Tara, Ontario
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Tara is an unincorporated community in the municipality of
Arran–Elderslie The Municipality of Arran–Elderslie is a township (Canada), township in Bruce County in Western Ontario, Canada. The township is located at the headwaters of the Sauble River (Ontario), Sauble River, and the Saugeen River forms the northwestern ...
,
Bruce County Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It has eight lower-tier municipalities with a total 2021 population of 73,396. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, the sixth Governor General of t ...
, in
southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario (census population 2,796,367 in 2021) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula, bounded by Lake Huron (includ ...
,
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 is a
designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the s ...
and had 1,037 residents and 458 dwellings as of the 2011 census. Tara is in
geographic Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
Arran Township and is located on the Sauble River. It has an area of and an urban area that covers . Tara is in the federal electoral district of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound and in the provincial electoral district of the same name. A railway point called "Tara Siding" is south of the community on the opposite bank of the Sauble River. It was created in 1855 by the building of the
Stratford and Huron Railway The following railways operate in the Canadian province of Ontario. Common freight carriers *Barrie Collingwood Railway (BCRY) *Canadian National Railway (CN) including subsidiaries Algoma Central Railway (AC), Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW) ...
, and abandoned 1993.


History

Richard Berford and John Hamilton were the first European settlers to move onto and survey the lots of the future village of Tara in 1851. The opening of the road from
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
to
Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...
in 1852 helped the early growth of the community, as the village is located approximately half-way in between the two larger towns. Shortly after, Hamilton opened a hotel, serving the incoming settlers of the surrounding townships. A post-office opened in 1862 with the name, Eblana, however it was changed the following year to Tara, after a town in
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
which served as the seat of Irish royalty. In 1880, the local newspaper, ''The Tara Leader'' was first published, and the following year the railroad was built to the community and the first locomotive arrived. In 1855, a sawmill opened by H. W. M. Richards, becoming the first manufacturing industry; a grist mill was added to it in 1857. Two years later, a large foundry and agricultural implement works was started by W. A. Gerolamy. Other earlier businesses included a steam sawmill, a woolen mill and a potash factory. The first post office opened in 1862. The railway reached Tara in October 1881. The village never did become a major manufacturing centre. A historic plaque at Tara reads:
Soon after the survey of Arran Township was completed in 1851. John Hamilton and Richard Berford, early settlers in the area, located here along the Sauble River. The opening of the Owen Sound Post road stimulated the growth of a small community and in 1858 Berford registered a village plan. Situated in a rich agricultural region with abundant water power, the settlement developed quickly. By 1861 it contained saw and grist mills, a foundry producing agricultural implements, wagon works and a tannery, and the following year a post office was established. Tara became a thriving commercial and manufacturing centre and, in anticipation of the arrival of the Stratford and Huron Railway, it was incorporated as a village by a county by-law effective January 1, 1881.


Demographics

In the
2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the 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%, which is sli ...
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 ...
, Tara had a population of 1,119 living in 462 of its 476 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,138. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.


Arts and culture

The Arran-Tara Agricultural Society holds an annual fair, the Arran-Tara Fall Fair; it was first held in 1858. The Tara Santa Claus Parade is held every year on the first weekend of December. Tara has four churches: *Christ Anglican Church, affiliated with the
Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2016, the Anglican Church of ...
; part of the
Diocese of Huron The Diocese of Huron is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises just over 31,000 square kilometres in southwestern Ontario, sandwiched between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Its Episc ...
, Parish of Chesley, Tara, Paisley, Desboro and Walter's Falls; located at 102 Bruce County Rd 17 *Tara United Church, affiliated with the
United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...
*Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, affiliated with the
Presbyterian Church in Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada () is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to the Religion in Canada, Canada 2021 Censu ...
; formed in 2008 by the amalgamation of Knox Presbyterian in Tara and the Presbyterian church in the nearby community of Allenford. *Glad Tidings Mennonite Fellowship Church


Education

Tara's elementary school is the Arran-Tara Elementary School, part of the Bluewater District School Board; there are no secondary or Catholic separate schools in Tara.


Notable people

*
Cyclone Taylor Frederick Wellington "Cyclone" Taylor (June 23, 1884 – June 9, 1979) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and civil servant. A cover-point and rover, he played professionally from 1906 to 1922, and is acknowledged as one of the ...
- professional hockey player *
William Howard Hearst Sir William Howard Hearst, (February 15, 1864 – September 29, 1941) was the seventh premier of Ontario from 1914 to 1919. Hearst was born in Bruce County, Canada West. He practiced law in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario before being voted to p ...
-
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 ...


Notes


References

* {{authority control Former villages in Ontario Designated places in Ontario Communities in Bruce County