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| City of Woodstock | |
| Motto: Onward and Upward1 | |
 |
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Canada  |
|---|---|
| Province | Ontario  |
| County | Oxford |
| Established | 1851 (as town) |
| 1901 (city) | |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Michael Harding |
| - Governing Body | Woodstock City Council |
| - MPs | Dave MacKenzie |
| - MPPs | Ernie Hardeman |
| Area | |
| - Total | 43.79 km² (16.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation 2 | 300 m (984 ft) |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
| - Total | 35,480 |
| - Density | 810.3/km² (2,098.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Postal code span | N4S, N4T, N4V |
| Area code(s) | 226/519 |
| Website: www.city.woodstock.on.ca | |
Woodstock (2006 population 35,480) is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 128 kilometres southwest of Toronto, north off Highway 401, along the historic Thames River. It is known as the Dairy Capital of Canada and promotes itself as "The Friendly City."
The community was first settled in 1800 after it was determined by Sir John Graves Simcoe, governor of what was then known as Upper Canada, that the area would make a good townsite. The early settlers were American immigrants from New York state. Increased immigration from Great Britain followed in the 1820s and 1830s. Woodstock was incorporated as a town in 1851 and a city in 1901.
Vansittart Avenue (named after Admiral Henry Vansittart, an early settler) in Woodstock's west end has one of the finest residential Victorian streetscapes in the province.
Contents |
Government
The city government, Woodstock City Council, consists of a mayor, four city councillors and two city and county councillors. Michael Harding is the current mayor, re-elected for a second four year term in November 2006.3
History
Devastating tornado
On August 7, 1979, the Woodstock area was hit by three tornadoes, two of which registered at least F4 on the Fujita Scale 4. On the west side of town along Ingersoll Road, a Dominion Food Store was heavily damaged while the tornadoes skipped over every other home and business. Dickson's Florist was wiped out and the Fry home was moved on its foundation. Father Grondziel of the new Polish Roman Catholic Church, next to the Dominion Food Store, had just stepped into the washroom when one of the tornadoes passed by and took off the roof of the church and everything in the room he had just been in. No one on the street was injured and the cleanup took many weeks. On the south side, the buildings of the Maranatha Christian Reformed Church and the John Knox Christian School were destroyed, and the only fatality occurred when a vehicle on Highway 401 was blown off the road and the lone occupant killed.
Landmarks
Old St. Paul's Anglican Church
One of Woodstock's most notable historic sites is Old St. Paul's Church, the mother church of the Anglican Communion in Oxford County. Built in 1834 and situated near the intersection of Huron and Dundas Streets, the church tower was infamously used as a temporary jail during the rebellion of 1837. The church, a beautiful, brick cruciform structure surrounded by Woodstock's oldest cemetery, boasts original box pews and dozens of memorial tablets commemorating prominent Woodstock citizens.
Springbank Snow Countess
The "Springbank Snow Countess" was commemorated by a life-size statue (designed by acclaimed Oxford County agricultural artist Ross Butler) which is located on the corner of Dundas and Springbank.
This bell iron and lead statue was made to honour a record-setting milk production by a Holstein Friesian cow named Snow Countess.
The statue was first unveiled on August 4, 1937 by the Holstein Frisian Association of Canada. Snow Countess was born on November 18, 1919 and died at age 16 on August 9, 1936. During her lifetime, she produced 9,062 pounds of butterfat, impressive at the time. The statue and granite base cost $4,000 to design and erect.
The cow has become an important symbol to Woodstock and is used in many cultural events, such as the annual Cowapalooza Festival.
Infrastructure
Pittock Dam
The Pittock Dam is designed for both flood control and flow augmentation purposes. It is designed to benefit water quality downstream during dry summer conditions and provide year round flood control capability to protect downstream communities. Construction was started on the dam in 1964 and officially completed in 1967. The cost of the dam and land base at that time was close to $6 million. Present annual maintenance costs are about $40,000. 5
Woodstock Airport
The Woodstock Airport is located 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) west of Woodstock.
