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The Municipality of Chatham-Kent, is located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.
History
The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790's, as it straddles the Thames River.
In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place between Moraviantown and Thamesville, near Chatham on October 5, 1813.
During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, establisherd in 1841 by Josiah Henson as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States.
In 1998 the former Chatham city government merged with that of Kent County to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. In 2003, the population within the boundaries of the former city of Chatham was 43,348.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent consists of 23 communities. The major communities include:
Economy and Industry
Chatham-Kent has an increasingly diverse economy, with a base in the agricultural and automotive sectors. Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. The municipality and senior governments are keen to promote continuing diversification.
- In 1996, Chatham became the home of Commercial Alcohols, which is the largest ethanol plant in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. It produces ethanol for industrial, medical, and beverage uses. In January 2005, the plant was named as one of Canada's 50 best managed companies. There are plans to double the size of the current Chatham facility.
- Chatham is home to the headquarters of Union Gas, a natural gas utility. Union Gas is a Duke Energy company.
- Chatham is also home to a truck plant operated by Navistar International Corporation (NYSE symbol NAV)
- Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited, a DuPont company, one of Canada's leading agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology companies, has operated from headquarters in Chatham since 1946.
- Olsen furnaces are made in Wallaceburg. Olsen is a division of ECR International.
- RM Classic Cars, and automobile restoration company and auction house, is located in Chatham. The nickname "The Classic Car Capital of Canada" comes from this company and numerous related community events.
Recent developments in rural Chatham-Kent include wind farms and vineyards near the shores of Lake Erie.
Demographics
According to the May 2001 census, the resident population of the municipality of Chatham-Kent was 107,341 people, compared with a resident population in the province of Ontario of 11,410,050 people.
In 2001, 15.1% of the resident population in Chatham-Kent were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2% in Canada. The average age is 38.6 years of age compared to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada. 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 5.7% of the resident population of Chatham-Kent. This compares with 5.8% in Ontario, and almost 5.6% for Canada overall.
Of the current population of Chatham-Kent, 9.5% were born outside Canada, with 70 countries of origin represented. Recent immigrants are only 1.5% of the population, compared to a Canadian average of 6.2%.
In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Chatham-Kent declined by 1.8%, compared with an increase of 6.1% for Ontario as a whole. Population density in Chatham-Kent averaged 43.7 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 12.6, for Ontario. The loss of population in Chatham-Kent can be attributed to industry closures, university graduates not returning to their home communities, the falling profitability of farming, and a lower than average rate of immigration.
Race
- Caucasian: 94.6% (chiefly British, French, Irish, German, Italian)
- Black: 2.0% (mostly Jamaican)
- Aboriginal: 1.6%
- Other: 1.9% (includes mixed race, Chinese, Asian)
Religion
- Protestant: 48.4%
- Catholic: 36.0%
- Other Christian: 2.7%
- Other religions: 0.7%
- No religious affiliation: 12.2%
Language
Media
Television Stations
- CHWI A-Channel: a CHUM Limited television station. The station operates out of Windsor, Ontario and has offices in both Chatham, Ontario and Wheatley, Ontario (where it is licensed). This television station has been operating since October 19, 1993.
Radio Broadcast Stations
- CKSY 94.3FM: an adult contemporary music station on the air since July 1, 1986. In 2002, CKSY swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKUE.
- CKUE 95.1FM: The Rock, a rock music station established on October 6, 1999. In 2002, CKUE swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKSY.
- CFCO 92.9FM and 630AM: a news, sports, and oldies music station. The original AM broadcasting station was launched in 1926.
- CBEE 88.1FM: the radio rebroadcast station for CBC Radio One (CBE) out of Windsor, Ontario.
CKSY, CFCO and CKUE are owned by Blackburn Radio.
Print Media
- Chatham Sun a free local newspaper published Monday to Friday by Bowes Publishers Limited.
- Chatham This Week a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday by Bowes Publishers Limited.
