West Elgin is a municipality in

Elgin County Elgin County ( ) is a county composed of seven municipalities in Ontario, Canada with a 2021 population of 51,912. Its population centres are Aylmer, Port Stanley, Belmont, Dutton and West Lorne. The county seat is St. Thomas, which is separated ...

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 ...

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. The township was created on January 1, 1998, through the amalgamation of the former township of Aldborough with the village of West Lorne.

Communities

The two main population centres within the township are Rodney and West Lorne. Additionally, it also includes the smaller communities of Churchville, Clachan, Ferndell, Crinan, Eagle, Kintyre, New Glasgow, Port Glasgow and Twin Valleys. File:Rodney ON.JPG, Rodney File:West Lorne ON.JPG, West Lorne File:Clachan.jpg, Clachan

History

The original township of Aldborough was named in 1792 after

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

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 ...

. The community of Rodney was originally named Stewart's Mills after the owner of the first sawmill in the community. From 1840 to 1865, it was called Centreville due to its central location at the intersection of Furnival Road and 7th Concession (now Downie Line). In 1865, the community was renamed Rodney after British naval officer

George Brydges Rodney Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a Royal Navy officer, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularl ...

. The centre of the village was relocated three kilometres to the south when the

Canada Southern Railway The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 ...

was built in the area in 1872. The community of West Lorne also had its origins the

. Originally named Bismarck after the

German chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. Th ...

, the community was renamed West Clayton, Dutton, Lorne and finally West Lorne. The name came from the Lorne Mills on the south side of the railway, themselves named for

John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll (6 August 1845 – 2 May 1914), known by the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, by which he was known between 1847 and 1900, was a British nobleman who was Governor General ...

. The station itself was renamed West Lorne in 1907 to avoid confusion with a community named Bismarck in Lincoln County. The villages of Rodney and West Lorne were incorporated as municipalities in 1907 and 1908 respectively, and separated from the township. Subsequently, Aldborough remained a mainly rural municipality. In 1994, Aldborough and Rodney amalgamated to form an expanded Township of Aldborough. In 1998, Aldborough amalgamated with West Lorne to form West Elgin.

Climate

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 ...

, West Elgin 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.

Infrastructure

West Lorne is home to western Elgin County's only high school,

West Elgin Secondary School West Elgin Secondary School is a secondary school, located at 139 Graham Street in West Lorne, Ontario. It serves the rural area of West Elgin, including West Lorne, Rodney, Dutton/Dunwich, Wallacetown and Iona Station. WESS is part of the Tha ...

. West Elgin Secondary school draws in students from West Elgin as well as Middlesex County. The school's mascot is a wildcat and their official colours are white and purple.Thames Valley District School Board
Tvdsb.ca. Retrieved on 2013-10-05. West Lorne is linked by Elgin County Road 76 to the

401 __NOTOC__ Year 401 ( CDI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vincentius and Fravitus (or, less frequently, year 1154 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, a major arterial highway link in Ontario affording easy access to

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, Chatham, St. Thomas,

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Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

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, and many other places. Local agriculture includes

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

, mixed farming, fruit growing and a sizeable tobacco industry. The town of West Lorne was greatly influenced by the railroad that crossed through the heart of the village. The railroad provided jobs for the first residents of the area. There is also some light manufacturing in the town.

Notable attractions

* Ontario has had some historical claimants, by towns, for the smallest jailhouse in the province. These have included:

Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

Coboconk Coboconk, often shortened to Coby, is a community in the city of Kawartha Lakes, in the south-central portion of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The village lies at the junction of Ontario Highway 35, Highwa ...

and Creemore. However, the jailhouse in Rodney has proven to be smaller than all three, measuring in at 4.5 metres by 5.4 metres. Today, it serves as a part-time tourist information centre. Other villages in Ontario with similar jailhouse dimensions include

Port Dalhousie Port Dalhousie is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Known for its waterfront appeal, it is home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three (19th century) routes of th ...

, Providence Bay, and the ghost town of Berens River and Ray.

Notable people

Bo Horvat Bowie William Horvat (born April 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre and Captain (ice hockey)#Alternate captains, alternate captain for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was se ...

, centre for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

and former captain of the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

* Travis Konecny, centre for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

* Justin Azevedo, hockey player for Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)

References

External links

* {{Geographic location , Centre = West Elgin , North = , Northeast =

Dutton/Dunwich Dutton/Dunwich is a municipality located in western Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The municipality was formed in 1998 through an amalgamation of the Village of Dutton and former Township of Dunwich. It includes the Hamlets of ...

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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 ...

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Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 103,988) is a Census divisions of Ontario#Single-tier municipalities, single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallac ...

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Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

'' Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Elgin County 1998 establishments in Ontario