Dunnville is an unincorporated community located near the mouth of the Grand River in

Haldimand County Haldimand County is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and on the Grand River. Despite its name, it is no longer a county by definition, as all m ...

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 near the historic

Talbot Trail This is a List of Ontario Tourist Routes throughout the province, which are designated to highlight places of cultural, environmental, or social importance. It is currently unknown if the majority of these trails are still listed since many of the ...

. It was formerly an incorporated town encompassing the surrounding area with a total population of 12,000.

History

Dunnville was the site of a Cayuga settlement called ''Detgahnegaha'gó:wah''. The European settlement was originally built as the entrance to the Welland "feeder" canal and the town once boasted several water-powered mills and a once-bustling canal port. The feeder canal closed in the late 1880s and the last mill was destroyed and replaced with a condominium complex about ten years ago. There is an impassable dam at Dunnville which regulates the level of the Grand River at Port Maitland which, in the 19th century, also helped regulate the level of the

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines t ...

(from 1829 until 1887 when the third canal began to intake its water directly from

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

). Dunnville was incorporated as a village in 1860 and then as a town in 1900. In 1974, the town amalgamated with the townships of Dunn, Canborough, Moulton and Sherbrooke when the

Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

was formed. In 2001, Dunnville and all other municipalities within the region were dissolved and the region was divided into two single tier municipalities with city-status but called counties. What was the incorporated town of Dunnville now consists of Wards 5 and 6 in Haldimand County. Only a few kilometres from

, Dunnville has many private vacation properties. Mud Cat of Dunnville, ON, Canada

There are many events and natural attractions. In June, the annual Mudcat Festival is held to celebrate one of the Grand River's most well-known inhabitants. The festival includes a parade, strongman contests, midway and fireworks. Another popular event is the Dunnville Agricultural Fair, held in late August which includes heavy, light and miniature horse shows, sheep and goat shows. Dunnville has tennis, golf and swimming facilities and many Bed and Breakfasts and camp sites to stay in. Tuesday and Saturday are Farmers Market days since the relocation of the local arena Dunnville is currently constructing a new Farmers Market Pavilion providing more protection from the elements while helping to support what the local farming has to offer (heating may still be an issue). RCAF Harvard 2766

The former

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

Training Base, the

Dunnville Airport Dunnville Airport was a registered aerodrome located south of Dunnville, Ontario, Canada. It was built during World War II as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and was home to Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Ai ...

, offers a unique window on history with its massive hangars and runways. Previously used for recreational flying and skydiving, the airport is now closed due to six large wind-turbine power generators on the airfield. The airport is also home to Haldimand County's newest museum, the No. 6 RCAF Dunnville Museum. It has also been the home of the Driver Rehabilitation Centre for the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

program '' Canada's Worst Driver'' since 2010. The Grand River and nearby Lake Erie offers aquatic activities including swimming, sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and features prime locations for fishing. Nearby are Byng Island Conservation Area,

Rock Point Provincial Park Rock Point Provincial Park is a park located on the north shore of Lake Erie near the mouth of the Grand River in the Carolinian zone of southwestern Ontario. It occupies an area of . Habitats within the park include wetlands, forests and dunes ...

and Port Maitland's new pier. In the fall, Rock Point hosts thousands of

monarch butterflies The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It ...

heading south. Dunnville is also the site of one of the largest expanses of provincially significant wetlands in Ontario; bird watching and

nature photography Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis o ...

are practised there. Smuckers Foods of Canada Co., which operates the

Bick's Pickle Bick's is a Canadian pickle producer originally based out of Scarborough, Ontario. The brand is now sold in Canada by U.S.-based The J.M. Smucker Co. Bick's emerged in 1951 in the Toronto area when local farmers George and Lena Bick and their ...

Plant (Dunnville's largest factory), provides employment for a small percentage of the town's population, mainly students. In 2001, Bick's head office facility in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

was shut down and operations were transferred to the Dunnville location, where it remained until the end of November 2011, at which point it closed. This community is the easternmost city that belongs to the

Green Energy Hub The Green Energy Hub is an energy program covering a region in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario that extends as far west as Port Rowan, Ontario, Port Rowan, as far north as Paris, Ontario, Paris, as far east a ...

of Southern Ontario.

2009 Grand River flood

On February 13, 2009, the Grand River flooded when the river ice thawed, damaging Cayuga and Dunnville. The next day, the CCGC ''Griffon'' proceeded up the river to help clear ice.

Education

Public education is administered by the

Grand Erie District School Board The Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB, Originally known as Haldimand Norfolk Brant (English-language Public) District School Board No. 23 prior to May 1998) is a school board that has legal jurisdiction over Norfolk County, Haldimand Coun ...

. Schools located in Dunville include: * Dunnville Secondary School * Mapleview Elementary School * Thompson Creek Elementary School

Notable people

* James N. Allan, politician *

Ryan Barnes Ryan Donald Barnes (born January 30, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played two games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings during the 2003–04 season. The rest of his career, which lasted ...

, hockey player * John Bowen, Bishop of Sierra Leone *

Cory Conacher Cory Conacher (born December 14, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL). Playing career Growing up ...

, Former National Hockey League (NHL) player for the Ottawa Senators *

Peter DeBoer George Peter DeBoer (born June 13, 1968) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the head coach for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is also a co-owner of the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Ho ...

, NHL coach * David Fenyves, retired NHL player *

W. A. Fry William Alexander Fry (September 7, 1872 – April 21, 1944) was a Canadian sports administrator and newspaper publisher. Fry founded the ''Dunnville Chronicle'' in 1896, managed local hockey and baseball teams in the 1910s, then served as pres ...

, ''Dunnville Chronicle'' publisher and president of the Ontario Hockey Association, Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Amateur Athletic Union of Canada * Jim Gregory, Past General Manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs *

Ryan Hayashi Ryan Lam (born May 28, 1973) known professionally as Ryan Hayashi, is a Chinese Canadian magician, mentalist and performer (while his stage name "Hayashi" is Japanese, Ryan himself has no Japanese ancestry). Hayashi focuses on coin magic and is ...

, magician *

Nathan Horton Nathan Russell Horton (born May 29, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. During his career, Horton played for the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets. He was drafted third overall by the Panthers in the ...

, NHL player for the Toronto Maple Leafs *

Matt Roik Matt Roik (born November 17, 1979, in Dunnville, Ontario) is a professional lacrosse goaltender who has played in the National Lacrosse League. Roik most recently played for the Toronto Rock, and has also played for the Washington Stealth, San Jos ...

, professional lacrosse goaltender for the Washington Stealthy

References

{{authority control Communities in Haldimand County Former towns in Ontario Populated places on the Grand River (Ontario) Populated places disestablished in 1974

History

2009 Grand River flood

Education

Notable people

See also

References