The Township of Wilmot is a
rural township in the
Regional Municipality of Waterloo
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...
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.
History
Archaic and Woodland periods
The earliest concrete evidence of human activity within Wilmot dates to around 8,300 years ago, in the
Early Archaic period
In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the ''a ...
, though some artifacts are thought to be as old as 13,000 years.
Early Archaic evidence is in the form of artifacts from the Hunsberger Creek site (
AiHd-83). This site on the upper part of Hunsberger Creek saw occupation during the Early and
Middle Archaic
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek ...
periods, as well as the
Middle and possibly
Late Woodland
In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologi ...
periods.
In one interpretation of the site, it represents a place of significant repeated short-term occupation; namely, a "headwater camp" where mobile
hunter-gatherers stopped near the uppermost part of a waterway before possibly returning down the waterway or migrating to another drainage system.
Archaeological investigation in Wilmot in the 1980s uncovered the largest known historic remains of a
longhouse in North America. Originally in length, it was extended to reach a final length of and was home to up to 120 people. Along with three smaller longhouses, it formed the core of a village which may have had up to 600 inhabitants at its peak. Dated to between 1400 and 1450 CE (falling within the
Late Woodland period), it is associated with the
Neutral people, an
Iroquoian society.
Arrival of Europeans
Wilmot Township was a Crown Reserve by 1791. After a survey in 1824, Mennonites from Waterloo Township and Amish from Europe began to settle here. The first settlement area was prepared by Christian Nafziger, an Amish Mennonite from Pennsylvania, but originally from Germany. After 1828, Roman Catholics and Lutherans from
Alsace and Germany, Anglicans from Britain and others arrived and began to develop the area and construct buildings and roads.
Most settlers were farmers. Much of the area was settled by those of German heritage, but also included some of Scottish, English, and Irish origins; the latter groups owned land primarily in the southern third of the township.
Likely to have been the first settler in what has been called Hamburgh or
New Hamburg since about 1840, millwright Josiah Cushman arrived from Germany in the early 1830s. He dammed Smith's Creek and built a sawmill that helped attract others. William Scott, (Lord Campfield in Scotland), now considered to be the founder of New Hamburg, arrived in 1838, after Cushman's death. He renamed Smith's Creek the Nith River, built a new dam and constructed a new lumber sawmill. The mill continued to plane lumber until 1902 when it burned down. The replacement building was a feed mill, later known as B-W Feed and Seed; that entity still exists, now as a sales outlet for feed.
Arriving in Wilmot in 1838, were John Meyer, Peter Wilker, Jacob Stoebler, Deobold Segler, and John Marteyne. In 1840, the township became part of the
District of Wellington and received the right to elect officials and to tax land owners. The first Township council was elected in January 1850.
At the 1841 population count there were 2,200 people in the township, most of whom were self-described as "Germans". The post office opened in 1844.
Records from 1846 indicate that the township consisted of 51,463 acres of which 15,310 were being cultivated. Existing villages included Hamburg and Haysville, and there were two grist mills and nine sawmills on the Nith River (previously called Smith's Creek).
By 1864, the township included a Lutheran church, a tannery, one store, two hotels, two wagon makers, shoe and boot makers, as well as carpenters and mechanics. The school had about 60 students. The settlement was receiving mail daily. There were also two Roman Catholic Separate Schools in the township of Wilmot in 1864.
Some of the original settlements have Heritage signs indicating their location in the 1800s: Holland Mills, Josephsburg, New Prussia, Pinehill, Punkeydoodle's Corner, Rosebank, Victoriaburg, and Waldau.
Communities
The township comprises the communities of
Baden, Berlett's Corners, Haysville, Josephburg, Luxemburg, Mannheim,
New Dundee,
New Hamburg,
New Prussia, Petersburg, Phillipsburg, St. Agatha, Schindelsteddle and Wilmot Centre, as well as most of
Punkeydoodles Corners
Punkeydoodles Corners is an unincorporated hamlet in southwestern Ontario, in Canada, known for its strange name
and frequent sign theft. Although primarily located in the township of Wilmot, the hamlet also straddles the municipal boundaries with ...
