Hastings County is located in the province 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 ...

, Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It ...

and

Central Ontario Central Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario that lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The population of the region was 1,123,307 in 2016; however, this number does not in ...

. Hastings County is the second-largest county in Ontario, after

Renfrew County Renfrew County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stands on the west bank of the Ottawa River. There are 17 municipalities in the county. History Bathurst District When Carleton County was withdrawn from Bathurst District in 1 ...

, and its county seat is Belleville, which is independent of Hastings County. Hastings County has trademarked the moniker "Cheese Capital of Canada".

Administrative divisions

The 14 local municipalities within Hastings County are: * Town of Bancroft * Town of

Deseronto Deseronto is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, in Hastings County, located at the mouth of the Napanee River on the shore of the Bay of Quinte, on the northern side of Lake Ontario. The town was named for Captain John Deseronto, a nati ...

* Municipality of

Centre Hastings The Municipality of Centre Hastings is a township in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in Hastings County. It was formed on January 1, 1998, through the amalgamation of Huntingdon Township with the Village of Madoc. Communities The municipality of Centr ...

* Municipality of Hastings Highlands * Municipality of

Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

* Municipality of Marmora and Lake * Township of Carlow/Mayo * Township of

Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, ...

* Township of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

* Township of

Madoc Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (also spelled Madog) was, according to folklore, a Welsh prince who sailed to America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492. According to the story, he was a son of Owain Gwyned ...

* Township of Stirling-Rawdon * Township of Tudor and Cashel * Township of Tyendinaga * Township of Wollaston The

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory is the main First Nation reserve of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. The territory is located in Ontario east of Belleville on the Bay of Quinte. Tyendinaga is located near the site of the former Mohaw ...

is within the Hastings census division but is independent of the county. The cities of Belleville and

Quinte West Quinte West is a city, geographically located in but administratively separated from Hastings County, in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the western end of the Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario. The Lake Ontario terminus of the Trent–Sev ...

are separated municipalities and so are within the geographical boundaries of the county and included in the Hastings census division, but they not under the administration of the county government.

History

Hastings County (named for

Francis Rawdon-Hastings Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira b ...

) was first organized for electoral purposes in 1792, with its boundaries described as being: For the initial elections to 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 Li ...

, it was united with Northumberland County and most of Lennox County for purposes of returning one member. It was situated within the Mecklenburg District, which was later renamed the "Midland District" in 1792. In 1798, the

Parliament of Upper Canada The Parliament of Upper Canada was the legislature for Upper Canada. It was created when the old Province of Quebec was split into Upper Canada and Lower Canada by the Constitutional Act of 1791. As in other Westminster-style legislatures, i ...

passed legislation to provide, that, at the beginning of 1800: The territory withdrawn from the County continued to form part of the Midland District.

19th century

In 1821, the newly surveyed townships of Elzevir, Madoc and Marmora were added to the county. While in this time agriculture was the most important industry in Hastings County, by 1822 (when the Marmora Iron Works was approaching its peak production) mining was playing an increasingly more important role in the area's economy. Prominent citizens of Hastings County and Ameliasburgh Township unsuccessfully petitioned the provincial government for district status during 1817, 1818, 1823 and 1825. After Prince Edward County successfully achieved its own government in 1831, Hastings County continued to send petitions throughout the 30s before finally achieving the status of a separate district in March 1837. It was constituted as the District of Victoria in 1839 (which continued until its dissolution in 1850). By 1845, the county was declared to consist of the following geographic townships: * Elzevir * Grimsthorpe * Hungerford * Huntingdon * Lake * Marmora * Madoc * Rawdon * Sydney * Tudor * Thurlow * Tyendinaga Belleville, after an abortive attempt two years previously, was organized as a municipality with its own Board of Police in 1836, and was designated as the district seat in 1837. It was constituted as a town under the Baldwin Act in 1850, and later became a city in 1877. Edward Fidlar became the first warden of Hastings County with their first meeting on January 28, 1850. By this time the Hastings County Council was also interested in education and the building of the railroad. On October 27, 1856, the first railroad train arrived in Belleville and by 1864 around 100 people were employed by the railroad. In August 1866, discovery of gold at Eldorado, near

, caused great excitement throughout Hastings County as people flooded to the area from all over North America. According to Barnes, "gold has been found in twenty-seven locations spread over nine townships." The railroads and of good gravel roads opened these areas to settlement by 1880. In 1889 the Belleville Waterworks was created as a private company, which was then bought by the city of Belleville in 1889.

