Leamington ( ) is a municipality in
Essex County, Ontario
Essex County is a primarily rural county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising seven municipalities: Amherstburg, Kingsville, Ontario, Kingsville, Lakeshore, Ontario, Lakeshore, LaSalle, Ontario, LaSalle, Leamington, Ontario, Leamington, Tec ...
, Canada. With a population of 29,680 in the
Canada 2021 Census
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, 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%, whic ...
, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...
. It includes
Point Pelee National Park
Point Pelee National Park (; ) is a National parks of Canada, national park in Essex County, Ontario, Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsu ...
, the southernmost point of mainland Canada.
Known since the 20th century as the "Tomato Capital of Canada", it is the location of a tomato processing plant owned by Highbury-Canco; founded in 1908, the plant was owned until 2014 by the
H. J. Heinz Company. Due to its location in the southernmost part of Canada, Leamington uses the motto "Sun Parlour of Canada".
Communities
Besides the town of Leamington itself, the municipality of Leamington comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including Albuna, Blytheswood, Cherry Lane Estates, Elmdale, Goldsmith, Marentette Beach, Mount Carmel, Oakland, Seacliffe, Wigle, Windfall, Chalmers, Erie Curve, Hillman, Point Pelee and Sturgeon Woods.
History
Leamington was incorporated as a village in 1874, but by 1869, the European-Canadian settlement already had a population of 350. The community was named after
Royal Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, after having originally been called "Gainesville" or "Gainesborough" for local mill owner William Gaines, and before that, Wilkinson Corners. It has had a post office since June 1854.
It was a crossroads hamlet with about 300 residents and was first known for its lumber products rather than tomatoes. There was extensive lumbering in western Ontario, as across the river in
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
and also upper Michigan. There were several docks, and fish were plentiful in
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 ...
, so much so that
sturgeon
Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...
could be speared from the shore and fish was the cheapest food available.
Leamington was a "
sundown town
Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States. They were towns that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combinati ...
," a place where Black people would face violence or harassment if they were in public after dark. In 1930, a group of Black parishioners on a visit to Seacliff Park were ordered to leave Leamington by several town administrators.
David Suzuki attests that he was told, upon arrival in Leamington in 1946, that “no colored person has ever stayed here beyond sunset.”
Leamington was also one of the few Canadian municipalities included in the
''Negro Motorist Green Book'', the American publication listing safe businesses for travelling black people.
On 1 January 1999, the town was amalgamated with the surrounding Township of Mersea to form an expanded Town of Leamington. Similar municipal restructuring took place throughout Essex County.
In the early hours of
June 6, 2010, an
F1 tornado ripped through portions of southern Essex County, stretching from Harrow, through Kingsville, to southern Leamington before dissipating near
Point Pelee National Park
Point Pelee National Park (; ) is a National parks of Canada, national park in Essex County, Ontario, Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsu ...
, creating considerable damage, but no loss of life or any direct injuries.
The tornado passed through Leamington, damaging various important landmarks and facilities in town, including the marina.
[
]
Climate
Leamington lies on the 42nd Parallel, the same latitude as Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, the northern border of California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
. It is located on the north shore 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 ...
, which acts to moderate its climate.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...
, Leamington had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Language
The majority of people from Leamington speak English. According to the 2016 census, 24,070 speak English only, 12,100 male and 11,970 female, 1,655 people speak both English and French, 735 male and 920 female, and 1,330 people speak neither English nor French.
Residents of Leamington include a population of Lebanese, Portuguese and Italian. Mennonite settlers, whose ancestors immigrated from Russia, have also added to the population.
Age
According to the 2016 census, the average age of people living in Leamington is 41.3 years - for men the age was 39.7 and for women the age was 42.9 years of age.
Immigration
According to a 2006 survey, 7,485 are immigrants or migrants, and 19,365 people are natives of Canada. The majority of migrants come from Mexico and Jamaica, and are employed as seasonal farm workers through the Temporary foreign worker program in Canada. According to the census, Leamington had the highest percentage of Latin Americans in Canada, with 4.9%.
Transportation
Transportation around the city is offered by the Leamington Transit bus system. The city has a small private airport located to the east of town. The town is also connected to the provincial highway network by Highway 3 (to Windsor), and Highway 77 (to Highway 401
King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian prov ...
).
A rail line that Heinz built from its plant to the harbour has been converted to a bicycle path going from the middle of town to the Marina. Two ferries
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus.
...
