Creemore () is a former village, now part of Clearview Township, located in

Simcoe County Simcoe County is a county and census division located in the central region of Ontario, Canada. The county is located north of the Greater Toronto Area, and forms the north western edge of the Golden Horseshoe. The county seat is located in Mi ...

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. It lies approximately north of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 40 minutes west of

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

, and 20 minutes south of Collingwood and

Georgian Bay The Georgian Bay () is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To its northwest is t ...

. It sits on the eastern boundary of the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...

. Creemore purportedly has North America's smallest jail.

Coboconk Coboconk, often shortened to Coby, is a community in the city of Kawartha Lakes, in the south-central portion of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The village lies at the junction of Ontario Highway 35, Highwa ...

and

Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

make similar claims of their jails.

History

French explorer

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

first visited the Creemore area in 1616 to promote trade with the Petun, a First Nations in Canada, First Nations tribe. He was the first to write a description of the area: “The country is full of hill-slopes and little level stretches, which make it a pleasant country.’ Before explorers arrived in the early 17th century,

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

lived in the general area of Creemore. Some of these native tribes included:

Petun The Petun (from ), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati (Dionnontate, Etionontate, Etionnontateronnon, Tuinontatek, Dionondadie, or Khionotaterrhonon) ("People among the hills/mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the w ...

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, who have been called Wyandotte, Huron, Wendat and Quendat * Wyandot language, an Iroquoian language * Wyandot Nation of Kansas, an unrecognized tribe and nonprofit organization ...

(Wendat),

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

, and

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

. Soon, early white explorers arrived to trade with these native tribes. Along with the arrival of the explorers, English civilization was soon imported into the area that we now know as Creemore. The settlement of Creemore began in 1842, and by the turn of the century it was a thriving village of about 800 people with a vibrant business community. Creemore's name and town origins have strong Irish roots – the name is derived from the Irish “croí mór,” which means “big heart” and it was the village's founder, Irish entrepreneur Edward Webster who coined the name in the year 1845. He paid tribute to his family by naming the original streets after them: Elizabeth (for his wife and daughter), Francis and Wellington (for his sons), and Alice and William (for his parents). In 1993, the amalgamation of Sunnidale, Nottawasaga, Village of Creemore and the Town of Stayner took place and it became Clearview Township.

Economy

Creemore has a vibrant small business community and is the home to

Creemore Springs Creemore Springs is a brewery in Creemore, Ontario, Canada, which first opened in 1987. It was founded by John Wiggins, and its flagship brew was a premium amber lager brewed with specialty malts, fire brewed in a copper kettle. In 2005, it was ...

Brewery. The

microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

was acquired by

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canada-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operati ...

on April 22, 2005. Each year the Copper Kettle festival attracts thousands, closing the entire main street with activities and antique automobile displays, bands, Farm animals and many other attractions for young and old.

References

{{authority control Communities in Simcoe County Former villages in Ontario