Industry
Toyota Plant
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In June 2005, Toyota, the world's second largest automaker, announced plans to build a new, $800 million automobile assembly plant in Woodstock on a 1,000-acre (4 km²) undeveloped site in the city's northeast end. The plant is expected to employ 1,300 people and begin full production of RAV4 sport utility vehicles in 2008, at the rate of 100,000 a year. It will be the first new auto assembly plant to be built in Canada in two decades. Start of production is currently expected to begin in November, months past the projected start date.
On February 7, 2006, the president of Toyota Canada announced that the Toyota plant would be much larger than first planned. Instead of costing $800 million to build, the assembly plant will cost $1 billion, instead of employing 1,300 people, it would employ 2,000. Instead of producing 100,000 vehicles a year, it would produce 150,000 per year.6
Hino Motor Sales Canada
Early in March 2006, Hino Motors, a Toyota Motor Co. subsidiary, announced that it will be the first Japanese truck manufacturer to build its vehicles in Canada with a new Woodstock plant slated to begin production in April 2006, in the former General Seating plant in the Pattullo Ridge Business Park near Highway 401 and Highway 59.
The $3 million, 120,000 square foot (11,000 m²) plant will employ 45 and assemble 2,000 trucks a year when it begins production.7
Woodstock Organ Company
A major Canadian piano and organ and reed organ company operated under the name of Woodstock Organ Company for many years of the early twentieth century. It was owned by D W Karn, who was at one time mayor of Woodstock. Karn had previously operated an organ and piano manufacturing company under his own name.
Media
Woodstock has one daily newspaper owned by Sun Media Corporation, the Woodstock Sentinel-Review.
There are three licensed FM radio stations:
- FM 94.3 - CJFH, "Hope FM" Christian music
- FM 103.9 - CKDK, "The Hawk" classic rock
- FM 104.7 - CIHR, "Heart FM" adult contemporary
The city also has a rebroadcaster of Toronto television station Citytv, operating on channel 31 and primarily targeting London and surrounding towns.8
Transportation
Intercity transportation includes a VIA Rail train station9 and a Greyhound Lines of Canada intercity bus depot.10
Local public transit service is available daily except Sunday on six routes. No service is provided after 18:30.11
Provincial Highway 401 is located at the south and east edges of the city, with the junction of Highway 403 located east of the urban area. Numerous Oxford County highways and other roads also radiate from Woodstock.
See also
Art Williams. Bits & Pieces: A Montage of Woodstock, Ontario in Text and Pictures. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills, 1967, 1990.
Notes
- ^ City of Woodstock: Local History
- ^ Natural Resources Canada - Toporama - varies within city from 280m to 314m.
- ^ City of Woodstock: Municipal Election (2006)
- ^ 1979 Woodstock tornado (CBC Archives)
- ^ http://www.thamesriver.on.ca/Water_Management/Pittock_Dam.htm
- ^ Urquhart, Bruce (8 February 2006). "700 more jobs coming to Woodstock", Woodstock Sentinel-Review. Retrieved on 30 December 2007.
- ^ Urquhart, Bruce (7 March 2006). "Hino coming to Woodstock", Woodstock Sentinel-Review. Retrieved on 30 December 2007.
- ^ Decision CRTC 86-216
- ^ VIA Rail Canada: Woodstock, Ontario
- ^ Greyhound Canada: Woodstock, ON
- ^ City of Woodstock: Public Transit
External links
- City of Woodstock official website
- Oxford County Official website
- Information Oxford Business directory, Events, Social Services etc.
| Destinations from WOODSTOCK | |||||||||||
| Kitchener, Cambridge via Highway 401 |
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| London, Ingersoll, Thamesford via Highway 401, Highway 2 |
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Brantford, Hamilton via Highway 403, Highway 2 |
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 19 October 2008, at 21:02.
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