Renfrew | |
---|---|
Town of Renfrew | |
Coordinates: 45°28′18″N76°40′59″W / 45.47167°N 76.68306°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
County | Renfrew |
Incorporated | July 27, 1858 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Tom Sidney |
• Reeve | Peter Emon |
Area | |
• Land | 12.81 km2 (4.95 sq mi) |
Population (2021) [1] | |
• Total | 8,190 |
• Density | 639.3/km2 (1,656/sq mi) |
• Dwellings | 4,117 |
• Pop. growth (2016-21) | 0.4% |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Postal code FSA | |
Area code(s) | 613, 343 |
Exchanges | (432, 433, 570 exchange) |
Highways | Highway 17 / TCH Highway 60 Highway 132 |
Website | www |
Renfrew is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the fourth largest town in the county after Petawawa, Pembroke and Arnprior. The town is a small transportation hub connecting Highway 60 and Highway 132 with the Trans-Canada Highway. Renfrew is also known historically for its role in the formation of the National Hockey League. It lies about 5 kilometres from the Quebec border, about 10 kilometres by road. Renfrew makes most of Canada’s hockey tape.
Named after Renfrewshire, Scotland, in approximately 1848, [2] Renfrew was settled largely in part due to logging in the area in the early 19th century, where the river was used in order to drive the lumber to locations such as Ottawa. This heritage was until recently celebrated every July with the Lumber Baron Festival.
Renfrew and the surrounding Township of Horton are at the intersection of the Bonnechere River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Renfrew is at the intersection of provincial Highway 17, Highway 60, and Highway 132.
The town of Renfrew is the second of five chutes along the Bonnechere River. The others being Castleford, Douglas, Fourth Chute and Eganville. The chutes used were for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls.
Renfrew has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with four distinct seasons, warm summers, cold snowy winters and no dry season. [3]
Climate data for Renfrew, Ontario (1971–2000) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 13.0 (55.4) | 12.0 (53.6) | 23.9 (75.0) | 31.7 (89.1) | 34.0 (93.2) | 35.0 (95.0) | 38.3 (100.9) | 37.8 (100.0) | 33.0 (91.4) | 28.0 (82.4) | 21.1 (70.0) | 16.0 (60.8) | 38.3 (100.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −6.4 (20.5) | −4.3 (24.3) | 2.2 (36.0) | 10.0 (50.0) | 19.0 (66.2) | 23.7 (74.7) | 26.6 (79.9) | 25.2 (77.4) | 19.5 (67.1) | 12.5 (54.5) | 4.6 (40.3) | −3.3 (26.1) | 10.8 (51.4) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −12 (10) | −10.4 (13.3) | −3.6 (25.5) | 4.9 (40.8) | 12.2 (54.0) | 16.9 (62.4) | 19.7 (67.5) | 18.5 (65.3) | 13.4 (56.1) | 7.1 (44.8) | 0.3 (32.5) | −8.3 (17.1) | 4.9 (40.8) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −17.6 (0.3) | −16.5 (2.3) | −9.4 (15.1) | −1.1 (30.0) | 5.4 (41.7) | 10.1 (50.2) | 12.8 (55.0) | 11.8 (53.2) | 7.3 (45.1) | 1.7 (35.1) | −4 (25) | −13.2 (8.2) | −1.1 (30.0) |
Record low °C (°F) | −42.5 (−44.5) | −38 (−36) | −35 (−31) | −21 (−6) | −9 (16) | −2.5 (27.5) | 0 (32) | −1.5 (29.3) | −6 (21) | −12 (10) | −29 (−20) | −38 (−36) | −42.5 (−44.5) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 60.6 (2.39) | 50.6 (1.99) | 60.5 (2.38) | 67.5 (2.66) | 69.5 (2.74) | 74.9 (2.95) | 77.0 (3.03) | 79.9 (3.15) | 70.0 (2.76) | 72.3 (2.85) | 63.5 (2.50) | 65.3 (2.57) | 811.5 (31.95) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 15.4 (0.61) | 12.2 (0.48) | 32.0 (1.26) | 57.3 (2.26) | 68.5 (2.70) | 74.9 (2.95) | 77.0 (3.03) | 79.9 (3.15) | 70.0 (2.76) | 68.2 (2.69) | 43.9 (1.73) | 16.7 (0.66) | 616 (24.3) |
