Harrow is a community located in the town of Essex, Ontario, Canada.

History

First known as ''Munger's Corners'' after John Munger, the first postmaster, the town was renamed by John O'Connor in 1857 for the exclusive

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

in London.

Hiram Walker Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 – January 12, 1899) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He p ...

, of Canadian Club Whisky fame, is credited with putting Harrow on the map. Walker built a railway which brought grain from the south end of the county into the city of Windsor for use in his distillery. The tracks remained for over 100 years, and were removed in 1992. The line became the Chrysler Canada Greenway, part of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, Arctic oceans. The trail extends over ; it is now the longe ...

. Walker's distillation operations remained in Harrow until 2009, when the Canbar, Inc. cooperage closed. Harrow was also home to Ontario's last segregated school, which was finally closed in the 1960s. In 1999, the town of Harrow amalgamated with the town of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. The government of Essex was divided into four wards consisting of six elected councillors, plus a mayor. Harrow is the fourth ward and has a single councillor in the government. The town was home to Harrow District High School, formerly Canada's southernmost high school until it was closed in 2016.

Today

Though early settlers were mostly German, a thriving community of Portuguese came later and still remain. Today Harrow is a community situated along scenic County Road 20 that offers shops and places for antique hunters. Attractions include Colio Winery and the historic John R. Park Homestead. Harrow has organized and hosted an annual agricultural fair every Labour Day weekend for over 150 years, and many people from Essex County and other parts 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 ...

attend. Highlights of the fair include a mom calling contest, a pie auction, live entertainment, "bossy" bingo and a tractor pull. The

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC; sometimes Ag-Canada; )''Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food (). is the Structure of the Can ...

Harrow Research and Development Centre is also located in Harrow. Atlas Tube, a unit of Zekelman Industries, owned by the Zekelman family, is located on the outskirts of town.

Demographics

The 2001 Census was the last Canadian census to record demographic statistics for Harrow as a separate community. In the 2006 Census, statistics were published only for Essex. For 2001 census:

References

{{authority control Former towns in Ontario Communities in Essex County, Ontario