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Brockville (2001 population 21,375, metropolitan population 44,741) is located in the Thousand Islands region on the St. Lawrence River in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. The area of the city is 20.73 square kilometres. It is the county seat for the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.

The self-proclaimed "City of the 1000 Islands", Brockville is located directly opposite Morristown, New York on the Saint Lawrence Seaway, about mid-way between Cornwall in the east and Kingston in the west and a little over an hour from the nation's capital, Ottawa.

History

Originally settled by United Empire Loyalists in 1785, Brockville was known as Buell's Bay in honour of the community's founder William Buell. It was renamed in 1812 in honour of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, the national hero of the War of 1812.

Brockville was Ontario's first incorporated municipality. Its coat of arms, featuring a beehive surrounded by a golden chain, bears the motto Industria, Intelligentia, Prosperitas. The Port of Brockville was connected to the main line of the Grand Trunk Railroad by a tunnel constructed beneath the municipality. This was a distinctive feat of engineering accomplished between 1854 and 1860. It is the oldest railway tunnel in Canada, having been inaugurated on December 31, 1860.

Demographics

Age Structure

  • 0-14 years: 18.3%
  • 15-64 years: 65.0%
  • 65 years and over: 16.7%

Racial Groups

  • 96.9 White
  • 0.4% Black
  • 0.3% Asian

Religious Groups

  • 59.8% Protestant
  • 23.0% Catholic
  • 2.2% other Christian
  • 1.1% other religions
  • 3.9% non-professing
  • 10.0% Scientology

Industry

Brockville is now home to several industrial manufacturers including ceiling fan manufacturer Canarm. The Brockville Procter & Gamble site is the world supplier of Swiffer cleaning products.

The once-strong electrical and electronic industry in Brockville has recently suffered greatly from both free trade (which allowed US manufacturers including Black & Decker, Enerstat and RCA-Thompson in nearby Prescott to curtail Canadian manufacturing operations while retaining access to Canadian markets) and from a downturn in the communications industry at the turn of the Millennium (with everything from Aimtronics to Brock Telecom to Philips Cables having been far too closely tied to the fortunes and misfortunes of Canadian telecom manufacturer Nortel Inc.). Since 2005, Canadian retailer Giant Tiger also has a distribution center for frozen products in Brockville, where the company plans to increase the number of employees to around 200 by increasing the volume of the building in the near future.

Tourism

As the City of the 1000 Islands, Brockville is home to tour boats offering a scenic view of the region. Further, it is the launching point for some of the best fresh water wreck diving in the world, the Brockville Narrows having claimed many a ship before the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959.

It is also home to the historic Fulford House mansion, built by the maker of the "Pink Pills for Pale People" of yesteryear. As well, Brockville is home to famous industrial designer (and ex-BCI football All-Star) Phillip Benson.

Jamie Froats, Guinness World Record holder for the most alcohol consumed in a day while maintaining consciousness, is a Brockville native.

Sports

Brockville has had a very rich sports heritage in relation to communities of its size in Ontario. Several local clubs, organizations and high schools have achieved success on provincial, national, and even international stages that many other similar sized communities would be hard-pressed to match.

The Brockville Rowing Club is one of the oldest and most successful rowing clubs in Canada and have several times captured Royal Canadian Henley Championships. The club has even sent crews to London, England where they have captured a Royal Henley World Championship. This success often comes against much larger clubs from large Canadian centers such as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Many former BRC members have won prestigious NCAA scholarships to Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Penn, Mercyhurst, and Iowa since 2002. Close to 100 Brockville Area Youth annually have the unique opportunity to participate in a national level rowing program in a small town setting.

Thousand Islands Secondary School is home to an extraordinary high school track & field and cross country running program. The "Pirates" have captured numerous Canadian championships and have won 3 straight overall provincial (OFSAA) Ontario championships in track & field and cross country running in an association of over 1000 schools since 2004. With over 15 former students currently on NCAA athletic track & field scholarships in the United States, TISS has been awarded over $1,000,000 in student athletic scholarships. The TISS team travels all over North America including Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, and British Columbia, consistently winning major international championships and accolades. The unique accomplishments of the school have inspired the community to undergo plans to construct a $1.3 million track and field center at the school which would be one the best in Canada when completed, truly a major accomplishment for such a small urban center.

The St. Mary Catholic High School Crusaders is TISS' primary rival in many sporting events and extracurriculars. Most notably distinguished as a powerhouse for local charities and charitable organizations. St. Mary's is home to many charity, youth run, groups such as the Leo Club (sub-division of the Lions Club), Amnesty International, Cuernavaca (Mexico) Poverty Exposure Trip, France Exchange, the Drama Club, Tech Crew, Student Council and more recently the "Faith Leaders" aka "The God Squad" are all well established supporters of local, national and international charities. For example, in recent months the Leo Club has donated more than $1,100.00 to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, $300.00 to a group building a children's school in Belize, $300.00 to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and over 400 boxes to Operation Christmas Child. The school also raises thousands of canned goods for the local food shelter Loaves And Fishes. St. Mary High School is well respected in the community for its efforts in supporting communal and international charity causes, especially for its size, with a population wavering 800 students (grades 7-12).

The Brockville Bunnies Youth Baseball Program is also a very elite level program that operates out of this small Eastern Ontario city. With provincial championships and several pro and Olympic graduates, the Bunnies provide Brockville youth with excellent opportunities in the sport.

The Upper Canada Swim Club and Brockville Blazers are just a couple more local youth organizations that operate at a level of competition that is unlike most small Canadian towns.

Media

The city's main daily newspaper is the Brockville Recorder-Times.

Two radio stations are licensed to the city:

Entertainment links

External links

Civic

Culture and Tourism

History

Sports and Hobbies

Cities in Ontario

Brockville (Ontario) | Brockville

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Brockville, Ontario".

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