. Pendergast. (1998). "The Confusing Identities Attributed to Stadacona and Hochelaga", Journal of Canadian Studies, Volume 32, pp. 149-159, accessed 3 February 2010
  3. ↑ "2006 Community Profiles". Canada 2006 Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "2001 Community Profiles". Canada 2001 Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  5. ↑ Statistics Canada: 1996 census

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties.
 Ottawa (single-tier city) Prescott and Russell
Quebec Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM, Quebec
   Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry  
Leeds and Grenville United Counties St. Lawrence County, New York United States