Average snowfall cm (inches) | 45.2 (17.8) | 38.4 (15.1) | 28.5 (11.2) | 10.3 (4.1) | 1.0 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 4.1 (1.6) | 19.5 (7.7) | 48.6 (19.1) | 195.5 (77.0) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 13.7 | 10.1 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.5 | 12.9 | 11.8 | 12.7 | 13.7 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 13.1 | 151.7 |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 2.4 | 2.0 | 5.4 | 10.0 | 13.4 | 12.9 | 11.8 | 12.7 | 13.7 | 13.3 | 9.4 | 3.4 | 110.4 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 11.9 | 8.7 | 6.7 | 2.4 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.96 | 4.8 | 10.5 | 46.15 |
Source: Environment Canada [4] |
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Renfrew had a population of 8,190 living in 3,954 of its 4,117 total private dwellings, a change of -0.4% from its 2016 population of 8,223. With a land area of 12.81 km2 (4.95 sq mi), it had a population density of 639.3/km2 (1,655.9/sq mi) in 2021. [1]
2021 | 2016 | 2011 | |
---|---|---|---|
Population | 8,190 (-0.4% from 2016) | 8,223 (0.1% from 2011) | 8,218 (4.7% from 2006) |
Land area | 12.81 km2 (4.95 sq mi) | 12.78 km2 (4.93 sq mi) | 12.77 km2 (4.93 sq mi) |
Population density | 639.3/km2 (1,656/sq mi) | 643.4/km2 (1,666/sq mi) | 643.5/km2 (1,667/sq mi) |
Median age | 54.0 (M: 51.2, F: 56.4) | 51.9 (M: 49.5, F: 53.8) | |
Private dwellings | 4,117 (total) 3,954 (occupied) | 4,035 (total) 3,875 (occupied) | 3,980 (total) |
Median household income | $60,400 | $48,427 |
Mother tongue (2021): [1]
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Population counts are not adjusted for boundary changes (Renfrew annexed part of Horton Twp. on January 1, 1971). Source: [10] |
Much of Renfrew's current prosperity can be attributed to its status as an economic centre for a surrounding rural region with a population of over 30,000. Renfrew is also an important stop for Ottawa-based cottagers and outdoor enthusiasts passing by on their way to nearby whitewater rafting, boating, camping, hunting, golfing, fishing, snowmobiling, down-hill skiing, and cross-country skiing. However, the area's largest single employers are the Renfrew Victoria Hospital and the Bonnechere Manor. [11] In addition to numerous small employers, there are also several manufacturing facilities employing several hundred people; Scapa Tapes Renfrew (formerly Renfrew Tape) makes products such as hockey tape that is used across North America and the duct tape brand featured on the discontinued Red Green Show and promoted by Doug Gilmour in the early 1990s after becoming a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Times Fibre Canada and Madawaska Hardwood Flooring also have manufacturing facilities in town. Haley Industries located outside Renfrew near Haley Station is also a major employer in the area. Renfrew is also home to many successful small businesses. Between 2000 and 2005, a major portion of Renfrew's retail business, and the associated customer services jobs, shifted from the west-end Renfrew mall (now demolished) to its east-end industrial park near Highway 17 due to the opening of several major big-box such as No Frills and Walmart and smaller retail stores.
Residents of the area await the twinning of Highway 17 to improve traffic flow and the safety of the highway due to numerous accidents along the corridor to North Bay, Ontario.
