Strathroy-Caradoc

Strathroy-Caradoc is a municipality located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is 35 kilometres west of London.

Strathroy-Caradoc
Municipality (lower-tier)
Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc
Corner of Caradoc St. N and Front St. W in Strathroy
Motto(s): 
"Urban Opportunity - Rural Hospitality"
Strathroy-Caradoc
Coordinates: 42°57′27″N 81°37′00″W
Country Canada
Province Ontario
CountyMiddlesex
Settled1832
Incorporated1860 (as village)
1872 (as town)
AmalgamatedJanuary 1, 2001
Government
 • MayorJoanne Vanderheyden
 • Gov. BodyStrathroy Municipal Council
 • MPBev Shipley (C)
 • MPPsMonte McNaughton (PC)
Area
 • Land270.77 km2 (104.54 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Total20,867
 • Density77.1/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Forward sortation area
N7G
Area code(s)519 and 226
Websitewww.strathroy-caradoc.ca

Strathroy-Caradoc is a primarily rural municipality. Industries include turkey and chicken hatching and processing, corn, tobacco, automotive, and pharmaceutical. Some industrial products are manufactured in Strathroy, the township's largest locality and its commercial, cultural and industrial centre. Strathroy's hatcheries have seen it referred to as the turkey capital of Canada and even the world.[2]

Settlements within Strathroy-Caradoc largely grew up around the Sydenham River and the southwestern Ontario railways. Three major railway lines pass through the municipality: the CN (Canadian National Railway) Chatham Subdivision (connecting Windsor and London, Ontario), the CP (Canadian Pacific Railway) Windsor Subdivision (also connecting Windsor and London), and the CN Strathroy Subdivision (connecting London and Sarnia, Ontario).

Municipally, Strathroy-Caradoc is within Middlesex County. At the federal and provincial levels of government it is represented by the riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex. It is part of the London census metropolitan area.

Communities

Strathroy-Caradoc's two largest communities are Strathroy and Mount Brydges. The township also contains the smaller communities of Cairngorm, Campbellvale, Caradoc, Christina, Falconbridge, Glen Oak, Longwood, Melbourne (part) and Muncey.

Strathroy

Strathroy is 35 kilometres west of the City of London, Ontario, and is the largest community in Middlesex County outside London. The community is situated next to Highway 402 between London and the border to Port Huron, Michigan, U.S. at Sarnia, Ontario. Strathroy's economy is diverse, and major industries include automotive manufacturing, agriculture and food processing. The township's administrative offices are located in Strathroy.

Mount Brydges

Mount Brydges has a small commercial "downtown" featuring mostly local businesses and shops. Local agriculture includes maize, tobacco and wheat. The soil composition of the region is largely sandy (a phenomenon referred to locally as the "Caradoc Sand Plains") as a result of deposits created on the bottom of the glacial Lake Whittlesey which covered the area approximately 13,000 years ago.

The village came into existence as a result of the construction of the western division of the Great Western Railroad from City of London, Ontario to Windsor, Ontario, at the point where it crossed the existing road from Delaware, Ontario to Strathroy. This crossing happened to be at the point of greatest elevation on this division, the railroad having just climbed out of the valley of the Thames River from London. The station was named for Charles John Brydges the Managing Director of the Grand Trunk Railway from 1861 to 1874. The earlier name Carradoc was replaced in 1856.[3]

History

Strathroy was first settled in 1832 by John Stewart Buchanan, accompanied by the explorer Sir Michael Jacques, at a location on the Sydenham River with flow and fall sufficient to power a grist mill. A general store opened in the settlement in 1840. Strathroy was incorporated as a village in 1860 and became a town in 1872 under the motto "We Advance". Buchanan named the settlement after his hometown of Strathroy in Ireland, now a suburb of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

In 1866, The Age newspaper was established to compete with the already-established Western Dispatch newspaper. The Western Dispatch was purchased by The Age in 1923, which later became The Age Dispatch. The newspaper is still published weekly.

From 1867 to 1945 the Mount Elgin Indian Residential School operated in Muncey.[4]

Sir Arthur Currie, who would later become the commander of Canadian forces in Europe during World War I, was born here on December 5, 1875.

In the fall of 1876, Bixel Brewery opened in Strathroy, producing lager beer for a century before its closing. Other breweries in the town have included the "Western Steam Brewery", "Strathroy Brewing and Malting" and "West End Brewery".

In 1896, the Strathroy Furniture Company opened its doors, and was renowned for nearly a century for making residential furniture. On July 15, 1992, the company declared bankruptcy and a liquidation sale was held in October 1992.

