Harrow is a community located in the town of Essex, Essex County, Ontario, Canada.

History

First known as ''Munger's Corners'' after John Munger, the first postmaster, the town was renamed by John O'Connor in 1857 for the exclusive

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in London.

Hiram Walker Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 – January 12, 1899) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He p ...

, of

Canadian Club Whisky Canadian Club is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by Beam Suntory. Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walker and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the nineteenth ce ...

fame, is credited with putting Harrow on the map. Walker built the railway, which brought grain from the south end of the county into the city for use in his distillery. The tracks remained for over 100 years, and were removed in 1992. The line became the Chrysler Canada Greenway, part of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the A ...

. Walker's distillation operations remained in Harrow until 2009, when the Canbar, Inc. cooperage closed. Harrow was also home to Ontario's last segregated school, which was finally closed in the 1960s. In 1999, the town of Harrow amalgamated with the town of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. The government of Essex was divided into four wards consisting of six elected councillors, plus a mayor. Harrow is the fourth ward and has a single councillor in the government. The town was home of

Harrow District High School Harrow District High School was located in Harrow, Ontario and was Canada's most southern high school. It had a population of about 350 students. The high school contained students from grades 7–12. The school's 100th anniversary was celebrated i ...

, formerly Canada's southernmost high school until it was closed in Spring 2016.

Today

Though early settlers were mostly German, a thriving community of Portuguese came later and still remain. Today Harrow is a community situated along scenic County Road 20 that offers shops and places for antique hunters. Attractions include

Colio Winery Colaba (; or ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Kolbha ...

and the historic John R. Park Homestead. Harrow has organized and hosted an annual agricultural fair every Labour Day weekend for over 150 years, and many people from Essex County and other parts of

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 ...

attend. Highlights of the fair include a mom calling contest, a pie auction, "bossy" bingo and a tractor pull. The

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC; sometimes Ag-Canada; french: Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada)''Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Agriculture ...

Harrow Research and Development Centre Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

is also located in Harrow.

Atlas Tube Zekelman Industries is a Canadian company owned by the Zekelman family, including billionaires Barry, Clayton, and Alan Zekelman. They own Atlas Tube, a steel tubing manufacturer in Canada and the US. History Atlas Tube was founded in 1984 by Har ...

, a unit of

Zekelman Industries Zekelman Industries is a Canadian company owned by the Zekelman family, including billionaires Barry, Clayton, and Alan Zekelman. They own Atlas Tube, a steel tubing manufacturer in Canada and the US. History Atlas Tube was founded in 1984 by Har ...

, owned by the Zekelman family, is located on the outskirts of town.

Demographics

The 2001 Census was the last Canadian census to record demographic statistics for Harrow as a separate community. In the

2006 Census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, statistics were published only for Essex. For 2001 census:

References

{{authority control Former towns in Ontario Communities in Essex County, Ontario