Despite the apparent prosperity, Statistics Canada reported the average earnings of Renfrew residents in 2000 as $35,811, or roughly 31% lower than the provincial average and 5% lower than the county average. [12] Further, the town reports, relative to the population size and compared to the province as a whole, fewer positions in management, business, finance, administration and natural or applied sciences, while there was greater than the provincial rates of occupation in sales and service, trades, transport and equipment operators, processing, manufacturing and utilities. [12]
Low Square is located at the corner of Raglan Street and Railway Avenue in downtown Renfrew. The square is a park setting containing the cenotaph, and the Town Hall. In 1918, with approval of Council, and at his own expense, the Honourable Thomas Low donated and landscaped the property as a gift to the town for the purpose of constructing a cenotaph to honour local soldiers who died in The Great War, but he died before it was unveiled. The Renfrew Police station (later the OPP detachment) was built as a small brown brick building on the back of the square officially opening October 15, 1970, replacing the station directly to the south of it (formerly the Albion Hotel). A new town hall was constructed as an addition to the police station, in 1985, with municipal offices moving from the old Temperance Hall building directly across the street. In February 2017, the full building became town hall offices and Ontario Court of Justice offices when the police moved to a new location at 450 O'Brien Road. The name of Tom Low lives on in the Park he landscaped, which A.A. Wright declared "from this time on and for all time to be known as Low Square”.
John Lorn McDougall, politician and fur trader, built the mill in 1855 by the Bonnechere River near the town landmark Swinging Bridge and overlooking natural rapids below the Renfrew Power Generation generating station. It has been converted into a museum, sometimes referred to as 'Renfrew Museum', not to be confused with museums of that name in Pennsylvania and Scotland. The McDougall Mill Museum houses pioneer tools and machinery, a military section, a doll exhibit, as well as toys, Victorian clothing and household items. [13]
In 1885, the W.H. Kearney family built a wire bridge across the Bonnechere River. The “swinging bridge”, now a town landmark made of wood and cable, is far safer and more secure than the original plank and wire structure. Reconstructed in 1983 by the Town of Renfrew and updated in 2015, it is one of three swinging bridges in Canada and provides an excellent view of the Bonnechere River and the power generation plant.
The Victoria Hospital School of Nursing opened in 1902 with a capacity of 30 students, graduating 10 students per year. Nursing education moved under the jurisdiction of community colleges and the school was subsequently closed in 1965.
The Town of Renfrew is policed by the Ontario Provincial Police force.
Chief Bernard "Barney" McDermott had the job as Chief of Police in Renfrew from 1890 until his retirement in 1909 - he was a one man police force and was known to always "get his man". His living quarters were situated above the fire hall in Renfrew.
The Renfrew Police station (later the OPP detachment) was built on the back of Low Square in 1972.
The OPP operated out of their Stewart Street location from 1967 until moving into the Low Square detachment when the Town of Renfrew police service amalgamated with the OPP in 2000. The Renfrew and Arnprior detachments, who both faced the same fate of losing their own town operated forces, had their OPP detachments amalgamated in January 2013, and in February 2017, a new regional detachment was opened at 450 O'Brien Road in Renfrew. This new Renfrew detachment serves the towns of Arnprior, Renfrew, and the townships of Greater Madawaska, McNab-Braeside, Admaston-Bromley, Horton and about half of Whitewater Region Township.
The Renfrew Post Office, built in 1908, is located at 249 Raglan Street South. Built in the Romanesque Revival style with exterior walls of irregularly coursed split-faced stone and mansard roof clad in seamed copper, this beautiful edifice is a major landmark on Renfrew's main throughfare. The tapered silhouette of the metal-clad clock tower, hipped gable roof and weather vane tops the stone structure that has twinned principal entrances with metal coats of arms located above. Located below the top centre window is the engraving E.R. 1908, representing the monarch at the time of construction. The interior consists of hardwood finishes, terrazzo tile floors, plaster ceilings and walls with wood dados. Over the years, the building has shared use of the post office, customs and revenue offices, and the NHA/NHL Birthplace Museum. In 2018, the building was sold by the town to Rob Thompson Hotels Ltd. for the price tag of $100,000 with the proposal of a boutique hotel in the upper levels of the building, while retaining the post office on the main level and numerous conditions to keep the historical features intact.
The Renfrew Public Library had rather simple beginnings; a group of residents discussing the latest philosophies and varied topics in William Dickson's cobbler shop which opened up in 1845 near the current location of the post office. After gathering up a few books in 1852, Mr. Dickson, Mr. Archie Thompson, and local lawyer, Mr. Elkanah Billings formed the Renfrew Mechanics Institute and Library Association, which lasted for about fifteen years before being revitalized in 1870 by a new group of people. By the end of the century, the Institute emerged as a newly formed Public Library Board and the books were moved to the Barnet Block at 282 Raglan Street, above what was James Clark's drugstore. The current building located at 13 Railway Avenue, was opened in 1920 with financial support from the Carnegie Institute, and in 1959, the Children's Library was established in the completely renovated basement. In the 1980s, the library became wheelchair accessible by an addition at the east and south side of the building, which also expanded the research and reading area into the second floor of the adjacent building at 161 Raglan Street.
The town's main sports complex, Ma-te-way Centre was built in 1989 replacing the aging Renfrew Arena. [14]
The Renfrew Golf Club was founded in 1929, as nine holes, and was expanded to 18 holes in the mid-1970s.
One of the four original teams in the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the NHL, was based in Renfrew. The Renfrew Creamery Kings sought to be allowed to play in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, but with no success. The team's owner, M. J. O'Brien, eventually financed and put together his own league, the NHA. The Creamery Kings played two seasons of hockey in the NHA, 1911 and 1912, until M. J. O'Brien pulled out to pursue his interests in the railway. [15]
Renfrew Timberwolves is the town's hockey team since 1987, but the team can trace its roots back to 1968 as the Renfrew Lions or Renfrew Junior Timberwolves. The current team plays in the Central Canada Hockey League Tier 2.
Primary Schools (Grade K-7)
Secondary School (Grade 8-12)
Primary Schools (Grade K-6)
Middle School (Grade 7-8)
Secondary School (Grade 9-12)
Frequency | Call sign | Branding | Format | Owner | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FM 96.1 | CHMY-FM | myFM | Adult contemporary | My Broadcasting Corporation | |
FM 98.7 | CJHR-FM | Community radio | Valley Heritage Radio |
All other radio stations are available out of Ottawa and the surrounding areas. (See: Ottawa Valley Radio)
Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Its population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 55,071. It is the seat of Hastings County, but politically independent of it, and is the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region.
Whitby is a town in Durham Region in Ontario, Canada. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) east of Ajax and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Oshawa, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region. It had a population of 138,501 at the 2021 census. It is approximately 70 km (43 mi) east of Toronto, and it is known as a commuter suburb in the Durham Region, a part of the Greater Toronto Area. While the southern portion of Whitby is predominantly urban and an economic hub, the northern part of the municipality is more rural and includes the communities of Ashburn, Brooklin, Myrtle, Myrtle Station, and Macedonian Village.
Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, 72 kilometres (45 mi) southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal waterway passes through the town, with four separate locks in three locations and a combined lift of over 15 metres (49.2 ft).
Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada.
The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey League (NHL), and much of the business processes of the NHL today are based on the NHA. Founded in 1909 by Ambrose O'Brien, the NHA introduced 'six-man hockey' by removing the 'rover' position in 1911. During its lifetime, the league coped with competition for players with the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the enlistment of players for World War I and disagreements between owners. The disagreements between owners came to a head in 1917, when the NHA suspended operations in order to get rid of an unwanted owner, Eddie Livingstone.
The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surrounding shield, the valley is narrow at its western end and then becomes increasingly wide as it progresses eastward. The underlying geophysical structure is the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben. Approximately 1.3 million people reside in the valley, around 80% of whom reside in Ottawa. The total area of the Ottawa Valley is 2.4 million ha. The National Capital Region area has just over 1.4 million inhabitants in both provinces.
Renfrew County is a county and census division in the Canadian province of Ontario. It straddles the west bank of the Ottawa River. There are 17 municipalities in the county. Its county seat is Pembroke, which is geographically within the county but administered independently.
Tillsonburg is a town in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada with a population of 18,615 located about 50 kilometres southeast of London, on Highway 3 at the junction of Highway 19.
Eastern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawrence River and New York to the south, and Northern Ontario and Central Ontario to the west and northwest.
Admaston/Bromley is an incorporated township in Renfrew County, Eastern Ontario, Canada. It was formed on January 1, 2000, when Admaston and Bromley Townships were amalgamated. It takes part of its name from Admaston, Staffordshire, a small English hamlet.
King's Highway 60, commonly referred to as Highway 60, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 255.8-kilometre (158.9 mi) highway serves as the primary corridor through Algonquin Provincial Park, where it is dedicated as the Frank McDougall Parkway. East of Algonquin Park, the route serves east–west traffic in the highlands of central Ontario. It begins at Highway 11 in Huntsville and ends at Highway 17 near Renfrew.
The Jubilee Arena also known as Jubilee Rink and l'Aréna Jubilee was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was located at the area bounded by rue Alphonse-D. Roy Street and rue Ste. Catherine Est. It was used for games of the Montreal Canadiens hockey club of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL) from 1909 to 1910 and again in 1919, and it was home of the Montreal Wanderers NHA club from 1910. It was originally built in 1908 and held seating for 3,200 spectators.
The 1910–11 NHA season was the second season of the now defunct National Hockey Association. The Ottawa Hockey Club won the league championship. Ottawa took over the Stanley Cup from the Montreal Wanderers and defended it against teams from Galt, Ontario, and Port Arthur, Ontario.
Eganville is a community occupying a deep limestone valley carved at the Fifth Chute of the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Eganville lies within the township of Bonnechere Valley.
The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the Millionaires, was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League. The team was based in the founder Ambrose O'Brien's hometown of Renfrew, Ontario.
The Haileybury Hockey Club were an ice hockey based in Haileybury, Ontario, which existed from 1906 to 1915. The team is notable for being a founding member of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor to the National Hockey League (NHL). Established to capitalize on the then-current mining boom in northern Ontario, it became clear that the town was too small to support major professional ice hockey, and the team left the NHA after its inaugural season.
Pembroke is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, 145 kilometres (90 mi) northwest of Ottawa. Though containing the administrative headquarters of Renfrew County, it is an independent city.
The Opeongo Hills are a range of hills in Southern Ontario, near Algonquin Provincial Park. The hills stretch from Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park in the west, along the Madawaska and Opeongo Rivers, towards the Opeongo Colonization Road, and extending towards the Deacon Escarpment, Bonnechere, Ontario, and Dacre in the east. To the east of the Opeongo Hills lie the Madawaska River valley, the Mississippi River Valley, and the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben along the Ottawa River. Its tallest peak is roughly 7 km northeast of Highway 60. At roughly 586 meters, it is the tallest point in Southern Ontario. The community of Foymount is one of the highest settlements in Southern Ontario.
The Hon. Michael John O'Brien was a railway builder, industrialist and philanthropist. He was named to the Senate of Canada in 1918. He was a founder of the town of Renfrew, Ontario. He was instrumental in the early history of professional ice hockey in Eastern Canada.
The 1910 NHA season was the first season of the National Hockey Association men's professional ice hockey league. The season started on January 5, but was suspended immediately and the league then absorbed the Ottawa and Shamrocks teams of the Canadian Hockey Association and the season continued from January 15 to March 15. Seven teams played 12 games each. The Ottawa Hockey Club played two Stanley Cup challenges during the season, but lost the Cup to their rivals the Montreal Wanderers who won the league championship and played a Cup challenge afterwards.