Durham, Ontario

This article is about the community in Grey County, Ontario. For the region in the Greater Toronto Area, seeRegional Municipality of Durham.For other places named Durham, seeDurham (disambiguation).

Durham
Unincorporated town
Coat of arms
Motto: Forward Together
Durham Location in southern Ontario
Coordinates:44°11′N80°49′W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Grey
Municipality	West Grey
Settled	1842
Incorporated	1872
Merged	January 1, 2001
Government
• Mayor	Christine Robinson
• Federal riding	Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
• Prov. riding	Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
Area
• Land	3.22 km2(1.24 sq mi)
Highest elevation	400 m (1,300 ft)
Lowest elevation	325 m (1,066 ft)
Population (2021)
• Total	2,755
• Density	849.6/km2(2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5(EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4(EDT)
Postal Code	N0G 1R0
Area code(s)	519 and 226
Highways	Highway 4 Highway 6
Website	www.westgrey.com

Durhamis a community in the municipality ofWest Grey,Grey County,Ontario,Canada. Durham is located near the base of theBruce Peninsula.

Location

Durham, Ontario is 44 kilometres South ofOwen Soundand 89 kilometres North ofGuelphon OntarioHighway 6.The middle of the town is the intersection of Highway 6 and Grey Road 4. Durham is approximately 18 kilometres east ofHanover.

The population of Durham has stayed steady at roughly 2500 people over the past decade. This compares to neighbour Hanover which has grown from 6,400 to 8,200 people in the past decade.

Durham is built around theSaugeen Riverand has three human-made dams. These dams have suffered at least two major floods, once in 1929 when the dam broke and again in 1997 due to ice blockage. Durham also used to be the centre of the livestock exchange for the surrounding Grey andBrucecounties; it lies close to the county border. On the outskirts of Durham, there are several small communities, such asVarney,Dornoch,Aberdeen,Allan Park,PricevilleandHolstein.

Foundations of Durham

Founded on May 1, 1842, by Archibald Hunter, aScottishtraveller, Durham became one of the first ever self-sustaining communities in Canada through the flour and saw mills of anIrishmannamed John Edge, founded in the 1840s. Those mills were purchased by Robert McGowan in 1888, hence the Durham landmark McGowan Falls on the Saugeen River. Durham now has two major companies for employment: Durham Furniture and Interforest. Durham Furniture is a company that specializes instainedandwhitewashedbedroom furniture and employs slightly more than 200 people. Interforest is amultinational corporationthat deals with the treatment and production oflumber.

Durham has its ownhospitalwith a 24/7 emergency department, including a helipad for air ambulance services. The town is patrolled by the municipality'sWest GreyPolice,and the town has its own police station. Also, Durham has its own volunteerfirefighterservice and station. The town has its ownCanada Postbuilding, as well as a town hall. The town also has aConservation Areawith campsites that are very popular during the summertime and help expand local business.

Text from the Founding of Durham Plaque:

In 1842 Archibald Hunter, a Scottish immigrant-led a party northward on the Garafraxa "colonization road" to the banks of the Saugeen River. The resulting settlement was first called Bentinck and later Durham, probably to honour the English birthplace ofGeorge Jackson,the first local Crown Land Agent. The establishment of flour and grist-mills in 1847 made the town the major agricultural centre of the district. The Durham Road, another settlement route, was constructed through the town in 1849. Further growth followed, churches were founded, a school organized, and a newspaper, the Chronicle, was established in 1857. By an Act passed in 1872, the Ontario legislature incorporated Durham as a town.