, (MV ''Jiiman'' and MV ''Pelee Islander II'') owned by the Owen Sound Transportation Company, run on a regularly scheduled seasonal basis from Leamington to Pelee Island with continuing service on to Sandusky, Ohio.
Economy
The H. J. Heinz company established a factory in 1908 in Leamington. The Heinz products are shipped from the city with both English and French labels, mostly to the United States. Ketchup and baby food are the main products. In November 2013 Heinz announced that it would close the Leamington plant in 2014, meaning job losses for 740 employees at the plant and hundreds more support workers.
Regional and local businessmen worked to save the plant. A campaign was conducted on Facebook to raise support and funds. As a 54-year-old law in Canada bans the use of tomato paste in tomato juice, thus requiring fresh tomatoes, they arranged a deal whereby Highbury Canco took over the plant in 2014. It produces tomato juice and other products for Heinz. Around 250 workers still process canned products at the over 100-year-old factory.
Leamington has also been known for its greenhouse
A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...
s. It now has the largest concentration of commercial greenhouses in all of North America, with of greenhouse vegetable production in the general area. Major products of the greenhouse industry, in addition to tomatoes, are peppers, cannabis, cucumber
The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.[rose
A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...]
s, and other flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
s. Hydroponic farming has been very successfully adopted by many greenhouse operators in Leamington. Historically, tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
was an important crop in the area. Tobacco production declined in the 1960s and today is virtually nonexistent.
Migrant workers, mostly Mexican and Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
seasonal labourers, annually arrive in the region to work in Leamington's greenhouses and farms. Several Mexican and Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n shops and a Mexican consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...
have opened to serve the migrants.
Leamington became a production site of Aphria, one of Canada's largest medicinal and recreational marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
greenhouse operators. A merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...
in December 2020 with Nanaimo, British Columbia
Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...
-based Tilray, led to the closure of Tilray's production site in Leamington and operations were consolidated at the former Aphria site under the name Tilray.
Healthcare
Erie Shores Healthcare serves the city of Leamington, as well as Essex and Chatham Kent. Opened in 1950, Leamington District Memorial Hospital succeeded two smaller healthcare facilities: Hopewell Hospital (c. 1933) and Cottage Hospital (c. 1920). In mid-December 2016, the hospital formally submitted notice to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, it wished to change its name to Erie Shores Healthcare, and subsequently has been approved. Other major healthcare needs can be undertaken in nearby Windsor, Ontario
Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...
.
Education
English-language public education for kindergarten through secondary school grades in Essex County is administered by the Greater Essex County District School Board, along with the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board which oversees English-language Catholic education.
French-language public and Catholic education are overseen by the Conseil scolaire Viamonde and the Conseil scolaire catholique Providence, respectively. The scope of all of these organizations includes both the County and the City of Windsor.
Prior to 1998, the Essex County Board of Education operated Anglophone secular public schools.
Elementary
Leamington has five public elementary schools, Margaret D. Bennie, Queen Elizabeth, Gore Hill, Mount Carmel - Blytheswood Public School and East Mersea. Leamington has two Catholic elementary schools: Cardinal Carter Middle School and Saint Louis. Leamington also has one French speaking Catholic School, St. Michel. South Shore Christian School is a private elementary school located in Leamington.
Leamington has two main school boards, the Greater Essex County District School Board and the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board.
Queen of Peace Catholic Elementary School faced closure in February 2016, but was since converted to Cardinal Carter Catholic Middle School.
Mill Street Public School was permanently closed at the conclusion of the 2016–2017 school year.
Secondary
Leamington has three secondary schools: Leamington District Secondary School (public), Cardinal Carter Catholic High School, and U.M.E.I. (United Mennonite Education Institute).
Parks
Leamington has several parks including Seacliff Park, the Marina Park, Mersea Park and Garrison Gardens, Henry Park, and Chestnut Park.
As noted, Point Pelee National Park
Point Pelee National Park (; ) is a National parks of Canada, national park in Essex County, Ontario, Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsu ...
contains the southernmost point on mainland Canada and draws thousands of visitors annually. It is on a flyway of migrating birds and one of the largest annual migrations of monarch butterflies
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. ...
.
Tourism
Tourism contributes significantly to the economy, and the city has many attractions. Its attractions include cycle paths along the lake and the nearby Point Pelee National Park. It is a major site for migrating birds, especially in the autumn. As such, it plays host to many birdwatchers
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
from Canada, the United States, and around the world. The region is also known for the migration of monarch butterflies, which congregate in the fall at Point Pelee before making their way across Lake Erie on their route to winter quarters in central Mexico. Another important natural area near Leamington is the wetland at Hillman Marsh, located east of the town.
