Udora is a small rural hamlet community in central

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 ...

. It has a population just over 600 and is situated in the most south-eastern part of Georgina, split between

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional ...

and

Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, it forms the east end of the Greater Toronto A ...

. Originally known as Snoddon Corners, the hamlet of Udora was named after the Snoddon Hotel, established by William Snodden, who laid out village lots and built the hotel in 1854. In 1862, the community was renamed Udora, after settler Udora Bret-hour Webster, though the name is sometimes misspelled as ‘Eudora’. In the center of Udora, commonly referred to as the downtown area, a general store served as a functioning post office, up until 2024.

History

In the 1950s, the Independent Toronto Estonian Women’s Association purchased land in the north-west side of Udora, divided the land into 150 subdivided lots for summer cottages to

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and named the grounds Jõekääru, which means River Bend in English, named because Pefferlaw River runs through the grounds. Local street names in the grounds are also in the native

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

. With the cottages also came the Estonian Children's Camp, which is still active to date as an Estonian language immersion camp for part of the summer. Highway 48 (which links

Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...

to Port Bolster) lies to the north while Highway 12 linking to

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

and

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

, lies to the east. Within Udora Ravenshoe Road intersects with Victoria Road/Concession Road 7/Durham Road 1.

Area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

705 is bounded to the north while the south of Udora is in Area code 905. The

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

runs north of Udora, having its nearest train station in Pefferlaw. Udora is located about 10 km South of Port Bolster, at

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was called ''Ouentir ...

. About 20 km S/E of

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

, about 25 to 30 km SW of Beaverton and

, west of Lindsay, north of

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

, about 50 km north of Whitby, about 80 km north of

and NE of

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto Area, Greater Toron ...

. West of Victoria lies The Udora Community Hall, opened in 1974, along with a baseball diamond, playground and basketball / tennis (badminton) court. In the winter, the court also hosts a small skate rink for kids.

Rural Fibre Internet

In December 2020, the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Regional Municipality of York, announced a significant investment to bring high-speed internet to rural communities in Ontario, including Udora and Georgina Island. The federal government contributed $2 million through the Connect to Innovate program, while York Region invested $3 million. As of August 2021, access is now available through Vianet.

Climate

Nearest places

* Pefferlaw, north *

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, east * Leaskdale, immediately south *

, 16 km south *

Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional characters * Zephyr (comics), in the Marvel Comics univers ...

, southwest *

, west

Community demographics

*Total Population: 684 *Total Dwellings: 304 *Total Land Area in squared KM: 5.45

References

External links

Town of GeorginaCommunity demographics
from

Industry Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; ; )''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Industry (). is a department of the G ...

{{Georgina, Ontario Communities Estonian diaspora Communities in Georgina, Ontario