Community centres

Knox United Church and the Durham Library

Durham presently has two schools: Spruce RidgeCommunity SchoolandSt. PeterandSt. Paul'sCatholic School.Spruce Ridge is the result of the amalgamation of the Saugeen Valley Community School and Durham District Community School. Durham District used to be the town'shigh schooluntil the 1970s when it amalgamated withHanover's high school to formJohn DiefenbakerSecondary School.Students that graduate from SRCS generally attends Grey HighlandsSecondary SchoolinFleshertonor JDSS in Hanover. Durham has an arena that can hold 3000 people and also has anart galleryArchived2006-01-05 at theWayback Machine.The town hosts an annual fall fair that attracts many visitors. There is apublic libraryand a couple of small bookshops. Durham is the home ofBranch 308of theRoyal Canadian Legionand multiplechurchesfor the variety of denominations. The DurhamAgriculturalSociety was founded in 1858. The Durham LoyalOrange Lodgehas existed in Durham since the 1850s. The DurhamHorticulturalSociety dates back to at least 1896. Durham'sMasonic Lodgewas chartered in 1873.Girl Guideshave been present since two years after itsCanadianfounding, 1912. The firstRotary Clubmeeting held in Durham was on February 17, 1938. TheKinsmen Clubwas founded May 30, 1950, and theKinette Clubwas founded March 28, 1957.Boy Scoutsin Durham date back to the 1920s. The Durham & DistrictOptimist Clubwas chartered June 14, 1988.

As of the town census in 1861, Durham had 4 churches: theFree Church(Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the Free Church of Scotland), theChurch of England,theWesleyan Methodist,and theBaptistChurch.Durham has always had a cornucopia of churches, even to this day the town is scattered with beautiful old buildings of faith. The Durham Baptist Church was founded byReverendAlexander Stewart and dates back to the mid-19th century. In 1902, the frame of the church was moved and a new large red brick church was built as its replacement. This building is detailed with beautifulstained glasswindows. The DurhamFoursquare Gospel Churchwas founded in 1929 in a tent. A year later, in 1930, the Church took up permanent residence on the town's main street. The Presbyterian Church was founded in the early 1850s as the "Free Church". They were granted 10 acres (40,000 m²) of land by the Crown in 1852. In 1925, the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational faiths were combined to form theUnited Church.In Durham, only some Presbyterian and Methodist Churches followed this order, but the merger did lead to the formation of theKnoxUnited Church on top of the Durham Hill; the congregation was joined by the former Methodists who had met in town since 1849. The Methodists also had earlier met at Ebenezer Church, about a mile west of Durham. A minority of the Presbyterians (Feb. 1, 1925, vote was 218-165) wished to remain with thecontinuing Presbyterians,and the present Durham Presbyterian Church[1]was opened in 1927. The Methodist Church was erected in the mid-1860s. The firstAnglicanservice happened in 1849. This service was held in the home of one of the Edge or Hopkins families. Services were held in family homes by a travelling minister from Owen Sound until theTrinityAnglican Church was built in Durham (1861?). It burned down in 1876 and was rebuilt in 1877. The structure still stands there today despite multiplelightningstrikes.Catholicservices in Durham date back to 1852, the first being held byJesuitMissionaryReverend Casper Matoga. The firstCatholicChurch was built in Durham 1867 but was burnt down by an arsonist on July 4, 1870. A second Catholic Church was purchased for $900 in 1892. The Church's main hall, known atSt. Andrew's Hall was used as their place of worship until the 1940s. In 1940,St. Peter'sRoman CatholicChurch was created on top of the Durham Hill, right beside the St. Peter and St. Paul's Catholic School. The Fellowship Baptist Church was founded in 1990. There is also aJehovah's WitnessChurch to the West of Durham on Grey Road 4.

Demographics

The following information is a product of a Statistics Canada Report.

• According to the2001 Census Reportconducted byStatistics Canada,the population of Durham was 2,647 people. This was a small increase from 2,641 people in 1996.
• Durham, with an area of 4.62 km²(1.78 sq mi), has a population density of 572.9 ppl/km².
• 52.7% of the residents of Durham wereMaleand 47.3% of the residents wereFemale.
• ThemedianMale age was 37.5, the median Female age was 44.7.
• 94.5% of Durham's people spoke only English, and only 0.4% could speak any French whatsoever.
• 93% of the population was Canadian-born.
• 2.3% of Durham was ofAboriginaldescent.
• Durham was 99.4%white,and the other 0.6% were from various visible minority groups.
• 58.1% of the population wereProtestant,11.5% wereCatholic,0.4% wereChristian Orthodox,3.3% wereChristian(No SpecificDenomination), and 26.2% were of no religious belief.

