Kemptville

Kemptville
Unincorporated community
Kemptville and the Kemptville Creek
Coordinates: 45°01′N 75°39′W / 45.02°N 75.65°W / 45.02; -75.65Coordinates: 45°01′N 75°39′W / 45.02°N 75.65°W / 45.02; -75.65
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Leeds and Grenville United Counties
Municipality	North Grenville
Government
• Type	Township
• Federal riding	Leeds—Grenville
• Prov. riding	Leeds—Grenville
Area
• Land	3.21 km2 (1.24 sq mi)
Population (2016)
• Total	3,911
• Density	1,099.5/km2 (2,848/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight (EDT))
Postal code FSA	K0G
Area code(s)	613, 343

Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Southern (Eastern) Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately 56 km south of Ottawa and 2.5 to 3 km south of the Rideau River.

The community can be accessed by way of the former Highway 16 and Leeds and Grenville Road 43, the former Highway 43, which links Perth and former [Highway 34 (Ontario)Alexandria]. It is now accessed by Highway 416, also known as the Veterans Memorial Highway, which was completed in 1999, via an interchange to the east on the old road to Alexandria.

Kemptville is the largest community in North Grenville, holding about 23% of North Grenville's population.^[1] Three elementary schools are located in the town - Holy Cross Catholic School, Kemptville Public School and South Branch Elementary School -, two high schools - North Grenville District High School and St. Michael Catholic High School -, three parks, and two hotels. The residential area is generally located in the south and east parts of the community. The main streets are Rideau, Prescott, Clothier and Van Buren streets. A creek named Kemptville Creek divides Kemptville in the southeast, where the least part of Kemptville is found. The creek begins southwest of Kemptville and empties 4 km NE into the Rideau River. Much of Kemptville is forested, especially east and north of the community. Farmland covers the rest of the area, especially the west and the southern part of the community, with some exceptions. There are some homes lying next to the farmland.

Map of the town of Kemptville

History of Kemptville

Kemptville's Prescott Street

The small town of Kemptville began to emerge from the forest in the township of Oxford when Lyman Clothier, a resident of New England, bought 100 acres (0.40 km²) of land from a John Byce, for the price of a yoke of oxen, and a fusee (i.e. here, a flintlock rifle). Mr. Clothier had lived in the general area since 1804 or 1805, and in 1812 he made the afore-mentioned transaction with Mr. Byce, to establish a lumber mill. Mr. Clothier began construction of a saw mill with the assistance of his 4 sons, and they built two dwellings in what is now Kemptville. This mill was extremely important for the settling of the community, as in order to construct a crude dwelling, lumber was required - and so, the mill began to facilitate the construction of dwellings for settlers all over Oxford Township.

The village location chosen by Mr. Clothier was a location that became a point on the Ottawa - Prescott road. As a result, and as a direct consequence of the many travellers passing through the settlement, one of Mr. Clothier's sons, Asa, made a habit of opening his home to these travellers as a resting place and as a meeting place. Thus, the "Clothier's Hotel" was born. The next major industry to be established was that of a grist mill in 1821, when the Clothiers placed some grinding stones in the lower part of their saw mill. As a result of this, rather than taking their grain to a site on the St. Lawrence River, which would be a daunting hike in the best of conditions, or grinding the grain in an extremely ineffective and crude fashion, the settlers could now take it to this grist mill. After this was established, a blacksmith's shop was established, run also by the Clothiers. A schoolhouse was established in 1823, which served the surrounding communities for many years. The first physician arrived in the community the year after the school was established.

The small village was fast expanding - and the residents of the region were beginning to think about officially giving a dignified name to the location in which they lived. Initially, the community was known as "The Branch", and later, for obvious reasons, "Clothier's Mill". So, during a public meeting at this time, the name "Kemptville" was suggested, to honour Sir James Kempt, the Governor General of Upper Canada in 1828 who was said to have camped on the banks of the Rideau River near the settlement. The name was adopted in the late 1820s and the first map with the name "Kemptville" was produced in 1830.

A weekly newspaper is published in Kemptville, called the Kemptville Advance, and has been published since 1855. The Kemptville Advance celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2005.

Sports

The Kemptville 73's are a Tier II Junior "A" ice hockey team and members of the Central Junior A Hockey League. The team was founded as the Kemptville Comets of the Rideau-St. Lawrence Junior B Hockey League in 1969, but the league later became the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League and the Comets became the 73's in 1973. The 73's were promoted to Junior "A" in the Summer of 2007.

Birthplace of 1930's NHL player Desse (Desmond) Roche.

Media

Notable people

• Derek Holmes, IIHF Hall of Fame inductee

See also

• Kemptville Campus, University of Guelph
• Kemptville Creek
• North Grenville

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kemptville.

• Municipality of North Grenville
• Explore North Grenville
• Old Town Kemptville