- Chatham Daily News: a local newspaper for Chatham-Kent owned and operated by the Osprey Media Group.
- Chatham Pennysaver: a free local shopping and classifieds paper owned by Bowes Publishers Limited.
Chatham This Week was briefly re-branded as the Chatham Sun Weekly Edition in October 2005, after the launch of the daily Chatham Sun. The experiment lasted only a few weeks before the original title was reinstated in response to some confusion amongst readers.
Education
Elementary and Secondary
There are two main school boards in Chatham-Kent. These are the Lambton-Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board. The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 7 secondary and 21 elementary schools. The St. Clair Catholic board consists of two secondary schools, one French and one English and 16 elementary schools. There are also private schools, such as Chatham Christian Schools, an elementary and high school in the same building.Post-Secondary
Chatham-Kent is the home of two colleges - St. Clair College and Ridgetown College.There are two campuses for St. Clair College located in the municipality - Thames Campus (located in the former city of Chatham) and the Wallaceburg Campus (located in the town of Wallaceburg). There are over 5,000 full time and 12,000 part time students that attend the college each year.
Ridgetown College is actually a campus of the University of Guelph, and offers diplomas in agriculture, horticulture, and veterinary technology.
St. Clair College - Thames Campus is a satillite of St. Clair College of Windsor.
Famous People Born in Chatham-Kent
- 1891 Harry Garnet Bedford Miner: Victoria Cross winner during World War 1, born in Cedar Springs
- 1913 Robertson Davies: novelist
- 1924 June Callwood: a prominent magazine writer in the 1950's. Became an Officer in the Order of Canada in 1986
- 1924 Judy LaMarsh: former Canadian Minister of Health
- 1940 Sylvia Tyson: one half of singer/songwriter duo Ian and Sylvia
- 1943 Fergie Jenkins: Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1961 Michelle Wright: Award winning Country Singer
- 1964 Dave Gagner: retired NHL hockey player. His sister-in-law, Diane Gagner is currently the mayor of Chatham-Kent.
- 1972 Courtney Babcock: Olympic distance runner
- 1974 Todd Warriner: former NHL hockey player, picked 4th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques.
- 1976 Shae-Lynn Bourne: championship figure skater
- n/a Doug Melvin: General Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers
- n/a Tracey Hoyt: plays Aurora Farqueson on the hit CBC television series "The Tournament"
Sports
Ice Hockey
Chatham has a team in the OHA Western Junior B league:There are also four teams in the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League
Transportation
Road
Chatham-Kent is situated on Highway 401 (the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway), connecting Montreal, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, and Windsor, Ontario; and Detroit, Michigan via the Ambassador Bridge. Blenhiem, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked with Sarnia, Ontario and the Blue Water Bridge to the United States by Highway 40.The sections of Highway 2 and Highway 3 (the Talbot Trail) in Chatham-Kent were downloaded by the province in 1998, becoming local roads 2 and 3, but they remain siginificant through routes and are still locally known by their old names.
Rail
Chatham is served by VIA Rail passenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, and is served by both the Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway for freight transportation.
Bus
There are four local bus routes within the city of Chatham, providing services every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday. There are no services between Chatham and other towns in the municipality, however.
Chatham-Kent also has intercity bus services, with Greyhound Canada services to and from Windsor, London and Toronto, and through Detroit, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois. These services stop at Thamesville, Chatham and Tilbury.
Miscellaneous
The Indian reserves of Moravian 47 and Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) border Chatham-Kent.
There are two Provincial Parks in Chatham-Kent, Rondeau Provincial Park and Wheatley Provincial Park, and Point Pelee National Park is nearby. There are also numerous local conservation areas.
The local military regiment, The Essex and Kent Scottish, has in the past years, sent over 15 people to serve in NATO and UN operations around the world. Currently there are 3 from Chatham operating in Afganistan.
External links
"Chatham-Kent, Ontario"