Sports

See also:Durham Huskies,Durham Thundercats,Durham Huskies Jr. A,andDurham Flyers

During the 1850s and 1860s, Durham athletes constantly travelled to neighbouring towns likeMount Forestto compete inCurlingmatches during the winter andCricketmatches during the hotSouthern Ontariosummers. The local Cricket league in the 1860s included, with Durham and Mount Forest,Owen Sound,Chesley,Walkerton,andListowel.In 1882,HarristonandDundalkjoined the local league. For 40 years, Durham maintained a Junior, Senior, and School league team. By the 1910s, Cricket dropped in popularity and was no longer consistently played by the people of Durham.Soccer,then known as football, became popular in the late 1870s but was replaced bylacrossein the 1890s. The Town of Durham enjoyed sports so much that at the turn of the 19th century, Durham used to dedicate 3 days per year to day-long displays of athletics. These days usually involved Soccer, Lacrosse, Cricket, andBaseballgames, from Dawn until Dusk, to be played for the townspeople.

In 1908, the first-ever indoor ice arena was built by Thomas Brown to facilitate the town's growing fascination with the sport ofhockey.At least two outdoor arenas had been built in recent years, but this was meant to be a permanent replacement. The first hockey game was played in the arena on January 1, 1909. A new arena was built in 1952 through fundraising by the Kinsmen Club, the Rotary Club, and Branch 308 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Hap McGirr was the Guardian of this arena until 1974. This arena was condemned in 1975 and the current complex finished construction in 1977.

Durham Jr. "A" Huskies (circa 1998)

Durham considers itself ahockeytown, and for the most part it is true. Hockey is the most popular pastime and normally draws over 250 children and teens into its Minor Hockey system. Durham has won a number of All-Ontario Championships. The town's parent club under minor hockey guidelines is the Grey-Bruce Highlanders AAA Hockey Team. Durham hockey was first organized in the early 1900s by Frank Irwin and Peter Gagnon. Erben Schutz andMartin Lauderfound early success through Durham hockey, playing in the 1920s for theNHL'sBoston Bruins.The town won its first major hockey award in the 1930-31 season as one of the precursors to theDurham Huskieswon the Junior Northern Hockey League. Durham's first Ontario Hockey Association Senior championship happened in 1935-36, won by another precursor to theDurham Huskies.In fact, theHuskies(before they were called the Huskies) were 3 different hockey teams: a Junior team, an Intermediate team, and a Senior team. By 1952, the year the team was named there was only an Intermediate team, but they were quite dominant in their league. Intermediate hockey eventually became known as Senior "AA". The Senior team was extremely successful, winning multiple championships and competing forAllanand Hardy Cups, but folded before the 1992-93 season. TheDurham Flyerswere a short-lived team in the 1950s but did not find much success in their 3 years of existence. In 1996, Durham was granted the creation of theDurham Huskies Junior "A"Hockey Team by theMetro Junior A Hockey League.TheJr. Huskiesfolded in 2001. The ever-successfulDurham ThundercatsSenior Hockey Team have brought the town 15WOAAchampionship trophies and remain at the top of the WOAA to this day. They were originally called the "72's" to coincide with their founding and fill the Durham Community Centre every Friday night.

In remembrance of two of the greatest teams in Durham hockey history, the 1989 Greater Ontario Senior "AA" championDurham Huskies,who made it to theHardy Cupsemifinals, played the 1989WOAA IntermediateGrand ChampionDurham Thundercatsin a 20th Anniversary Alumni game in 2009.

The Durham Community Centre is also the home of The Durham Skating Club, Which was founded in the 1950s. The club offers a variety of programs for the young and old, with a friendly, fun atmosphere. An annual carnival is produced each year at the end of the season to showcase all of the skaters' talent and to attract a crowd of huge proportions. In January 2007 the club hosted Weskate, an annual area fun competition, which was also highly successful, thanks to all the volunteers and organizers.

Durham hassoccerandbaseballyouth programs and competes in the local leagues. Most of Durham's soccer is played across from the Durham Community Centre at the Durham Soccer Field. Baseball is played outdoors behind the Durham Community Centre in the Durham Ball Parks. Durham youths still enjoy playinglacrosse,but the sport has not been organized in Durham for many decades. Generally, players have to travel toWilliamsfordor Owen Sound to play lacrosse. The DurhamCurlingRink is on the East end of town beside what was the Saugeen ValleyCommunity School,and has been a long enjoyed pastime for the people of Durham.

