Tilbury, Ontario

The nearby townships of Tilbury West in Essex County and Tilbury East in Kent County were named for the port of Tilbury in the English county of Essex. A settlement, called Henderson after the local postmaster, was established with the construction of the Canada Southern Railway in 1875. The name of the post office was changed to Tilbury Centre after the adjoining townships and the community was incorporated as a village in 1887. The name changed again to Tilbury a few years later, in 1895[4], and incorporated as a town in 1910. Tilbury is also home to the largest antique mall in Southern Ontario.[5] Tilbury is also famous for its murals which depicts part of its history.[6]

A mural in Tilbury showing its automotive history.

In 1998, the town was amalgamated with the City of Chatham and all municipalities of Kent County to form the municipality of Chatham-Kent.[7] The former town hall at 17 Superior Street is now Tilbury Municipal Centre and Chatham-Kent Police station.

Tilbury's post office.

Tilbury is served by Highway 401 and Ontario Highway 2.

Public transit is provided by CK Transit's interurban Route D Chatham-Tilbury-Merlin.

Closest airports are Chatham-Kent Airport or Windsor International Airport.

There is no trains servicing Tilbury directly, the closest being VIA Rail's Chatham railway station (Ontario).

Tilbury is also home of the Titans of Tilbury District High School, with an attendance of around 300 students. There is also a French elementary school (École élémentaire Saint-Francis), a public elementary school (Tilbury Area Public School) as well as a catholic elementary school (St. Joseph Catholic School).

Along with the former townships of Tilbury East and Dover, Tilbury is a designated French language service area under Ontario's French Language Services Act. Tilbury has an arena located next to the Knights of Columbus hall and provides free skating in the wintertime. Tilbury also has a splashpad near Tilbury Arena and Memorial Park has a skateboard park, a tennis court, an outdoor swimming pool, and a baseball field. Near the end of June, the organizers host a Canada Day fireworks event around dusk at the park. Organizers hosts the Tibury Santa Claus Parade in late November or early December and the Canada Day Parade in late June.

Tilbury has a weekly newspaper named the Tilbury Times. It features local news, sports, and highlights. In some instances, news from Tilbury may be heard on CKSY-FM, CFCO and CKUE-FM on radio, as well as television stations CBC News Windsor CBET-DT and CHWI-DT.

In 2014 sidewalks in Tilbury were replaced, and new streetlights installed. In 2017, streetlights got new types of bulbs as LEDs are used for night illumination.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tilbury, Ontario.

• Tilbury at Geographical Names of Canada
• Tilbury's Website