Mount Carmel (formerly named at various times in the past, Limerick, Cranford and Offa) is a primarily residential

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

located in

southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Geography

Mount Carmel is located at the intersection of Mount Carmel Drive, Bronson Line and Lieury Road, on the boundary between the municipality of

North Middlesex North Middlesex is a municipality in Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. The restructured municipality of North Middlesex was incorporated on January 1, 2001. This amalgamation joined five municipalities — the townships of East Williams, West W ...

and the 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 ...

. Mount Carmel Drive constitutes the north-south boundary between

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 ...

and

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

counties.

History

The community of Mount Carmel was founded in the 1830s and 1840s with the arrival of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

settlers who had initially resided in the vicinity of

Pickering, Ontario Pickering (2021 population 99,186) is a city located in Southern Ontario, Canada, immediately east of Toronto in Durham Region. Beginning in the 1770s, the area was settled by primarily ethnic British colonists. An increase in population occurre ...

, when they first arrived in Canada, but were drawn by advertisements for low cost

Canada Company The Canada Company was a private British land development company that was established to aid in the colonization of a large part of Upper Canada. It was incorporated by royal charter on August 19, 1826, under an act of the British parliament,, ...

land available in the southern part 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 ...

for agricultural purposes. To meet the needs of the predominantly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

population of the emerging community, in the late 1840s, a small frame church was constructed near the banks of

Parkhill Creek Park Hill, Parkhill, or Park Hills may refer to: People * Allan Parkhill (1912–1986), New Zealand rugby player *Archdale Parkhill (1878–1947), Australian politician * Barry Parkhill (b. 1951), American basketball player *Bruce Parkhill (b. 19 ...

, two kilometers (1.25 miles) east of the present site of the hamlet on Mount Carmel Drive. The church was located on donated land on the farm of Daniel Coughlin. By 1850, a small commercial core had begun to form at the site of the present intersection and the church building was relocated to a small hill at the northwest corner of the community. During this period, the name of the hamlet was in all likelihood Limerick. The community's growth continued in the 1850s with the arrival of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

line in the region. Mount Carmel became a local

stage coach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

stop, providing a means to transport farm products and passengers to both nearby Dashwood and the new railway station at nearby Parkhill. The first school used by the community was constructed in the early 1860s, approximately north of the hamlet near the present day intersection of Bronson Line and South Road. In the mid-1870s, a frame school was built near the corner of Bronson Line and Mount Carmel Drive in the centre of the community. Rural

economic growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...

in the 1860s and 1870s, in the new 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 ...

, was reflected in Mount Carmel in an expansion of the number of businesses serving the hamlet and the surrounding rural community. At various times Mount Carmel supported, three hotels, a general store and post office, a shoemaker, two

medical doctors Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

, two

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s, both a

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

and chopping mill, as well as a dressmaker, hat shop and

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...

. The name of the community became Cranford, on July 1, 1867, with the opening of the first post office. The date coincides with the founding of the country of

as a modern state. One year later, the name of the hamlet was again changed, this time to Offa. The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

of the moderately large Roman Catholic church, named in honour of

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

that presently exists in the community, was laid on July 24, 1887. Its construction was completed in 1888 using bricks from

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...

. The large residence for parish priests, located immediately south of the church, was built in 1909. The community adopted its current name, Mount Carmel, in 1889.

Sources

*Mack, Susan Muriel (1992). The History of Stephen Township. Corporation of The Township of Stephen, pgs. 183,366,377 *McGillivray Township History Group (1992) McGillivray Remembers 1842-1992., pgs.29,53,68,69,131,138

Online References

* * {{authority control Communities in Middlesex County, Ontario Communities in Huron County, Ontario