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Timeline of Port Dover, Ontario history

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Monkbot (talk | contribs) at 23:08, 30 January 2014 (→‎20th Century: Fix CS1 deprecated date parameter errors). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This is a timeline of the history of Port Dover, Ontario, Canada.

Timeline

Early history

  • c. 11th Century - c. 14th Century - The Algonquin nation were the earliest-known occupants of the Port Dover area. They were noted flint-workers and evidence of the skill in crafting arrowheads is still to be found in open worked field areas surrounding the community.
  • c. 14th Century - c. 18th Century - The Attawandaron nation, the Neutrals, occupied the region until they were absorbed into Iroquois. The last significant native nation to occupy the area was the Mississaugas.
  • 1794 - Mr. Peter Walker would become the first settler of this community; becoming its unofficial founder.[1]
  • May 14, 1814 - This community would become the subject of an American raid during the War of 1812.[2][3][4]
  • 1835 - Port Dover was incorporated as a village.
  • 1850 - Several grain elevators were developed in Norfolk County; making the southern region of the country ripe for agriculture.[5]
  • 1862 - More than 100 vehicles were registered in the harbors of Port Dover; along with access from "nearby" Brantford for two lanes of horse and buggies.[5]
  • July 1, 1867 - Port Dover would become a part of the new Province of Ontario as the Government of Canada is formed through a system of confederation.
  • 1880s - The railways are given financial incentive to expand to Port Dover; which was a village but not yet a town.[5]

20th Century

  • 1904 - The Eliza Allan was sold; becoming the last schooner to be manufactured in Port Dover.[5]
  • 1914 - Port Dover Public School was built and was opened.
  • August 1914 - Port Dover's bravest young men join the Royal Canadian Armed Forces to fight in World War I.
  • April 11, 1915 - Former Canadian politician Eddie Sargent was born.
  • December 1918 - Victorious Royal Canadian Armed Forces veterans come home from serving in World War I.
  • 1920s-1930s - Railway services to/from Port Dover officially commences with passenger, parcel, and freight services.
  • August 6, 1939 - Port Dover's bravest veterans depart Canada for World War II in Europe.
  • September 1945 - Victorious Royal Canadian Armed Forces veterans come home from World War II.
  • November 3, 1945 - Haldimand-Norfolk's current MPP Toby Barrett was born.
  • 1947 - The Lake Erie & Northern Railway would build another railway station on Chapman Street.
  • October 27, 1957 - Passenger railroad service from the Caledonia Train Station to Port Dover was cancelled.
  • 1962 - Port Dover Composite School was founded for students in grades 9 through 13 (now grades 7 through 12).
  • 1970s - Most businesses in Port Dover began adopting 6-day business weeks in their business operations; as opposed to closing on Wednesday afternoons and weekends.
  • 1974 - The town was amalgamated into the new city of Nanticoke within the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk.
  • November 1977 - Parcel and freight service to and from Port Dover Train Station was discontinued.
  • June 1, 1980 - Unemployment levels drop throughout the summer of 1980 as Stelco Lake Erie Works in nearby Nanticoke manufactures its first steel products; thus opening up to manufacturers looking for "local" steel.[6]
  • February 13, 1981 - Port Dover's inaugural Friday the 13th motorcycle rally was held.
  • April 1, 1983 - Major League Baseball pitcher John Axford is born.
  • January 21, 1984 - Former Olympic athlete and women's softball athlete Megan Timpf was born.
  • 1985 - Canada abolishes its blue laws nationwide; thus allowing Port Dover businesses the opportunity to have a 7-day business week.[7] Even today, some businesses are closed on Sunday not for legal reasons but due to the beliefs of the proprietor(s).

21st Century

2000s

  • February 18, 2000 - The Paris Port Dover Pipe Band was established.
  • October 13, 2000 - The first Friday the 13th celebrations for motorcycle riders in the 21st century was held on this date.
  • 2001 - Nanticoke and all other municipalities within the region were dissolved and the region was divided into two single tier municipalities with city-status but called counties.
  • May 15, 2001 - The decimated youth demographics of Port Dover start to endanger the future of Port Dover Composite School.[8]
  • 2004 - The Stanley Cup came to Port Dover (with Jassen Cullimore) when the 2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning won the Cup. He was the fourth NHL player to present the Stanley Cup to this small hockey town on the shore of Lake Erie.[9]
  • 2005 - The Canadian Coast Guard stationed the Cape-class motor lifeboat CCGS Cape Lambton in the community.[10]
  • May 2006 - A boom in wind turbines begins throughout Norfolk County.[11] Plans to build wind turbines in the Port Dover area by 2013 were eventually eliminated by a county-wide ban.
  • 2009 - Certain segments of the American horror film Survival of the Dead were filmed here in Port Dover.[12]
  • March 4, 2009 - U.S. Steel announced the closure of the Stelco Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario due to the increasingly worse effects of the global economic slowdown.[13] While it may have decreased the local pollution levels, the lockout has affected at least 12,000 Canadian jobs; leaving people with little or no disposable income to spend on consumer items.

2010s

  • April 23, 2010 - Stelco Lake Erie Works finally re-opened after the eight-month lockout; bringing back approximately 1100 people into the company.[14] Approximately 400 people never got their jobs back at the steel mill simply because they were either too old, moved on to other careers, turned to welfare, or went back to college.
  • Summer 2010 - Most other local jobs lost during the global recession of the period were eventually restored; resulting in a major drop in the local unemployment rate for the summer of 2010.[15]
  • January 31, 2013 - Port Dover Composite School was official closed on this day due to government cutbacks and demographics issues. The Canada 2011 Census reported that there are 1,800 fewer children and teenagers in the Port Dover area as opposed to the Canada 2001 Census.[8]
  • May 14, 2013 - Norfolk County has banned the placement of new wind turbines; county official feared the region becoming "industrialized" and "unnatural" within the course of 100 years.[16] Wind turbines built before 2013 are permitted to stay until they no longer function properly.
  • June 13, 2013 - Despite the lockout at Stelco Lake Erie Works, 2600 people have officially joined the workforce between June 2012 and June 2013 in Norfolk County. Increasing reliance on the economy of the Greater Toronto Area and the globalized economy at large has served to slowly bring Port Dover residents (along with other Norfolk County residents) back into the workforce.[17]
  • September 2013 - The old PDCS building was converted into an elementary school called Lakewood Public School. They begin to receive their first batch of students from grade 1 through grade 8.[18]
  • May 2014 - Hundreds of support jobs in local farming will have been lost as a result of the closure of the Leamington ketchup factory.[19] Ketchup prices will rise in grocery stores as consumers will have to purchase ketchup made with Chinese tomatoes rather than Ontario tomatoes.

Distant future

  • 2021 - By the 2021 Canada Census, the youth demographics of Port Dover will be slashed even further in half; causing Port Dover to become an elderly resort community with no real source of income through property taxes.
  • circa 2050 - Port Dover will reach 8000 residents by this date; assuming that the aging trend found in First World countries slows due to the arrival of people from Third World countries.
  • 2113 - Despite rapid global population growth projected by this year, Port Dover is still considered to be a historical tourist community. Wind turbines are located relatively far away from Port Dover; although solar farms are not impacted by the wind turbine ban put into effect in 2013.

References

  1. ^ The Founding of Port Dover at OntarioPlaques.com
  2. ^ "The history of the War of 1812". The official war of 1812 bicentenial site. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05.
  3. ^ Gilbert Collins (2006). Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812. Dundurn. ISBN 9781550026269. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  4. ^ "Robert Nichol, c. 1774-1824". Ontario Heritage Trust. 2009-09-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-05.
  5. ^ a b c d Dover's changing times at InPortDover.com
  6. ^ Canadian Geographic. June 1980. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ "CanLII - 1985 CanLII 69 (S.C.C.)". Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII.org). 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  8. ^ a b "PDCS will close at end of semester". The Simcoe Reformer. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  9. ^ "Stanley Cup Journals 2004: 37". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
  10. ^ Theresa Nichols (2005-08-11). "Lloyd St. Amand Announces the Dedication of the Cape Lambton in Port Dover Ontario". Canadian Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05.
  11. ^ Wind Power in Ontario at IESO.ca
  12. ^ "Survival of the Dead: Uncle Creepy's Pictorial Diary of the Dead". DreadCentral.
  13. ^ Powell, Naomi (4 Mar 2009). "Stelco's Hamilton and Lake Erie plants idled". The Toronto Star. Hamilton. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  14. ^ Steel Market Update (15 April 2010). "USW Ratifies Contract with U.S. Steel". Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  15. ^ Daniel Pearce (July 2010). "Major drop in Norfolk unemployment rate". Simcoe Reformer. Retrieved March 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. ^ "Norfolk Seeks End to Turbine Development". Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  17. ^ Daniel Pearce (June 2013). "Optimism being felt in Norfolk". Simcoe Reformer. Retrieved June 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ Celebrating a new adventure at Lakewood Elementary at Grand Erie District School Board
  19. ^ CTV News: Heinz to close Leamington, Ont. plant; hundreds of jobs lost
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