20th century

In 1911, Hastings County was the first in the province to appoint a reforestation committee, which was instrumental in passing laws around county forests. Postal service began in the area in 1913. By 1927 the original townships had each formed separate governance and many of them had been partitioned due to increase in population and development. The 1927 townships were: * Bangor * Carlow * Cashel * Dungannon * Elzevir * Faraday * Grimsthorpe * Herschel * Hungerford * Huntingdon * Lake * Limerick * Madoc * Marmora * Mayo * McClure * Monteagle * Rawdon * Sidney * Thurlow * Tudor * Tyendinaga * Wicklow * Wollaston Following World War II, more efficient communication and transportation led a trend toward consolidation of township administrations:
The Township of Carlow/Mayo was formed by amalgamation of the contiguous townships of Carlow and Mayo.
The Township of Wicklow and McClure was formed by amalgamation of the contiguous townships of McClure and Wicklow.
Lake Township and Marmora Township were administered as the Township of Marmora & Lake.
Elzevir Township and Grimsthorpe Township were administered as the Township of Elzevir & Grimsthorpe since before 1968.
The Township of Tudor and Cashel was formed by amalgamation of the geographically non-contiguous townships of Cashel and Tudor.

21st century

At the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a trend toward amalgamating rural and urban administrations. On 1 January 1998: * The City of Quinte West was formed through amalgamation of the City of Trenton and the Township of Sidney from Hastings County, with the Village of Frankford and the Township of Murray from Northumberland County. * The Municipality of Centre Hastings was incorporated by amalgamating Huntingdon Township with the Village of Madoc. * The Township of Stirling-Rawdon was formed through the amalgamation of Rawdon Township with the Village of Stirling. In 1998, the Village of Tweed was amalgamated with its Township of Hungerford and the contiguous Township of Elzevir & Grimsthorpe to form the Municipality of Tweed. In 1999, the Village of Bancroft merged with Dungannon Township to form the Town of Bancroft. On 1 January 2001, the Municipality of Hastings Highlands was incorporated by amalgamating the contiguous townships of Bangor, Wicklow & McClure, Herschel and Monteagle. Also in 2001, the Village of Marmora amalgamated with the surrounding townships of Marmora and Lake to form the Municipality of Marmora and Lake.

Demographics

As a

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the 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-level census geographic uni ...

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 ...

, Hastings 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: 125,915 * Population in 1996: 126,099

Transportation

The county is served by Highway 401 in the south, Highway 7, a leg of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

, in the central region, Highways 62 and 37 travelling north to south, Highway 28 travelling east to west in the northern region, and Highway 127 travelling north from Maynooth, also in the northern region.

County council

Following are members of Hastings County Council as of August, 2019: Warden: Rick Phillips
Town of Bancroft: Paul Jenkins
Township of Carlow/Mayo: Bonnie Adams
Municipality of Centre Hastings: Tom Deline
Town of Deseronto: Dan Johnston
Township of Faraday: Dennis Purcell
Hastings Highlands: Tracy Hagar
Township of Limerick: Carl Stefanski
Township of Madoc: Loyde Blackburn
Municipality of Marmora & Lake: Jan O'Neill
Township of Stirling/Rawdon: Bob Mullin
Township of Tudor & Cashel: Libby Clarke
Municipality of Tweed: Jo-Anne Albert
Township of Tyendinaga: Rick Phillips
Township of Wollaston: Lynn Kruger

Education

Currently, Hastings & Prince Edward District School Board operates public schools. Previously, Hastings County Board of Education operated public schools.

Emergency Services

There are 5 EMS stations in Hastings County with Hastings-Quinte EMS HQ located in

Belleville, Ontario Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Its populati ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Counties in Ontario