Fletcher is a small

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

community located in southwestern

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It lies north of the shores of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. Fletcher was the home of Armstrong Brick and Tile, whose plant was remarkable for three large Beehive-style kilns. The company made drainage tile for the surrounding farmlands at a time when drainage tile was made of clay, and not today's plastic. It was run by Thomas Henry "Harry" Armstrong and his wife Annie (née Bowman). Harry fought in WWI, was a noted marksman and served at Vimy Ridge. They had two daughters Paula and Sheila. His great grandson, through Paula's son Jason and wife Linda (née Langner), was in turn named Fletcher Harrison Smith, after the town and Harry. Fletcher Smith became a track and field thrower of note. At 17 he threw shot put, discus and javelin, having won National Legion Gold For shot put and National Bronze for javelin in 2015. If the clay was good enough and Harry felt there was demand he would make bricks and many of the surrounding towns, such as

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

, would have homes and city buildings made of his brick. Many of the family farms are now cropped by larger industrial-style farms. In the 2000s, members of the community have been debating the zoning of a

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

to be located within its borders.

External links

Fletcher
at Geographical Names of Canada

References

Communities in Chatham-Kent {{WesternOntario-geo-stub