Government

As part of the province-wide municipal restructuring, the Town of Durham was amalgamated with the Township of West Grey to form an expandedMunicipality of West Greyin 2001. West Grey was itself created in 2000 through an amalgamation of the Village ofNeustadtand the Townships of Bentinck, Glenelg and Normanby.MayorKris Kennedy (list of Durham's Mayors) was the last mayor of the Town of Durham. Durham is the largest community in West Grey and the municipal offices are located along Grey County Road 4, west of Durham.

Transportation

Durham sits at the junction of formerOntario Highway 4(east−west) andOntario Highway 6(north−south).

Media

Durham's long-running newspaper, theDurham Chronicle,came under the ownership ofOsprey Media.It and several other newspapers in south Grey were amalgamated into one free distribution paper called thePost.

Recent events

On January 9, 1997, Mayor Kris Kennedy declared astate of emergencyand asked for federal assistance to deal with extensive flooding that was crippling the west end of town.Canadian Forceswere sent in for the relief effort and 200 citizens were evacuated. The schools and many businesses closed during the most dangerous week of flooding, and due to poor weather conditions, relief efforts were considered strenuous. Most of the evacuated residents were able to return home as of January 24, 1997. The cause of the flooding was determined to be ice blockages at Durham's reinforced dams. At one point, there was concern that one of the main bridges in town was going to get ripped away by the flood, but the military elected to remove the ice that was affecting the bridge with explosives.³

"Despite the adversity, the people of Durham showed great courage during that flood. I want to pay special tribute to the volunteers and the relief workers who offered the victims both the good work of their hands and the comfort of their spirits. Durham Mayor Kris Kennedy is also to be commended for taking swift and decisive action to protect public safety. I also want to thank the soldiers from the Militia Training and Support Centre atMeafordfor their work and assistance. "⁴

-Ovid JacksonMPon February 3, 1997

On October 4, 1997, months after the flood, Durham was named the 1997 "Best Bloomin' Town" in Canada by theCommunities in BloomCommittee. The town won the prize in the 1500 to 5000 people category.

Other recent changes include the replacement of the Durham District Community School by the Spruce Ridge Community School. TheDurham Huskies,the town's traditional junior hockey franchise, has been inactive since 2001.

Longtime Durham employer Interforest closed its doors to manufacturing on July 10, 2009. Due to the closure, about 450 jobs have been lost. 50 people have kept their jobs and are working with company orders.

A tornado reportedly touched down in the community, about 50 kilometres south of Owen Sound near Lake Huron and 180 km northwest of Toronto, hitting the south end of Durham, during theSouthern Ontario Tornado Outbreak of 2009.The tornado crossed eastward through town, turned north, and exited through theSaugeen Conservation Area.The tornado caused one fatality, an 11-year-old boy who was at day camp, inside a temporary shelter when he was struck by flying debris. Emergency crews tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not released at the request of his family.The tornadoes, accompanied by violent thunderstorms, swept across southern Ontario killing at least one person, downing power lines and trees and ripping off roofs in several communities.

Notable People

Freddie Dredd

Sources

1. Grey & Bruce Counties Groundwater Study Sea Level Map (PDF File)
2. Statistics Canada ReportArchived2008-10-12 at theWayback Machine
3. http://atlas.gc.ca/site/English/maps/environment/naturalhazards/majorfloods/floods_stats_new.html Natural Resources Canada: Major Floods in Canada]
4. Statements by Members of Parliament including Ovid Jackson on the Durham Flood of 1997

Book sources

"A History of the Town of Durham 1842-1994" byThe Durham Historical Committee.Stan Brown Printers Ltd,Owen Sound,Ontario.Copyright 1994.ISBN0-9699201-0-5.

External links

• Durham Art GalleryArchived2006-01-05 at theWayback Machine
• Durham Conservation AreaArchived2010-07-25 at theWayback Machine
• Durham Public Library
• Grey & Bruce Groundwater Study
• West Grey Website
• Durham Minor Hockey Assoc.
• Durham Soccer ClubArchived2011-07-06 at theWayback Machine
• Durham Presbyterian Church