Ormond, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ormond is a small hamlet in Eastern Ontario, with a population of not more than 150. To the South is Winchester, to the East, Morewood and Marionville, to the Northwest, highway 31 and Vernon, Ontario, and to the North, Metcalfe. Ormond is a 30-minute drive from the Southern edge of Ottawa.
History
It was founded in the early 1800s by Scottish settlers who sought to avoid the miseries of Highland life. These were originally Gaelic-speakers, although the language mostly disappeared by the second generation. (However, some old-timers could still understand it perfectly well until the 1920s.)
The area stretching to nearby Marionville was once considered part of Ormond. As time went on, however, these Scottish-owned farms were gradually bought up by French-Canadians. By 1904 a Roman Catholic church was established in Marionville. In 1875, a stone school was erected in Ormond at great cost, although it is speculated that a previous school building possibly existed there before. This school closed in 1965, and children now attend the English language school in Morewood or the Francophone one in Marionville.
In 1904, Ormond contained not only a school and church, but also a grist-mill, a cheese and butter factory, a general store, two blacksmith's shops, and eight or ten houses. As demographics changed in Canada, the last Scottish family arrived in Ormond in 1948, and subsequent immigrants to the area have been primarily Dutch and German.
Current Day
The ease and popularity of automobiles changed Ormond over time; now, none of its businesses or churches remain--excepting the Protestant Cemetery to the East of the Hamlet, and the Harmony Church to the West. Ormond's size remained basically the same until the 1980s: a small cluster of houses at the intersection of the Ormond Road and Rodney Lane, with a number of farms along these roads in either direction. In the early 1990s a subdivision of suburban-style houses started to be built on the Southern edge of the hamlet, called "Fox Fire Ridge." This gradually grew to its current size of 15 or more houses, more than doubling the size of Ormond.
A brick Protestant church was erected in 1876, which lasted until the end of the 20th century and served as the hamlet's community centre; however, it was unfortunately destroyed beyond repair by a wind storm. Ormond's former stone schoolhouse, general store and manse have all been long converted into private homes.
The proximity of Ormond to growing small towns nearby, and especially its placement within commuting distance of Ottawa, means that it will probably continue to grow at a steady pace in the future.
The history section of this article was derived almost entirely from an unsigned typewritten article called "A History of Ormond and Community", which was apparently written before the 1970s.