, a crossroads which straddles the municipal boundaries of Wilmot,
East Zorra – Tavistock
East Zorra-Tavistock is a township in southwestern Ontario, Canada, formed on 1 January 1975 through the amalgamation of the Township of East Zorra and the Village of Tavistock. It is part of Oxford County. The township had a population of 7,129 ...
and
Perth East.
St. Agatha was initially called Wilmot and then it was renamed probably after the local Catholic church that had been built in the 1830s.
Most early settlers to this area were German: Amish Mennonites, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. The latter were the majority, making St. Agatha the centre of Catholic community in the Township. By 1834, there were two public log schools and a Catholic log school. More modern school buildings were erected about 20 years later. The Amish Mennonites built their meeting house in 1885.
[ (section: St. Agatha)]
Some of the settlers moved on to other areas so the community remained small. In 1869, the population was only and by 1890 it had dropped to 200. By 1906, there was a hotel, a blacksmith shop, some stores and various tradesmen.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
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 ...
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 ...
, Wilmot 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.
At the time of the
2016 Canadian Census
The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...
, of the population lived in single detached houses, higher than the in the Region of Waterloo overall,
as well as the in nearby Kitchener.
The single largest self-reported ethnicity was
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
(); also reported knowledge of the
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
and reported it as a mother tongue. The second-largest self-identified ethnic origin was
Canadian (), followed by
English (),
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
(), and
Irish (). of people identified themselves as
Eastern European, of which the largest ethnic group was
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
(). of people identified themselves as
Southern European
Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...
, of which the largest ethnic group was
Italian (). of people identified themselves as
Indigenous ( as
First Nations and as
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
).
Transportation
Wilmot is bisected by both a
mainline railway (the
CN Guelph Subdivision
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Welli ...
) and a provincial highway (dual-designated as and through the township), which both run east–west. The railway passes through the cores of both Baden and New Hamburg, while the highway bypasses the town centres to the south.
Passenger trains on
Via Rail's
Québec City–Windsor Corridor
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
pass through Wilmot daily, but run as
expresses
Expression may refer to:
Linguistics
* Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence
* Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning
* Idiom, a type of fixed expression
* Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...
through the township and do not stop. The nearest passenger train stations are
Stratford to the west and to the east.
GO Train
GO Transit rail services are provided throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The GO Transit rail fleet consists of 90 MPI MP40 locomotives and 979 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches. In , the system had a ...
service on the
Kitchener line
Kitchener is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends westward from Union Station in Toronto to Kitchener, though most trains originate and terminate in Brampton in off-peak h ...
is also available at Kitchener station, which is its western
terminus. A GO train station and storage and maintenance yard were planned to be located near Baden, but these plans were deferred following the opening of a GO train depot on Shirley Avenue in Kitchener instead.
, Wilmot is served by a single bus route,
Grand River Transit
Grand River Transit (GRT) is the public transport operator for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It operates daily bus services in the region, primarily in the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, alongside the I ...
's Route 77 Wilmot. It operates on a 12-hour weekday schedule and uses "flex stops" to provide more convenient service to riders in certain areas. The route connects New Hamburg, Baden, and Petersburg to the Boardwalk bus terminal on the west end of Kitchener-Waterloo. After an initial pilot in 2016–17 which was funded by a provincial community transportation grant, the route was made a permanent part of the Grand River Transit system.
Athletics
*Wilmot Aquatic Aces Swim Club
*New Hamburg Firebirds (Hockey)
*New Hamburg Huskies (Hockey)
*Wilmot Warthogs (Rugby)
See also
*
List of townships in Ontario
This is a list of townships in the Canadian province of Ontario. Townships are listed by census division.
Northern Ontario Northeastern Ontario Algoma District
Historical/Geographic Townships
*Abbott
*Aberdeen Additional
*Abigo
*Abotossaway
* ...
*
List of municipalities in Ontario
Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada with 14,223,942 residents as of Canada 2021 Census, 2021 and is List of Canadian provinces and territories by ...
References
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{WaterlooRegion
Amish in Canada
Township municipalities in Ontario
Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario
Municipalities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo