Port Stanley is a community in the Municipality of Central Elgin, Elgin County in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of Kettle Creek. In 2016, it had a population of 2,148. [1]
The site of Port Stanley was part of an important early route from Lake Erie to other inland waterways for a succession of explorers and travellers of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was an important landing point and camping spot. Adrien Jolliet, brother of Louis Jolliet, landed at this location in 1669 during the first exploration of the Great Lakes by Europeans. Other notable visitors included François Dollier de Casson and René de Bréhant de Galinée (1670), Jean-Baptiste Céloron de Blainville (1749) and Sir William Johnson (1761). [2] In commemoration of this role, a site bounded by Bridge, Main and Colbourne Streets was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923, and was marked with a cairn. [3]
Lieutenant-Colonel John Bostwick received the first land grant, and settled in what is now Port Stanley in 1804. [4] Around 1824, it was renamed Port Stanley after Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, who had visited nearby Port Talbot. Lord Stanley later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the father of Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada, ice hockey enthusiast and donor of the first Stanley Cup in 1893.[ citation needed ]
Port Stanley has a large sheltered harbour that was operated by Transport Canada, but has been divested to the Municipality of Central Elgin. Historically, these facilities supported trade in coal and wood between Southwestern Ontario and the United States. Today, most of these facilities are dormant, but a commercial freshwater fishery operates from the harbour.
Attractions include a large sandy beach, King George VI Lift Bridge (a lifting bridge across Kettle Creek opened in May 1939), marinas, restaurants, hotels, shops, the Port Stanley Festival Theatre in the former town hall building on Bridge Street, and the Port Stanley Terminal Rail, which operates a tourist train between St. Thomas, Ontario and Port Stanley using a portion of the former L&PS rail line, the London and Port Stanley Railway.
In 1926, the L&PS Pavilion opened. It was later renamed the Stork Club (not to be confused with the famous New York establishment), and had a 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m2) dance floor, the largest dance floor in the London-Port Stanley area; the club was famous for swing dance and big band and attracted several big names to play there. It was closed by health authorities in 1973 because it could not earn the revenue to keep the building up. H.J. McManus, a London businessman, bought it and his son, Joe Jr., led the renovations, reopening in 1974 with the Harry James Orchestra performing before a sellout crowd. The last event was a performance by Day Break on New Year's Eve of 1978/79; a fire in a dumpster 12 days later damaged the building too heavily to save it.
In the first decade of the 21st century, there were numerous proposals to operate a ferry between Port Stanley and Cleveland, Ohio. [5]
The Port Stanley News was formerly a locally operated news and current events Website/blog that served the Port Stanley area however it is no longer active.
The Lake Erie Beacon was a tabloid community newspaper published bi-weekly, with a distribution of 7000 printed copies and 800 electronic copies however it has ceased publication. [6]
Port Stanley has a humid continental climate modified somewhat by the waters of Lake Erie.
| Climate data for Port Stanley (1981−2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.4 (57.9) | 13.0 (55.4) | 21.0 (69.8) | 27.2 (81.0) | 31.7 (89.1) | 34.4 (93.9) | 34.4 (93.9) | 33.9 (93.0) | 31.7 (89.1) | 25.6 (78.1) | 20.0 (68.0) | 15.5 (59.9) | 34.4 (93.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −1.1 (30.0) | −0.2 (31.6) | 4.3 (39.7) | 11.0 (51.8) | 17.8 (64.0) | 22.3 (72.1) | 25.5 (77.9) | 24.7 (76.5) | 20.7 (69.3) | 14.3 (57.7) | 7.8 (46.0) | 1.6 (34.9) | 12.4 (54.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.9 (23.2) | −4.3 (24.3) | 0.1 (32.2) | 6.5 (43.7) | 12.7 (54.9) | 17.3 (63.1) | 20.3 (68.5) | 19.5 (67.1) | 15.7 (60.3) | 9.5 (49.1) | 4.1 (39.4) | −1.8 (28.8) | 7.9 (46.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −8.6 (16.5) | −8.3 (17.1) | −4.1 (24.6) | 2.0 (35.6) | 7.6 (45.7) | 12.2 (54.0) | 15.0 (59.0) | 14.2 (57.6) | 10.6 (51.1) | 4.7 (40.5) | 0.4 (32.7) | −5.3 (22.5) | 3.4 (38.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −32.8 (−27.0) | −32.0 (−25.6) | −27.2 (−17.0) | −16.7 (1.9) | −5.0 (23.0) | −0.6 (30.9) | 3.3 (37.9) | 0.0 (32.0) | −2.2 (28.0) | −8.3 (17.1) | −18.9 (−2.0) | −31.7 (−25.1) | −32.8 (−27.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 60.1 (2.37) | 62.5 (2.46) | 74.5 (2.93) | 85.2 (3.35) | 80.3 (3.16) | 93.3 (3.67) | 95.9 (3.78) | 118.5 (4.67) | 104.9 (4.13) | 87.0 (3.43) | 116.2 (4.57) | 102.4 (4.03) | 1,080.7 (42.55) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 33.1 (1.30) | 39.0 (1.54) | 60.2 (2.37) | 82.5 (3.25) | 80.3 (3.16) | 93.3 (3.67) | 95.9 (3.78) | 118.5 (4.67) | 104.9 (4.13) | 86.1 (3.39) | 111.5 (4.39) | 82.2 (3.24) | 987.5 (38.88) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 27.0 (10.6) | 23.5 (9.3) | 14.3 (5.6) | 2.7 (1.1) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.92 (0.36) | 4.8 (1.9) | 20.2 (8.0) | 93.2 (36.7) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 12.9 | 10.8 | 12.9 | 14.4 | 13.2 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 13.4 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 156.3 |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 5.1 | 5.2 | 9.4 | 13.5 | 13.2 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 14.8 | 8.9 | 132.2 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 8.6 | 6.9 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.25 | 1.1 | 6.6 | 28.7 |
| Source: Environment Canada [7] | |||||||||||||
St. Thomas is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It gained its city charter on March 4, 1881. The city is also the seat for Elgin County, although it is independent of the county.
Fort Erie is a town in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. The town is located at the south eastern corner of the region, on the Niagara River, directly across the Canada–United States border from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812.
Norfolk County is a rural single-tier municipality on the north shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario, Canada with a 2023 population of 73,015. Despite its name, it is no longer a county by definition, as all municipal services are handled by a single level of government. The largest community in Norfolk County is Simcoe, whose 2021 population was 16,121. The other population centres are Port Dover, Delhi, Waterford and Port Rowan, and there are many smaller communities. For several years in the late 20th century, the county was merged with Haldimand County but the merged entity was dissolved in 2000.
King's Highway 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which travels parallel to the northern shoreline of Lake Erie. It has three segments, the first of which travels from the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor to Highway 77 in Leamington. The second portion begins at Talbotville Royal outside of St. Thomas at Highway 4, and travels to the western city limits of Port Colborne. The road is regionally maintained within Port Colborne as Niagara Regional Road 3, but regains its provincial designation at Highway 140. Its third and final terminus is at Edgewood Park, within the Fort Erie town limits. From there, the road continues as Niagara Regional Road 3 to the Peace Bridge, where drivers can cross to the United States. The total length of Highway 3 is 248.9 or 258.2 km, consisting of 49.2 km (30.6 mi) from Windsor to Leamington, 187.9 km (116.8 mi) from Talbotville Royal to Port Colborne and 21.1 km (13.1 mi) from Port Colborne to Edgewood Park.
Thomas Talbot was an Irish-born Canadian soldier and colonial administrator. He founded the community of Port Talbot, Ontario, which was at one time the most prosperous town in the region due to his insistence on building quality roads, and was responsible for enticing 50,000 people to settle in the Thames River area.
Kettle Creek is a creek in Elgin County in southwestern Ontario, Canada that empties into Lake Erie at Port Stanley. It drains an area of 520 square kilometres (200 sq mi). Dodd Creek is the major tributary.
