Strathroy-Caradoc is a primarily rural municipality. Industries include turkey and chicken hatching and processing, corn, tobacco, automotive, and pharmaceutical. Some industrial products are manufactured in Strathroy, the township's largest locality and its commercial, cultural and industrial centre. Strathroy's hatcheries have seen it referred to as the turkey capital of Canada and even the world.[3]
Settlements within Strathroy-Caradoc largely grew up around the Sydenham River and the southwestern Ontario railways. Three major railway lines pass through the municipality: the CN (Canadian National Railway) Chatham Subdivision (connecting Windsor and London, Ontario), the CP (Canadian Pacific Railway) Windsor Subdivision (also connecting Windsor and London), and the CN Strathroy Subdivision (connecting London and Sarnia, Ontario).
Strathroy-Caradoc's two largest communities are Strathroy and Mount Brydges. The township also contains the smaller communities of Cairngorm, Campbellvale, Caradoc, Christina, Falconbridge, Glen Oak, Longwood, Melbourne (part) and Muncey.
Mount Brydges has a small commercial "downtown" featuring mostly local businesses and shops. Local agriculture includes corn, tobacco, soybeans and ginseng. The soil composition of the region is largely sandy (a phenomenon referred to locally as the "Caradoc Sand Plains") as a result of deposits created on the bottom of the glacial Lake Whittlesey which covered the area approximately 13,000 years ago.
The village came into existence as a result of the construction of the western division of the Great Western Railroad from City of London, Ontario to Windsor, Ontario, at the point where it crossed the existing road from Delaware, Ontario to Strathroy. This crossing happened to be at the point of greatest elevation on this division, the railroad having just climbed out of the valley of the Thames River from London. The station was named for Charles John Brydges, the managing director of the Grand Trunk Railway from 1861 to 1874. The earlier name Carradoc was replaced in 1856.[4]
History
Strathroy was first colonized in 1832 by John Stewart Buchanan, accompanied by the explorer Sir Michael Jacques, at a location on the Sydenham River with flow and fall sufficient to power a grist mill. A general store opened in the settlement in 1840. Strathroy was incorporated as a village in 1860 and became a town in 1872 under the motto "We Advance". Buchanan named the settlement after his hometown of Strathroy in Ireland, now a suburb of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
In 1866, The Age newspaper was established to compete with the already-established Western Dispatch newspaper. The Western Dispatch was purchased by The Age in 1923, which later became The Age Dispatch. The newspaper is still published weekly.
Sir Arthur Currie, who would later become the commander of Canadian forces in Europe during World War I, was born here on December 5, 1875.
In the fall of 1876, Bixel Brewery opened in Strathroy, producing lager beer for a century before its closing. Other breweries in the town have included the "Western Steam Brewery", "Strathroy Brewing and Malting" and "West End Brewery".
In 1896, the Strathroy Furniture Company opened its doors, and was renowned for nearly a century for making residential furniture. On July 15, 1992, the company declared bankruptcy and a liquidation sale was held in October 1992.
On February 14, 1914, the first patients were admitted to what would become Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital. At the time, the hospital was municipally owned. The current building opened on June 23, 1962, as a two-story structure with 82 beds. The hospital was the location at which Native CanadianDudley George succumbed to the gunshot wound he suffered at the Ipperwash Standoff at nearby Ipperwash Provincial Park on September 7, 1995.[6][7]
On January 13, 1954, West Middlesex Memorial Arena opened in Strathroy. To commemorate the occasion, the NHL's Montreal Canadiens played an exhibition game at the arena, defeating the local Junior 'B' team the Strathroy Rockets 14–3 in front of 3,100 spectators.[8]
In 2001, Strathroy merged with the former Township of Caradoc,[9][10] creating the town of Strathroy-Caradoc.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Strathroy-Caradoc had a population of 23,871 living in 9,453 of its 9,695 total private dwellings, a change of 14.4% from its 2016 population of 20,867. With a land area of 270.86 km2 (104.58 sq mi), it had a population density of 88.1/km2 (228.3/sq mi) in 2021.[14]
Canada census – Strathroy-Caradoc community profile
Strathroy has two secondary schools that share basic facilities, Strathroy District Collegiate Institute and Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School. Each serves the town and its outlying area. Strathroy was ranked 161st out of 714 Ontario secondary schools in 2007/2008 by the Fraser Institute's Report on Ontario Secondary Schools.[24] Holy Cross was ranked 339th out of 714 in the same report.[24]
Media
Strathroy has two weekly newspapers, The Age Dispatch and the Middlesex Banner, and a radio station, 105.7 myFM (CJMI-FM), which provides local news and sports coverage. The region is otherwise served by media from London.
Events
Strathroy's largest annual event is the Strathroy Hometown Turkey Festival, also known as Turkeyfest, run in June. The town is home to the headquarters of Cuddy Farms, the world's top turkey-hatching company. In July 2020, Strathroy saw its first Pride flag raising.[25] Due to COVID-19, events were held virtually. In 2021, Strathroy Pride[26] was present at the downtown Market throughout June and July,[27] and was able to invite folks to see the flag raising in person.[28]
Sports
Strathroy Rockets home game
Strathroy is home to the Strathroy Rockets of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Strathroy Royals baseball team. Mount Brydges is home to the Mount Brydges Bulldogs of the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
The Strathroy Rockets won the Championship of the Western Ontario Hockey League in 2007. Strathroy also has many minor and youth sports teams such at the Strathroy Jr. Rockets Minor Hockey Association, a baseball program known as the Strathroy Jr. Royals, and a Soccer program known as Strathroy United FC. All of these sport associations have won various titles throughout Ontario.
The Hon. Charles Herbert Mackintosh (1843–1931), town councillor, Strathroy, owner of the Strathroy Dispatch, later mayor of Ottawa, owner of the Ottawa Citizen, Member of Parliament, and lieutenant-governor (1893–1898) of the old Northwest Territories
George Orton, Canada's first Olympic champion, born in Strathroy in 1873. Won a gold medal for the Canada in the steeplechase event at the 1900 Olympics
^Township of MacGillvray/Caradoc 1878 inhabitants. Illustrated historical atlas of the county of Middlesex, Ontario]. Toronto : H.R. Page & Co., 1878. U.S. Library of Congress collection. Accessed 9 April 2024.
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