Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,892,332 in 2021) () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawr ...

, Canada in the northernmost part of the

United Counties of Leeds and Grenville The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, commonly known as Leeds and Grenville, is a county and census division in Ontario, Canada, in the Eastern Ontario subregion of Southern Ontario. It fronts on the St. Lawrence River and the internation ...

. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and south of the

Rideau River The Rideau River (, ) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writing by Samuel de Champl ...

. The community can be accessed by Highway 416, also known as the Veterans Memorial Highway, which was completed in 1999, and from Leeds and Grenville Road 43 (formerly Highway 43). Kemptville is the largest community in North Grenville, with about 69% of North Grenville's population. Five elementary schools are located in the town — Holy Cross Catholic School, Kemptville Public School, South Branch Elementary School, Académie Catholique Notre Dame and Rivière Rideau— two high schools — North Grenville District High School and St. Michael Catholic High School — three parks, and two hotels. The residential area is generally located in the south and east parts of the community. The main streets are Rideau, Prescott, Clothier and Van Buren streets. A creek named Kemptville Creek divides Kemptville in the southeast, where the least part of Kemptville is found. The creek begins southwest of Kemptville and empties NE into the

. Much of Kemptville is forested, especially east and north of the community.

Farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

covers the rest of the area, especially the west and the southern part of the community, with some exceptions. There are some homes lying next to the farmland. Kemptville-map

History

The small town of Kemptville began to emerge from the forest in the township of Oxford when Lyman Clothier, a resident of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, bought of land in Concession 3 of Oxford-on-Rideau Township from a John Byce in 1819 for C£75. Mr. Clothier began construction of a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

with the assistance of his four sons, and they built two dwellings in what is now Kemptville. This mill was extremely important for the settling of the community, as in order to construct a crude dwelling, lumber was required - and so, the mill began to facilitate the construction of dwellings for settlers all over Oxford Township. The Clothiers placed some grinding stones in the lower part of their saw mill. As a result of this, rather than taking their grain to a site on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

, which would be a daunting hike in the best of conditions, or grinding the grain in an extremely ineffective and crude fashion, the settlers could now take it to this

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

. After this was established, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

's shop was established, run also by the Clothiers. A schoolhouse was established in 1823, which served the surrounding communities for many years. The first

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

arrived in the community the year after the school was established. The small village was expanding quickly and the residents of the region were beginning to think about officially giving a dignified name to the location in which they lived. Initially, the community was known as "Clothier's Mill". So, during a public meeting at this time, the name "Kemptville" was suggested, to honour Sir James Kempt, the Governor of Upper Canada in 1829, who was said to have camped on the banks of the Rideau River near the settlement. The name was adopted in 1829 and the first map with the name "Kemptville" was produced in 1830. The post office was established in 1831.

Timeline

*1791 - Oxford-On-Rideau surveyed *1819 - Lyman Clothier buys 100 acres on lot 27, Concession 3 of Oxford-on-Rideau Township *1820s - Clothier family open sawmill, blacksmiths shop, and carding machine for weaving *1820 - First hotel opened *1821 - First mill is opened. First store and post office follow shortly thereafter *1826 - St. James Anglican church parish is formed *1829 - "Kemptville" is formally acknowledged as the town's name; Holy Cross Parish is established *1832 -

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

is erected and another hotel opens *1838 - Another carding machine and saw mill open *1843 - First

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

is built in Kemptville by Lyman Clothier Jr.; the Amanda named after his daughter. *1844 - The first grammar school is built on Clothier Street *1847 - Baptist Church is built on the North Main Street *1848 - Another mill is built which also acted as a distillery for a time *1851-52 - Population of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

: 952,004 *1851 - The first Presbyterian Church is built; first stamp the '' Threepenny Beaver'' is released in Canada *1854 - The Bytown and Prescott Railway comes to Kemptville allowing for easier access to goods and trade *1855 - Kemptville Fire Department is formed; Kemptville's first paper ''The Progressionis'' hits the streets *1857 - Kemptville becomes incorporated *1861 - Population of Kemptville is 1059 *1869 - Sellecks Mill is built as an egg factory; the New Methodist Church is built *1870 - First library is formed *1872 - The Great Fire which destroys most of downtown Kemptville *1874 - The Kemptville Academy is built as the central school; the town hall is built; a hose tower is built to help combat fire in town *1879 - Memorial Church of Kemptville is built *1881 - First

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

is purchased for the Fire Department *1885 - Bakery is built on 115 Clothier Street East *1888 - Holy Cross Church designed by Joseph Connolly is built; the district High School is built;

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

comes to Kemptville; electricity comes to Kemptville via a mill which lights the Oddfellows hall for a fair *1895 - Bank of Ottawa opens (later becoming the Bank of Nova Scotia) *1899 - The Horticultural Society is formed in Kemptville *1845-1900 - The rise of the

service club A service club or service organization is a Volunteering, voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform Charity (practice), charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. ...

s *1910 - A fire destroys part of Asa Street *1936 - North Grenville District High School opens on Prescott Street *1999 - St. Michael Catholic High School opens on County Road 43 *2012 - North Grenville District High School opens on Concession Road *2017 - Kemptville celebrates its 160th Anniversary *2018 - North Grenville elects its first female mayor

Climate

Sports

The Kemptville 73's are a Tier II Junior "A"

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

team and members of the Central Canada Hockey League. The team was founded as the Kemptville Comets of the Rideau-St. Lawrence Junior B Hockey League in 1969, but the league later became the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League and the Comets became the 73's in 1973. The 73's were promoted to Junior "A" in the Summer of 2007. Birthplace of 1930s NHL player Desse (Desmond) Roche.

Media

Radio

The Kemptville area is served by a number of radio stations out of the Ottawa-Gatineau areas, including

Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...

. Kemptville is served by one local radio station. * CKVV-FM 97.5; Kemptville's first local FM radio station launched in 2012.

Newspapers

The ''North Grenville Times'', a locally-owned community newspaper, is delivered every Wednesday.

Language

Out of Canada's official languages, 95% of the population is Anglophone and 17.4% is fluent in French.

Notable people

* Charles P. Anderson (1865–1930), presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, born in Kemptville * W. B. George (1899–1972), president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and lecturer at Kemptville Agricultural School * Derek Holmes, IIHF Hall of Fame inductee, ice hockey coach and player agent * Des Roche - NHL hockey player * George Howard Ferguson (1870-1946), served as the 9th

premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario () is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincia ...

between 1923-1930. * Ryan Hreljac - activist and founder of the Ryan's Well Foundation.

References

External links

Municipality of North Grenville
{{authority control Former towns in Ontario Communities in Leeds and Grenville United Counties