Elmira, Ontario

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The town of Elmira, Ontario is the largest community within the Township of Woolwich in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is located 15 km to the north of the city of Waterloo.

1 History
2 Local Information
3 Sports
4 Geography
5 Events
6 Famous natives
7 External links

[edit] History

A community by the name of Bristow's Corners was already in existence in 1839 when a post office was assigned there. Local merchant Samuel Weber had been visiting New York State in the early 1850s and was apparently impressed with Elmira, New York. This may have been a factor in the decision of Woolwich Township council on February 22, 1853 to rename the community Elmira. The post office was renamed in 1866. Like most of the township, the primary settlers in the Elmira area were Mennonites, who still form a significant proportion of the population today. The town still retains much of its traditional Pennsylvania “Deutsch” character. Many Old Order Mennonites can still be seen on the local roads using their traditional horse and buggy transportation. [1]

During the 1960s under contract with the U.S. government, Elmira's Uniroyal chemical plant (which changed its name to Crompton Company in 2001 and then to Chemtura in 2005) was one of seven manufacturers supplying the U.S. military with the toxic herbicide Agent Orange. Due to the poor disposal practices of the toxic waste associated with the manufacture of Agent Orange and other chemicals, contamination has seeped down to the aquifer in and around Elmira. This contamination, NMDA (N-nitrose dimethylamine), forced local water wells to close in 1990. Water is now delivered via a pipeline from Waterloo and other near local areas.

[edit] Local Information

Elmira has a population of 10 000 residents. The local schools include John Mahood Public School, Riverside Public School, St. Teresas RC and Elmira District Secondary School. The secondary school draws students from the town and surrounding areas of St. Jacobs, Conestogo, West Montrose, Wallenstein and St. Clements.

The local Library received a Carnegie grant in 1911 after being supported by the local businesses for many years and was expanded.

There are several churches in Elmira: St. Teresa RC, St. James Lutheran - ELCIC, St. Pauls Lutheran, Elmira Mennonite, Zion Mennonite, Pentacostal, Gale Presbyterian, Trinity United and Emmanuel Evangelical (Missionary).

[edit] Sports

Local Jr. B Hockey Team are the Elmira Sugar Kings, named after the very successfull Elmira Maple Syrup Festival. http://www.kings.on.ca/

[edit] Geography

The town was founded at the intersection of two roads, now Regional Road 21 (Arthur St.) running north-south, and Regional Road 86 (Church St.), running east-west. Canagagigue Creek is the major body of water, flowing southeast from the north end of town to join the Grand River, some 4 km to the east.

[edit] Events

Elmira's main annual event is the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival, held each spring in early April. It attracts some 60,000 visitors to the one-day event, giving it the claim of the world's largest one-day maple syrup festival and in the fall, the Elmira Country Fair, has for the past 150 years, been held in August. [2]