Conestogo (pronounced �kʰɒ̽.nə.ˈs͡t̠ˠəʊ̯.ɡə is a community in the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

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 ...

, located in the

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 ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

Waterloo Region 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 Dumfri ...

. The population in 2016 was 1,270. The community is located at the junction of the

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

and Conestogo Rivers. Conestogo is a terminus of the Avon Trail.

History

The vicinity of present day Conestogo was first settled in 1820s, on the

and

Conestogo River The Conestogo River is a river in Waterloo Region and Wellington County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The river was named by Mennonite settlers after the Conestoga River in Pennsylvania. In the 1800s there were several different spellings of ...

s. The first settlers were predominantly

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

who had emigrated from Pennsylvania, settling on land laid out by David Musselman and Charles Hendry. They were followed by people of German and British background. The first mill in Woolwich Township was built in Conestogo in 1846 by David Musselman powered by the Conestogo River. Two large flax mills were soon built. The Post Office was established in 1849 by Charles Hendry. Known earlier as Bluckstettel (log village) and Musselman's Mills, the settlement was renamed Conestogo in 1852. The name originated from the

Conestoga River The Conestoga River (), also referred to as Conestoga Creek (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through t ...

in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. (There were several spellings of the name, but the one ending in "o" became official.) In 1844, David Musselman dammed the Conestoga River and built the first flour mill, and the second sawmill in the area. By the middle of the 19th century, Conestogo was a thriving community of about 300 people. It boasted a number of businesses, including a foundry, flour mill, sawmill, furniture factory, paint factory, flax mill, distillery, four hotels, three blacksmiths, two wagon makers and a cooperage, among others. Two local brickyards produced the bricks of which many Conestogo buildings were constructed. The slow pace of Conestogo's development after the 1860s has resulted in much of the architectural heritage being well preserved. By 1864, there was a large school with about 70 students and two churches: Lutheran and Wesleyan Methodist. The village had a population of 500 by 1890 but by 1913, it had declined to 250.

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; ), 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 ...

, Conestogo had a population of 1,272 living in 445 of its 447 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,270. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

William Daum Euler William Daum Euler, (July 10, 1875 – July 15, 1961) was a Canadian parliamentarian. Euler was born in Conestogo, Ontario, the son of Henry Euler and Catherine Daum. He attended Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, Berlin ...

, politician * James Livingston, politician *

Leeanna Pendergast Leeanna Pendergast (born ) is a former Canadian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2011, representing the riding of Kitchener—Conestoga. Background Pendergast was born in Kitchener, Ont ...

, politician *

Walter Hachborn Walter Hachborn, (July 24, 1921 – December 16, 2016) was a Canadian businessman and co-founder, with two others, of Home Hardware, a Canadian home improvement and construction retailer which supplies contractors and individual retail consumers. ...

, founder of

Home Hardware Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is an independent home improvement retailer located in Canada. Co-founded by Walter Hachborn in 1964, and headquartered in St. Jacobs, Ontario, the company has close to 1,100 stores that operate under one of four banners ...

* William B. Wiegand, research chemist and executive * Emily Yeung, host of children's television program, '' This is Emily Yeung''

References

External links

Township site
{{authority control Communities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Woolwich, Ontario Populated places on the Grand River (Ontario) Designated places in Ontario

History

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References

External links