South Dundas is a municipality in eastern

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 ...

, in the

United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) is a county and Census divisions of Canada, census division in the Canadian province of Ontario, that comprises three historical county, counties. The county's administrative office is lo ...

along the north shore of the

St. 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. Lawren ...

. It is located approximately south of

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and is midway between

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and

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Communities

The Municipality of South Dundas comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including the following communities: * The western portion, in the former Matilda Township: Brinston, Dixons Corners, Dundela, Glen Stewart, Hanesville, Hulbert, Irena, Iroquois, Stampville; ''Haddo'', ''Pleasant Valley'', ''Rowena'', ''Toyes Hill''; ''Iroquois Beach'', ''New Ross'', ''Oak Valley'' (partially), ''Pinetree Point'', ''Rapide Plat Point'', ''Robertson Point'', ''Straders Hill'' * The eastern portion, in the former Williamsburg Township: Dunbar, Elma, Glen Becker, Morrisburg, Riverside Heights, Williamsburg, Winchester Springs (partially); ''Archer'', ''Beckstead'', ''Boucks Hill'', ''Colquhoust'', ''Froatburn'', ''Grantley'' (partially), ''Hoasic'', ''Mariatown'', ''Nudell Bush'', ''Orchardside''; ''Colquhoun'', ''Crysler Beach'', ''Doran Point'', ''Marina Bay'', ''Morrisburg Beach'', ''Muttonville'', ''The Sixth'', ''Whitney Point'' The municipal administrative offices are located in Morrisburg.

History

The county was named in 1792 to honour

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1791 to 1794 and First Lord of the Ad ...

, who was Lord Advocate for Scotland and Colonial Secretary at the time. Matilda and Williamsburgh were two 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 ...

's original eight Royal Townships. The northern portions of Matilda and Williamsburg townships were separated in 1798 to form the new townships of

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

and

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

within Dundas County. The McIntosh apple was discovered and cultivated in South Dundas near Williamsburg. John McIntosh's parents emigrated from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

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to the

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, and John moved to Upper Canada in 1796. In 1811 he acquired a farm in Dundela, and while clearing the land of second growth discovered several apple seedlings. He transplanted these, and one bore the superior fruit which became famous as the McIntosh Red apple. John's son Allan established a nursery and promoted this new species extensively. It was widely acclaimed in Ontario and the northern United States, and was introduced into British Columbia about 1910. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, several battles were fought in Dundas County, present day South Dundas. The Battle of Matilda, Battle of Point Iroquois, Skirmish at Doran's Farm, and the

Battle of Crysler's Farm The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812, in the British province of Upper Canada. A British and Upper Canadian force defeated a much larger American invas ...

were all fought in Dundas County along the St. Lawrence River. As well, the Dundas Militia built numerous earthworks and breastworks along the river to fortify the area from attack, in 1814, the earthwork at Point Iroquois was expanded to include a blockhouse, but due to the construction so late in the war, and the relative peace, the fort was called Fort Needless. Morrisburg took its name from James Morris, Canada's first postmaster general. Morris also played an important role in

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

-building in the area. James Pliny Whitney, Ontario's sixth

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, is buried here in the cemetery of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Riverside Heights, just east of Morrisburg and north of County Road 2 (formerly Highway 2). Whitney was born in Williamsburg in 1843, represented Dundas County in the Legislature from 1888 to 1914 and served as Premier from 1905 to 1914. Iroquois ON

Morrisburg and Iroquois were partially flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. Unlike the Lost Villages of Cornwall and Osnabruck Townships, however, the two towns were simply relocated to higher ground in the same area. There was an international design competition in 1954 to design the new Iroquois townsite. Canadian-British architect Wells Coates was among those who submitted redevelopment concepts. An artificial lake, Lake Saint Lawrence, now extends from a hydroelectric dam at

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

to the control structure at Iroquois, and replaces the formerly narrow and turbulent section of river that was impassable to large vessels. It replaces, in part, the Long Sault rapids. Several buildings from the Lost Villages were moved to a site near Morrisburg to create Upper Canada Village, a

living museum A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recr ...

which depicts 19th century life in

. In 1976, stuntman Ken Carter attempted to jump a one-mile portion of the

by taking a one million dollar

Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced between 1939 and 2020 by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a per ...

rocket car off an eight-storey ramp. This was billed as ''The Super Jump''. The ramp and its runway were located in a field just west of Hanes Road, South of County road 2. The ramp has since been demolished, but the concrete runway still exists as of 2012. The municipality was established on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former townships of Matilda and Williamsburg, along with the former villages of Iroquois and Morrisburg. Charles A. Barkley, who was elected mayor of the municipality in the 2006 municipal elections, died unexpectedly on June 17, 2009. He had been a municipal politician since 1981, when he joined the Township of Matilda council. He was succeeded by deputy mayor Robert Gillard."Popular, generous South Dundas Mayor found dead at 59"
''

Cornwall Standard Freeholder The ''Cornwall Standard-Freeholder'' is a daily newspaper based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. It has been in circulation for many years, and continues to be the newspaper with the largest circulation inside the Montreal - Ottawa - Kingston tria ...

'', June 2009.

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 ...

, South Dundas had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 revised population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation

The only

provincial highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a state or ...

directly serving the municipality is

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 ...

. All other highway routes in the municipality, including Highway 2 and Highway 31, were decommissioned by the province in the 1990s, and were folded into Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry's

county road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

system. Highway 416, the main route from the 401 to

, has its southern terminus at Johnstown in the neighbouring township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal. Morrisburg is served by a small, unattended

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

adjacent to Upper Canada Village. Iroquois is served by a small unattended airport near the locks.

Sport

The Morrisburg Lions of the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League play out of the Morrisburg Arena. Thoroughbred racing pioneer Francine Villeneuve grew up in the community of Winchester Springs.

References

External links

* {{Geographic location , Center=South Dundas , North= North Dundas , Northeast= North Stormont , East= South Stormont , Southeast= , South=''

''
{{flagicon, US{{flagicon, NY Waddington , Southwest= , West= Edwardsburgh/Cardinal , Northwest= North Grenville Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Ontario populated places on the Saint Lawrence River