Huron County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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. It is located on the southeast shore of its namesake,

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

, in the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

part of the province. The county seat is Goderich, also the county's largest community. The population reported in the 2021 Census for this predominantly agricultural area with many villages and small towns was 61,366 in a land area of 3,399 square kilometres. Of the total population, 7,628 reside in Goderich.

History

File:HuronTract.JPG, Original extent of the

Huron Tract The Huron Tract Purchase also known as the Huron Block, registered as Crown Treaty Number 29, is a large area of land in southwestern Ontario bordering on Lake Huron to the west and Lake Erie to the east. The area spans the counties of Huron, Pert ...

. File:1850 Tallis Map of West Canada or Ontario ( includes Great Lakes ) - Geographicus - WestCanada-tallis-1850.jpg, Map of

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

in 1850, with the Huron District outlined in brown. File:1857 Colton Map of Ontario, Canada - Geographicus - CanadaWest-colton-1857.jpg,

in 1857. Huron County is marked in light pink. Huron County, Ontario

The portion of the

ceded to the Canada Company was established as the "County of Huron" in 1835, with the exception of certain townships that were transferred to other counties: :* Adelaide Township went to Middlesex County :* The townships of Moore and Sarnia, Plympton, Enniskillen, Warwick, Brooke and Bosanquet went to Kent County

Historic townships

In 1835, the county was declared to consist of the following townships: * Biddulph * Blanshard * Colborne * Downie * Ellice * South Easthope * North Easthope * Fullarton * Goderich * Hay * Hibbert * Hullett * Logan * McKillop * McGillivray * Stephen * Stanley * Tuckersmith * Usborne * Williams They have since devolved to the following counties (as outlined in red): File:Ont Huron all.PNG, Huron County File:Ont Huron Middlesex All.PNG, Middlesex County File:Ont Huron Perth All.PNG, Perth County

Territorial evolution

Legislation was passed by the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lie ...

in 1838 to authorize the separation of the county from the

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...

and constitute it as the Huron District. The county was extended northward in 1840, upon the survey of a new range of townships on its northern boundary, beginning with Ashfield Township, and later including Wawanosh, Morris, Grey and Elma. The District itself came into being in October 1841. Huron County was continued for electoral purposes in 1845, and the District was extended northwards as far as the Bruce Peninsula in 1846. The District (which existed for judicial and municipal purposes) was abolished at the beginning of 1850. Legislation passed later in the same session of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada provided for the county to be reconstituted as the United Counties of Huron, Perth and Bruce, with the territory of the

Bruce Peninsula The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, ...

withdrawn and annexed to

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1853 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on a subset of land within the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of ...

. The townships were distributed as follows: The Bruce Peninsula was later returned to Bruce in 1851. The

County of Perth Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

was given its own Provisional Municipal Council at that time, and was separated from the United Counties in 1853. Several townships were transferred to Middlesex County: :* Williams, in 1845 :* Biddulph and McGillivray, in 1862. Legislation was passed in 1866 to provide for the dissolution of the United Counties on January 1, 1867, with Huron and

Bruce County Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising eight lower-tier municipalities and with a 2016 population of 66,491. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, sixth Governor General of the ...

becoming separate counties for all purposes.

Government

The Huron County Council consists of fifteen members from the nine area municipalities to ensure that each is represented on this council. Each year, a Warden is elected from the group; this individual chairs meetings and represents the County at various functions. Elected to Ashfeild-Colborne-Wawanosh Council in 2014, and acclaimed as Mayor in 2018, the current Warden is Glen McNeil. Most of the population of the county resides in the

Huron—Bruce Huron—Bruce (formerly known as Huron and Huron—Middlesex) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953. History The riding was created in 1952 from parts of Hur ...

, formerly Huron and Huron—Middlesex, federal electoral district. The majority also reside in the

Huron—Bruce (provincial electoral district) Huron—Bruce (formerly known as Huron and Huron—Middlesex) is a provincial riding in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1987. It was known as Huron from 1987 to 1999. On March 22, 1940, t ...

formerly known as Huron and Huron—Middlesex. The county's Official Plan (2015) addresses the following issues: "agriculture, community services, the economy, natural environment, extractive resources, and settlement patterns." According to this document, agriculture is a particularly significant part of the economy since "Huron leads all counties and regions in Ontario in total value of production; and it also exceeds the production totals of several provinces".

Municipalities

Huron County comprises nine lower-tier municipalities (in order of population): * Municipality of

South Huron South Huron is a municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the southern part of Huron County. It was formed by amalgamation of the townships of Stephen and Usborne with the Town of Exeter in 2001, in an Ontario-wide municipal ...

