Grey Highlands is a municipality in the southeast corner of

Grey County Grey County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is in Owen Sound. It is located in the subregion of Southern Ontario named Southwestern Ontario. Grey County is also a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada that was formed on January 1, 2001, by the amalgamation of the village of Markdale and the townships of Artemesia, Euphrasia and Osprey, which included the unincorporated hamlets of

Eugenia ''Eugenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, ...

, Ceylon, Maxwell, Singhampton, Priceville, Kimberley, Badjeros and Feversham. The former village of

Flesherton Flesherton (population 584) is a community in the Municipality of Grey Highlands, in Grey County, Ontario, Canada, located at the junction of Highway 10 and Grey County Road 4 (formerly Highway 4). Although the area initially showed a high rate ...

is also located within the municipality; it was amalgamated with Artemesia Township in 1998. According to the 2016 Census, the municipality covers a land area of 882 square kilometres and has a population of 9,804. The municipality has a healthy population growth and the average age (43 years old) is close to the provincial average (41 years old). The average household size is 2.5 and the average total income of all households is $94, 000. The average after tax income of all households in the municipality is $77,000

Communities

* Feversham *

* Kimberley * Markdale * Vandeleur

Geography

The dominant natural feature of the area is the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that runs predominantly east–west from New York through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over ...

, which passes through the municipality and has several ancillary features: * the

Bruce Trail The Bruce Trail is a hiking trail in southern Ontario, Canada, from the Niagara River to the tip of Tobermory, Ontario. The main trail is more than long and there are over of associated side trails. The trail mostly follows the edge of the Nia ...

, a popular hiking and multi-use trail, follows the brow of the Niagara Escarpment. * Beaver Valley, a steep-sided and broad valley, was created during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. The eastern side of the valley, as part of the Niagara Escarpment, was designated a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

in 1990. The west side of the valley is home to a number of downhill ski slopes, including

Beaver Valley Ski Club Beaver Valley Ski Club is a private skiing and snowboarding club located in Beaver Valley, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on a steep sided section of the Niagara Escarpment adjacent to the Bruce Trail. It features some of the steepest runs and ...

. *

Falls, where the Beaver River crosses the Niagara Escarpment, is the location of Grey County's only gold rush."In 1852, when the country was very new and wild, somebody thought he had discovered gold in the rocks below the falls... One adventurous waggonmaker, from the County of York, happening to be in the region, made a rush with the rest to the diggings, and soon departed homeward, several days journey through woods and bushroads, with a backbreaking load in a bag... He got home, and before he slept kindled up his forge fire to melt down a little of the precious stuff.... The sulphurious fumes and horrible stench of the vile stuff choked him, and well nigh drove him out of the premises. He had carried home a backload of worthless iron pyrites!"

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Grey Highlands had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Education

Elementary students (Kindergarten to grade 8) are divided into three catchment areas: * MacPhail Memorial Elementary School serves the Flesherton area. * Osprey Central School serves the Maxwell and Feversham area. * Beavercrest Community School serves the Markdale and surrounding area. All of these students go to

Grey Highlands Secondary School Grey Highlands Secondary School is a Grade 9-12 high school located in Flesherton, Ontario, Canada, in rural Grey County. It was built in 1967. Early history Grey Highlands Secondary School (GHSS) was built in 1967 as one of the many new school co ...

in Flesherton for Grades 9-12.

References

External links

* {{Commons category, Grey Highlands, Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Grey County Niagara Escarpment