On February 14, 1914, the first patients were admitted to what would become Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital. At the time, the hospital was municipally-owned. The current building opened on June 23, 1962 as a two-story structure with 82 beds. The hospital was the location at which Native Canadian Dudley George succumbed to the gunshot wound he suffered at the Ipperwash Standoff at nearby Ipperwash Provincial Park on September 7, 1995.[5][6]

On January 13, 1954, West Middlesex Memorial Arena opened in Strathroy. To commemorate the occasion, the NHL's Montreal Canadiens played an exhibition game at the arena, defeating the local Junior 'B' team the Strathroy Rockets 14–3 in front of 3,100 spectators.[7]

In 2001, Strathroy merged with the former township of Caradoc to created the town of Strathroy-Caradoc.

On March 22, 2004, the town's 117-year-old train station [8] was destroyed by a fire that took more than 35 firefighters to get under control. Adolescent boys were charged with starting the fire.[9]

In 2005, Strathroy was connected to the Lake Huron Water Pipeline. This ended the town's existing reliance on groundwater and wells.

On August 10, 2016 an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant supporter from Strathroy, Aaron Driver, was killed in a taxi outside his home, after being shot by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and detonating one of two homemade bombs. The taxi driver was injured. Police suspected he intended to commit a suicide bombing in another public place.[10]

Demographics
Town of Strathroy only
YearPop.±%
18713,232—    
18813,817+18.1%
18913,316−13.1%
19012,933−11.6%
19112,823−3.8%
19212,691−4.7%
19312,964+10.1%
19413,016+1.8%
19513,708+22.9%
19615,150+38.9%
19716,592+28.0%
19818,748+32.7%
199110,566+20.8%
200112,860+21.7%
200613,541+5.3%
Canada census – Strathroy-Caradoc community profile
2016 2011 2006
Population: 20,867 (-0.5% from 2011) 20,978 (+5.1% from 2006) 19,977 (+4.3% from 2001)
Land area: 270.77 km2 (104.54 sq mi) 274.12 km2 (105.84 sq mi) 274.19 km2 (105.87 sq mi)
Population density: 77.7/km2 (201/sq mi) 76.5/km2 (198/sq mi) 72.7/km2 (188/sq mi)
Median age: 43.7 (M: 42.3, F: 45.0) 42.4 (M: 40.7, F: 44.0) 39.2 (M: 38.1, F: 40.2)
Total private dwellings: 8,455 8,162 7,662
Median household income: $71,582 $59,108
References: 2016[11] 2011[12] 2006[13] earlier[14]
Strathroy-Caradoc
YearPop.±%
199617,930—    
200119,114+6.6%
200619,977+4.5%
201120,978+5.0%
201620,867−0.5%
[15][16][1]

Population prior to amalgamation (2001):

  • Population total in 1996: 17,930
    • Caradoc (township): 6,248
    • Strathroy (town): 11,852
  • Population in 1991:
    • Caradoc (township): 6,147
    • Strathroy (town): 10,566

Climate

Education

Strathroy has two secondary schools that share basic facilities, Strathroy District Collegiate Institute and Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School. Each serves the town and its outlying area. Strathroy was ranked 161st out of 714 Ontario secondary schools in 2007/2008 by the Fraser Institute's Report on Ontario Secondary Schools.[18] Holy Cross was ranked 339th out of 714 in the same report.[18]

Media

Strathroy has two weekly newspapers, The Age Dispatch and the Middlesex Banner, and a radio station, 105.7 myFM (CJMI-FM), which provides local news and sports coverage. The region is otherwise served by media from London.

Events

Strathroy's largest annual event is the Strathroy Hometown Turkey Festival, also known as Turkeyfest, run in June. The town is home to the headquarters of Cuddy Farms, the world's top turkey-hatching company.

Sports
Strathroy Rockets home game

Strathroy is home to the Strathroy Rockets of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Strathroy Royals baseball team. Mount Brydges is home to the Mount Brydges Bulldogs of the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Strathroy Rockets won the Championship of the Western Ontario Hockey League in its final season in 2007.

Notable people
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See also

References
  1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Strathroy-Caradoc, Municipality". Statistics Canada. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  2. "AAA Travel Guide - Strathroy, Ontario". Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  3. Hamilton, William (1978). The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Toronto: Macmillan. pp. 160. ISBN 0-7715-9754-1.
  4. Min, Seon. "Mount Elgin Residential School – National Residential School Memorial Register". Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-03-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2008-03-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey - We
  8. Blaze claims train station - London Free Press, 22 March 2004
  9. CN Strathroy
  10. "Aaron Driver: Troubled childhood, ISIS supporter, terror threat suspect", CBC News
  11. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 21, 2017. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  12. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  13. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  14. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012.
  15. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census
  16. "Strathroy-Caradoc census profile". 2011 Census of Population. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  17. "Strathroy-Caradoc". Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010 (in English and French). Environment Canada. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  18. Search for research, news, magazines, presentations, commentaries or articles Archived 2010-02-15 at the Wayback Machine. Fraser Institute. Retrieved on 2013-10-05.
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