Bonfield is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in northeastern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, on the Mattawa River in Nipissing District. The township comprises the communities of Blanchard's Landing, Bonfield, Grand Desert, and Rutherglen. The community of Bonfield is connected to

Ontario Highway 17 King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a Provincial highways in Ontario, provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Onta ...

by Ontario Highway 531, while Rutherglen is located directly on the route of Highway 17 and the other communities are located on local roads within the township. Named after James Bonfield (1825-1900), one-time M.P.P for South Renfrew in the Ontario legislature. Town and neighbouring township were amalgamated on January 1, 1975. In 2007, Bonfield, along with the town of Mattawa and the townships of Papineau-Cameron, Mattawan and Calvin cooperated to create a newly branded ''Mattawa Voyageur Country'' tourist region in order to promote the area.

History

The community of Bonfield was first settled in 1882 as a station on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. Located on the north shore of Lake Nosbonsing, where the railway crosses the Kaibuskong River, this place was originally named by the CPR as Callander Station. The community of Callander, on the South-East Bay of

Lake Nipissing Lake Nipissing (; , ) is a lake in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Lake Nipissing i ...

, had been named Callander in 1880, to honour the birthplace in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

of Duncan McIntyre, then president of the Canada Central Railway (CCR). It was at this place on the shore of Lake Nipissing, that the CCR intended to connect with the proposed eastern terminus of the CPR. In 1881 the Canada Central Railway was merged into the Canadian Pacific, as McIntyre became its vice president. As construction of the railway approached Lake Nipissing from the east, it turned away from the South-East Bay, towards the North Bay of Lake Nipissing instead. This was the closest point the CPR would come to the village of Callander, therefore this place was named Callander Station. After the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway established a station in the original village of Callander in 1886 and was taken over by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

in 1888, there was much confusion between the station in Callander and Callander Station. The CPR location, Callander Station was renamed Bonfield, adopting the name of the township in which it is located.

Communities

*Bonfield *Rutherglen *Blanchard's Landing *Grand Desert

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Bonfield 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.

World Records

Bonfield is home to 'Jake' the cat with the most number of toes. Jake was born in 2002 and has 7 toes on each paw; with a total of 28.

References

External links