(population centre: Exeter) * Municipality of

Huron East Huron East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1917. It was located in the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from ...

(population centres: Seaforth, Brussels) * Town of Goderich * Municipality of

Central Huron Central Huron is a township in western Ontario, Canada, in Huron County. It is situated on Lake Huron between the Maitland River and the Bayfield River. History The Municipality of Central Huron was formed on January 1, 2001, when the Town of ...

(population centre: Clinton) * Municipality of Bluewater (population centre: Bayfield) * Township of

Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh The Township of Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh is a municipality in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. It was formed as an amalgamation of the former Ashfield, Colborne and West Wawanosh townships in 2001, in an Ontario-wide local government restruct ...

* Township of

North Huron The Township of North Huron is a municipality in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 2001 when the Ontario government imposed amalgamation on municipalities throughout the province. Specifically, the former township of East Wawanosh wa ...

(population centre: Wingham) * Municipality of Howick * Municipality of

Morris-Turnberry The Municipality of Morris-Turnberry is a municipality in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the north portion of Huron County, near the Bruce County border, southeast of Wingham. It was formed as an amalgamation of the former Morri ...

The boundaries of the county's municipalities have been in effect since 2001, after the provincial government imposed mergers throughout the province.

Demographics

As a

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States of America, United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-lev ...

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 ...

, Huron County 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. Historic populations: * Population in 2001: 59,701 * Population in 1996: 60,220

Communities

* Amberley (border with

) * Auburn * Bayfield *

Belgrave Belgrave may refer to: Places *Belgrave, Cheshire, an English village *Belgrave, Leicester an English district *Belgrave, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia ** Belgrave railway line **Belgrave railway station, Melbourne **Belgrave (Puffing ...

* Belmore (border with

) * Benmiller * Bluevale * Blyth * Brucefield *

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

Centralia Centralia may refer to: Places Australia *Central Australia, sometimes called "Centralia" Canada * Centralia, Ontario ** RCAF Station Centralia, a former Royal Canadian Air Force training base ** Centralia (Essery Field) Aerodrome United State ...

(border with Middlesex County) * Clinton *

Corbett Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

(border with Middlesex County) * Crediton * Dashwood * Drysdale * Dungannon * Egmondville *

Ethel Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Fordwich Fordwich is a market town and a civil parish in east Kent, England, on the River Stour, northeast of Canterbury. It is the smallest community by population in Britain with a town council. Its population increased by 30 between 2001 and 2011. ...

* Goderich *

Gorrie Gorrie may refer to: Surname: *Alan Gorrie (born 1946), Scottish bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and singer * Dave Gorrie (born 1930), American former UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine Head Baseball Coach *Donald Gorrie (born 1933), Scottish Liberal ...

Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester in North West England, three miles north east of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 17,652. A ...

* Hensall * Holmesville * Huron Park * Kinburn *

Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the abo ...

Kintail Kintail ( gd, Cinn Tàile) is an area of mountains in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, located in the Highland Council area. It consists of the mountains to the north of Glen Shiel and the A87 road between the heads of Loch Duich and Loch ...

Kippen Kippen is a village in west Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies between the Gargunnock Hills and the Fintry Hills and overlooks the Carse of Forth to the north. The village is west of Stirling and north of Glasgow. It is south-east of Loch Lo ...

* Kirkton (border with Perth County) * Lakelet * Leadbury *

Londesborough Londesborough is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north of the market town of Market Weighton. The civil parish is formed by the village of Londesborough and the hamlet of Mid ...

* Molesworth (border with Perth County) *

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...

(border with Middlesex County) *

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

Port Albert Port Albert is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Corner Inlet on the Yarram - Port Albert Road, south-east of Morwell, south-east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the , Port Albert had a population of 293. L ...

* St. Augustine * St. Columban (border with Perth County) *

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

Saltford Saltford is a large English village and civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset. It lies between the cities of Bristol and Bath, and adjoins Keynsham on the same route. Saltford Manor House (built about 116 ...

* Seaforth * Shipka * Summerhill * Sunshine * Vanastra *

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

* Whitechurch (border with

) * Wingham * Winthrop * Whalen Corners (border with

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Counties) * Woodham (border with Perth County) *

Wroxeter Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England, which forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. ''Viroconium Cornoviorum'', the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, was sited ...

* Zurich

Former communities/ghost towns

* Donnybrook *

Francistown Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 and 147,122 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2022 census. and often described as the "''Capital of the North''" or as the natives would have it “''T ...

* Mafeking * McGaw * Rodgerville * Sodom * Spidertown (border with Middlesex County)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Counties in Ontario Lake Huron Southwestern Ontario