Listowel is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

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, located in the

Municipality of North Perth The Municipality of North Perth was a local government area in inner suburban Perth, Western Australia, centred on the suburb of North Perth. It was established as the North Perth Road District on 10 March 1899. It was made a municipality on 25 ...

. Incorporated as the Town of Listowel in 1875, it was dissolved in 1998 following amalgamation with several other communities in the northern section of Perth County. Its population was 9,539 at the

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

in a land area of 6.73 square kilometres; at the time there were 3,910 occupied dwellings.
"Listowel 2021 Census"
Statistics Canada

History

Economic expansion

In 1871 the

Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway (WG&BR) was a railway in Ontario, Canada. It ran roughly northwest from Guelph (in Wellington County) to the port town of Southampton (in Bruce County) on Lake Huron, a distance of . It also had a branch ...

extended its line to Listowel. It was joined in 1873 by a second railway, the Stratford and Huron Railway, and Listowel soon became an important shipping point. The arrival of the railway hastened development and Listowel became a Town with a population of 2,054 in 1875 in what is now North Perth in

Perth County, Ontario Perth County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario in Southwestern Ontario, west of Toronto. Its population centres are Listowel, Mitchell and Milverton. The City of Stratford and the Town of St. Marys are within the Perth census di ...

. In 1877, the first elementary school opened. Electricity came to Listowel in 1897, and in 1900 the Listowel Furniture Company opened. By 1902 the population had increased to 2,661, and a woolen mill, a planing mill, a flour mill, a brewery and a dairy products exporting company were operating in the town.

1950s - present

On February 28, 1959, the roof of the Listowel Memorial Arena collapsed under heavy snow, burying a boys' hockey team playing a scrimmage game. Seven players, along with a referee and recreation director, were killed in the collapse in what was described by the ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, as well as the surrounding area. Since December 1998, the ''Re ...

'' as "Listowel's darkest day". The arena was rebuilt and closed in 2017 following the construction of the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex. The arena was demolished on February 2, 2021. On March 17, 2011, the local dollar store caught fire and its roof collapsed, killing volunteer firefighters Ray Walter (30) and Ken Rea (56). Listowel mourned the loss, closing major streets and posting black ribbons all over town in honour of the fallen firefighters. Paddyfest festivities continued to honour Kinsman Ray Walter, but in a somber fashion. Between the 2016 and 2021 Censuses, Listowel's population grew by 26.7 percent, helping drive North Perth's population growth to 18.3 percent.

Education

Public education in Listowel is administered by the

Avon Maitland District School Board The Avon Maitland District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 8 prior to 1999) administers public school education in Huron and Perth Counties, including the city of Stratford, in southern Ontario. Second ...

, who manage Listowel District Secondary School and elementary schools Listowel Eastdale Public School and North Perth Westfield Elementary School. North Perth Westfield Elementary School, an amalgamation of Wallace Public School and Listowel Central School, accepted its first cohort of students in September 2016.

Culture

The Bookery (now the Salvation Army Thrift Store) is located across from Veky's International Cuisine Restaurant. This Celtic-inspired book store stocks about 25,000 books and traditional Celtic, Irish and Scottish jewellery in silver. In addition, they provide gallery space for local artists to display their work. Listowel has also raised musicians from many genres, such as Thirteen O'Clock, and Brian Vollmer (lead singer of Helix).

Paddyfest

The official spokesperson for Paddyfest is chosen yearly in the Paddyfest Ambassador Competition. Contestants must perform a speech, impromptu question and interview with the judges and receive the overall highest score to be awarded this position. A separate award of Talent is given out to the contestant with the highest score in the talent competition. Runner-up and Congeniality are also awards which are available. The Paddyfest Ambassador Competition changed its name and official status from being Miss Paddyfest when first created. Events at the Fest include arm wrestling and a parade.

Sports

Steve Kerr Memorial Complex - Listowel, ON

Listowel has a Jr. "B" hockey team from the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (Mid-West Conference). They are called the

Listowel Cyclones The Listowel Cyclones are a junior ice hockey team based in Listowel, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. They currently play at the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex. History and The E ...

. The town also hosts a baseball team, the Listowel Jr. Legionnaires.

Part II Bistro Ladies Classic The Part II Bistro Ladies Classic (formerly the Listowel Women's Classic and the Listowel Women's Cash Spiel) is a bonspiel that is part of the women's Ontario Curling Tour. The event is an annual event held in November and takes place at the Wingh ...

, a curling bonspiel takes place in Listowel Curling Club.

Economy

The

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

was a major local employer for 48 years, operating a frozen, foodservice and specialty food plant in Listowel. This relationship ended abruptly with the announcement of the factory's pending closure on April 28, 2008. In 2010 the former Campbell Soup plant was purchased by Erie Meat Products and expected to ship 50-60 million pounds of poultry to world markets on an annual basis. Since 1996 the area around Listowel has attracted new industries.

Notable people

Corey Conners Corey Conners (born January 6, 1992) is a Canadian professional golfer currently playing on the PGA Tour. Conners has played on PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and the Web.com Tour. Amateur career Conners was raised in Listowel, ...

, PGA pro golfer *

Jared Keeso Jared Keeso ( ; born July 1, 1984) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series '' Letterkenny'' (2016–present), which won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series in 20 ...

, Gemini Award-winning actor * John G. Smale, President, CEO and Chairman of

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

; Chairman of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

Calvin Bricker Calvin David "Cal" Bricker (3 November 1884 – 24 April 1963) was a Canadian track and field athlete. He competed in the long jump and triple jump at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics and won a bronze and a silver medal in the long jump, respecti ...

, Track and field athlete *

Cyclone Taylor Frederick Wellington "Cyclone" Taylor, MBE (June 23, 1884 – June 9, 1979) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and civil servant. A cover-point and rover, he played professionally from 1906 to 1922 for several teams, and is most well ...

, ice hockey player and Hall of Famer * George Hay, NHL ice hockey player and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran * Ann Voskamp, author, winner of the Award of Merit in ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

''s Books of the Year, 2012 "2012 Book Awards"
''Christianity Today''. *

Paul McIntosh Paul Hugh McIntosh (born March 13, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 48 games for the Buffalo Sabres between 1974 and 1976. After his retirement he coached the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League in the e ...

, ice hockey player * Roland McKeown, ice hockey player * Walter Knox, Track and field athlete

References

External links

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