Catfish Creek is a creek in Elgin County in southwestern Ontario which empties into the north shore of Lake Erie. Catfish Creek begins in the northwest area of Aylmer and flows in a generally southern direction before flowing into Lake Erie at Port Bruce. It is a significant creek in that it flows through an area of Carolinian forest. Worthy of note is the area just northwest of Port Bruce called the Catfish Creek Slope and Floodplain Forest. "Encompassing 233 hectares, this unique Area of Natural and Scientific Interest contains some of the most endangered habitat in Canada. It lies in the heart of the Carolinian Zone of Southern Ontario and provides mature, deciduous forest cover that is able to support plant and animal life normally found much further south. All of this Carolinian Canada site is privately owned."
Central Elgin is a municipality located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada in Elgin County on Lake Erie. It is part of the London census metropolitan area.
Highbury Avenue is an arterial road and municipal expressway located in the Canadian province of Ontario. In addition to serving as a primary north–south thoroughfare in eastern London – through which part of it is a limited-access freeway – the road also provides access to Highway 401 and continues south to St. Thomas. The southern terminus of Highbury Avenue is an intersection with South Edgeware Road, just north of Highway 3 and the eastern end of the St. Thomas Expressway. From there, it travels 45.6 kilometres (28.3 mi) north to Highway 7, east of Elginfield. Outside of London and St. Thomas, the road also passes through the communities of Ballymote and Bryanston. It is designated as Elgin County Road 30 within Central Elgin, and as Middlesex County Road 23 within Middlesex Centre, the two rural municipalities through which the route passes.
Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and Detroit River, to the west; and Lake Erie to the south. To the east, on land, Southwestern Ontario is bounded by Central Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe.
Port Burwell is a community on the north shore of Lake Erie, in the Municipality of Bayham in Elgin County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of Big Otter Creek, which stretches more than forty miles north through Bayham to Tillsonburg and Otterville, and the harbour at Port Burwell was of historic importance in the development of landlocked Oxford County.
John Bostwick was a surveyor, businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.
The London and Port Stanley Railway was a Canadian railway located in southwestern Ontario. It linked the city of London with Port Stanley on the northern shore of Lake Erie, a distance of approximately 25 miles (40 km).
Port Talbot was the name of a community located west of Port Stanley, about one hour's drive south from London, Ontario, Canada, where Talbot Creek flows into Lake Erie. The village was the original commercial nucleus for the settlement which developed on 5,000 acres (20 km2) of land granted to Thomas Talbot in 1800 by the Crown along the northwestern shore of Lake Erie. The settlement was one of the most prosperous of its time in Upper Canada, noted for its good roads, with Talbot keeping out land speculators and securing hard-working settlers. Talbot's authoritarian control of the settlers led to conflicts with the Executive Council of Upper Canada and a reduction in his powers.
The London and Lake Erie Railway and Transportation Company is a defunct Interurban railway that operated in Ontario, Canada from 1902 to 1918. Originally chartered as the South Western Traction Company, the line was renamed the London and Lake Erie Railway in 1909. Throughout its short life, the line was always referred to locally as "The Traction Line".
Norfolk County in the Canadian province of Ontario consists of a long list of communities. Its four designated population centres are Simcoe, Port Dover, Delhi, and Waterford.
There are three creeks named Catfish Creek in Ontario, Canada:
The St. Thomas Moraine is an east-west glacial moraine considered one of the Horseshoe Moraines. It formed at the time of Lake Maumee II filled part of the basin of what is now Lake Erie. Other portions of the basin were filled by a lobe of the Laurentian icesheet, known as the Erie Lobe. The moraine is approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) long, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) wide, running parallel to the shore of Lake Erie, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) inshore.
Talbot Creek is a watercourse in Elgin County, Ontario, Canada, that drains into Lake Erie. It was first settled in 1803.
Port Stanley was originally founded by Colonel Thomas Talbot. Colonel Bostwick was a friend to Colonel Talbot and as such was the first resident to be granted land. In 1804, Bostwick moved his family to Port Stanley. The village's name was adopted in 1823 in honour of Lord Stanley following his visit to the area (Mika, 1983).
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