Hastings Highlands is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

in the Canadian 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 C ...

. Located in the northernmost portion of

Hastings County Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario. Hastings County is the second-largest county in Ontario, after Renfrew County, and its county ...

, the township had a population of 4,078 in the 2016 Canadian census. Big Mink Lake is one of many lakes located in Hastings Highlands.

Communities

The township's administrative and commercial centre is the community of Maynooth, located at the junction of Highway 62 and Highway 127 north of Bancroft. The township also comprises the communities of Baptiste, Bell Rapids, Birds Creek, Centreview, Graphite, Greenview, Hickey Settlement, Hughes, Hybla, Lake St. Peter, Maple Leaf, Maynooth Station, McAlpine Corners, McGarry Flats, Monteagle Valley, Musclow, Purdy, Scotch Bush, Scott Settlement and York River.

History

Maynooth Station was a railway station built in 1907 by the

Central Ontario Railway The Central Ontario Railway (COR) was a former railway that ran north from Trenton, Ontario to service a number of towns, mines, and sawmills. Originally formed as the Prince Edward County Railway in 1879, it ran between Picton and Trenton, wher ...

to serve the Maynooth area. The railway was acquired by

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Man ...

which later became part of the Canadian National Railway. There are a few residences near the station. This section of railway was abandoned in 1984. Maynooth Station was 15.83 rail miles north of Bancroft and 7.91 miles by rail, northward to Lake St. Peter, and 15.87 miles to end of track. The abandoned station is boarded up and fenced off. The track bed is now used as a hiking trail The current municipality of Hastings Highlands was incorporated on January 1, 2001, by amalgamating the former townships of Bangor, Wicklow and McClure, Herschel and Monteagle.

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, Hastings Highlands 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. Mother tongue:Statistics Canada 2006 Census
Hastings Highlands community profile
/ref> * English as first language: 94.0% * French as first language: 1.0% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 5.0%

Culture

Each year on the Labour Day weekend Maynooth hosts a festival called 'Maynooth Madness' which includes the loggers games featuring local talents such as log-slicing with

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pru ...

s and skidder operating competition. Also very popular is the 'Mud Dawg' competition involving a race through man made mud bogs. This event is usually held on the Sunday of the Labour Day Weekend. Maynooth has also become a destination for tourists as well as area residents for its myriad of downtown antique, gift, upcycle, art and artist shops. The Arlington Hotel boasts an International Hostel and is alive with music and various events year round. It continues to offer take-out food during the pandemic. In 2008, a group has formed with the intent of restoring the Maynooth Station and creating an interpretive centre therein. Fundraisers are held several times a year to make this dream a reality. Lake St. Peter's economy is primarily based on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

. One of the OFSC

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

trails passes through the community. The lakes also bring tourism to the area in the summer. Currently the community supports one restaurant, two churches, Lake St. Peter Provincial Park,Lake St. Peter Provincial Park
a general store and a post office.

References

External links