Leamington has a large marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
, as many people engage in sailing and other water sports. The marina also features a promenade that extends from the Marina to the Historical Leamington Dock, a port for ferry services to Pelee Island using the ''Jiiman'' and ''Pelee Islander II''.[
]
Annual events and festivals
* Festival of Birds – Every year over 40,000 visitors head to Point Pelee National Park for the Festival of Birds at the beginning of May. Over 300 species of birds migrate through the park every year, providing close up views of birds not seen anywhere else in the country.
* Leamington Fair – For over 170 years, the Leamington District Agricultural Society holds the Fair, typically during the third week in June. The Fair features a Midway full of rides and games, a Demolition Derby, and a variety of contests for arts, crafts, livestock, and food in a classic county fair.
* Music Onthe42 Summer Concert Series – The Music Onthe42 Summer Concert Series that runs from late June to the end of August at the Seacliff Park Amphitheatre. Seven free concerts feature national and local bands of all genres performing Saturday evenings.
* Arts @ The Marina – The South Essex Arts Association/Leamington Arts Centre presents an Annual Outdoor Arts and Crafts Show towards the end of June at the Leamington Municipal Marina.
* Hogs For Hospice – An annual motorcycle rally usually held at the beginning of August. It is centered around Seacliff Park and includes concerts featuring music, and a weekend long craft and vendor show. Proceeds from the weekend are donated to the Leamington Hospice.
The town's water tower, visible for kilometres in the flat southern Ontario landscape, is in the shape and colour of a giant tomato
The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
. The former tourist information booth in the centre of town is shaped like a large fibreglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
tomato.
Sports
* Leamington Flyers play in the Western Division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League at Highbury Canco Arena
* Wheatley Sharks play in the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League
*Southpoint Capitals play in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA)
*Leamington Barons Baseball
*Leamington District Minor Baseball Association - t-ball / baseball / softball for over 500 kids
*Leamington Minor Soccer Association has over 800 players every year
*Leamington S.C. United Soccer Club, formed in Dec. 2008, has become a major sports club with 10 competitive travelling teams from under-11 to Senior Men's
* Sun County Crows play in the Zone 7 of the Ontario Lacrosse Association at Highbury Canco Arena
*Velocity Volleyball
Media
Print
Leamington's weekly newspaper is the ''Southpoint Sun-Journal''. The weekly newspaper that was '' Leamington Post'' ceased operations in 2012 after 138 years in publication.
Radio
Leamington is home to two regional commercial radio stations.
Leamington is also served by Weatheradio Canada station VAZ533, transmitting at 162.475 MHz in the weather band.
Television
Notable people
* Margaret Birch (1921-2020), first female cabinet minister in the Government of Ontario
* Kirk Bowman, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player
* Al Bruner (1923–1987), co-founder of Global Television network
* Stephen Eustáquio
Stephen Antunes Eustáquio ( ; born 21 December 1996) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto and vice-captains the Canada national team.
After starting out at Nazarenos, he has spent mos ...
, pro soccer player
* Lana Gay, radio personality on CIND-FM, and formerly CBC Radio 3
* Hayden Hodgson, NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player
* Bob Hooper (1922-1980), MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
pitcher
* Danny Klassen, former MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
infielder
* Randy Manery, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player
* Darren McCarty, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player
* Maud Leonora Menten (1879–1960), physician and chemist.
* Billy Raffoul, rock singer-songwriter
* Pat Ribble, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player
* Nino Ricci, author
* Brad Selwood, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player and coach
* Bill Sherk, author
* Lynsay Sands, author
* Wally Tatomir (d. 2022), former equipment manager for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...
* Rosalie Trombley (1939-2021), music director
A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
of AM Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
radio station CKLW
In popular culture
*The book ''Splat!'' by Eric Walters
Eric Robert Walters, (born March 3, 1957) is a Canadian author of young adult fiction and picture books. As of 2020, Eric Walters has written over 100 books.
Background
Walters was an elementary school teacher at Vista Heights Public School ...
takes place in Leamington at the tomato festival.
See also
*List of townships in Ontario
This is a list of township (Canada), townships in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Townships are listed by List of census divisions of Ontario, census division.
Northern Ontario Northeastern Ontario Algoma D ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Essex County, Ontario
Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario
Populated places on Lake Erie in Canada