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The Township of Wilmot is a
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
in the
Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge, Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Waterl ...
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.


History


Archaic and Woodland periods

The earliest concrete evidence of human activity within Wilmot dates to around 8,300 years ago, in the Early Archaic period, though some artifacts are thought to be as old as 13,000 years. Early Archaic evidence is in the form of artifacts from the Hunsberger Creek site ( AiHd-83). This site on the upper part of Hunsberger Creek saw occupation during the Early and Middle Archaic periods, as well as the
Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...
and possibly Late Woodland periods. In one interpretation of the site, it represents a place of significant repeated short-term occupation; namely, a "headwater camp" where mobile
hunter-gatherers A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially w ...
stopped near the uppermost part of a waterway before possibly returning down the waterway or migrating to another drainage system. Archaeological investigation in Wilmot in the 1980s uncovered the largest known historic remains of a
longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from lumber, timber and ...
in North America. Originally in length, it was extended to reach a final length of and was home to up to 120 people. Along with three smaller longhouses, it formed the core of a village which may have had up to 600 inhabitants at its peak. Dated to between 1400 and 1450 CE (falling within the Late Woodland period), it is associated with the
Neutral people The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ) was a tribal confederation of Iroquoian peoples. Its heartland was in the floodplain of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in what is now Ontario, Canada. At its height, its w ...
, an
Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...
society.


Arrival of Europeans

Wilmot Township was a Crown Reserve by 1791. After a survey in 1824, Mennonites from Waterloo Township and Amish from Europe began to settle here. The first settlement area was prepared by Christian Nafziger, an Amish Mennonite from Pennsylvania, but originally from Germany. After 1828, Roman Catholics and Lutherans from
Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
and Germany, Anglicans from Britain and others arrived and began to develop the area and construct buildings and roads. Most settlers were farmers. Much of the area was settled by those of German heritage, but also included some of Scottish, English, and Irish origins; the latter groups owned land primarily in the southern third of the township. Likely to have been the first settler in what has been called Hamburgh or New Hamburg since about 1840, millwright Josiah Cushman arrived from Germany in the early 1830s. He dammed Smith's Creek and built a sawmill that helped attract others. William Scott, (Lord Campfield in Scotland), now considered to be the founder of New Hamburg, arrived in 1838, after Cushman's death. He renamed Smith's Creek the Nith River, built a new dam and constructed a new lumber sawmill. The mill continued to plane lumber until 1902 when it burned down. The replacement building was a feed mill, later known as B-W Feed and Seed; that entity still exists, now as a sales outlet for feed. Arriving in Wilmot in 1838, were John Meyer, Peter Wilker, Jacob Stoebler, Deobold Segler, and John Marteyne. In 1840, the township became part of the District of Wellington and received the right to elect officials and to tax land owners. The first Township council was elected in January 1850. At the 1841 population count there were 2,200 people in the township, most of whom were self-described as "Germans". The post office opened in 1844. Records from 1846 indicate that the township consisted of 51,463 acres of which 15,310 were being cultivated. Existing villages included Hamburg and Haysville, and there were two grist mills and nine sawmills on the Nith River (previously called Smith's Creek). By 1864, the township included a Lutheran church, a tannery, one store, two hotels, two wagon makers, shoe and boot makers, as well as carpenters and mechanics. The school had about 60 students. The settlement was receiving mail daily. There were also two Roman Catholic Separate Schools in the township of Wilmot in 1864. Some of the original settlements have Heritage signs indicating their location in the 1800s: Holland Mills, Josephsburg, New Prussia, Pinehill, Punkeydoodle's Corner, Rosebank, Victoriaburg, and Waldau.


Communities

The township comprises the communities of
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...
, Berlett's Corners, Foxboro Green, Haysville, Josephburg, Luxemburg,
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
, New Dundee, New Hamburg, New Prussia, Petersburg, Phillipsburg, St. Agatha, Schindelsteddle and Wilmot Centre, as well as most of Punkeydoodles Corners, a crossroads which straddles the municipal boundaries of Wilmot, East Zorra – Tavistock and Perth East. St. Agatha was initially called Wilmot and then it was renamed probably after the local Catholic church that had been built in the 1830s. Most early settlers to this area were German: Amish Mennonites, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. The latter were the majority, making St. Agatha the centre of Catholic community in the Township. By 1834, there were two public log schools and a Catholic log school. More modern school buildings were erected about 20 years later. The Amish Mennonites built their meeting house in 1885. (section: St. Agatha) Some of the settlers moved on to other areas so the community remained small. In 1869, the population was only and by 1890 it had dropped to 200. By 1906, there was a hotel, a blacksmith shop, some stores and various tradesmen.


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 ...
, Wilmot 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. At the time of the
2016 Canadian Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...
, of the population lived in single detached houses, higher than the in the Region of Waterloo overall, as well as the in nearby Kitchener. The single largest self-reported ethnicity was
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
(); also reported knowledge of the
German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
and reported it as a mother tongue. The second-largest self-identified ethnic origin was
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
(), followed by English (),
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
(), and Irish (). of people identified themselves as
Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...
, of which the largest ethnic group was Polish (). of people identified themselves as Southern European, of which the largest ethnic group was
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
(). of people identified themselves as Indigenous ( as
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
and as
Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...
).


Transportation

Wilmot is bisected by both a mainline railway (the CN Guelph Subdivision) and a provincial highway (dual-designated as and through the township), which both run east–west. The railway passes through the cores of both Baden and New Hamburg, while the highway bypasses the town centres to the south. Passenger trains on
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
's Québec City–Windsor Corridor pass through Wilmot daily, but run as expresses through the township and do not stop. The nearest passenger train stations are Stratford to the west and to the east. GO Train service on the Kitchener line is also available at Kitchener station, which is its western terminus. A GO train station and storage and maintenance yard were planned to be located near Baden, but these plans were deferred following the opening of a GO train depot on Shirley Avenue in Kitchener instead. , Wilmot is served by a single bus route, Grand River Transit's Route 77 Wilmot. It operates on a 12-hour weekday schedule and uses "flex stops" to provide more convenient service to riders in certain areas. The route connects New Hamburg, Baden, and Petersburg to the Boardwalk bus terminal on the west end of Kitchener-Waterloo. After an initial pilot in 2016–17 which was funded by a provincial community transportation grant, the route was made a permanent part of the Grand River Transit system.


Athletics

*Wilmot Aquatic Aces Swim Club *New Hamburg Firebirds (Hockey) *New Hamburg Huskies (Hockey) *Wilmot Warthogs (Rugby)


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 ...
*
List of municipalities in Ontario Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Canada with 14,223,942 residents as of Canada 2021 Census, 2021 and is List of Canadian provinces and territories by area#Land area, third-largest in lan ...


References

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Further reading

*


External links

* {{WaterlooRegion Amish in Canada Township municipalities in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo