Hastings County Explained

Hastings County
Official Name:County of Hastings
Settlement Type:County (upper-tier)
Seal Size:100x80px
Motto:Communities With Opportunities
Mapsize:280px
Coordinates:44.75°N -112°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Province
Seat Type:County seat
Seat:Belleville
Parts Type:Municipalities
P1:Town of Bancroft
Area Land Km2:5291.05
Population Total:41580 (excluding Belleville, Quinte, and Tyendinaga)
Population As Of:2021
Population Density Km2:7.5
Population Blank1 Title:Population (census division)
Population Blank1:145,746
Website:www.hastingscounty.com
P2:Town of Deseronto
P3:Municipality of Centre Hastings
P4:Municipality of Quinte West
P5:Municipality of Hastings Highlands
P6:Township of Carlow/Mayo
P7:Township of Faraday
P8:Township of Limerick
P9:Township of Madoc
P10:Municipality (township) of Marmora and Lake
P11:Township of Stirling-Rawdon
P12:Township of Tudor and Cashel
P13:Municipality of Tweed
P14:Township of Tyendinaga
Timezone:EST
Utc Offset:-5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:-4

Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario. Hastings County is the second-largest county in Ontario, after Renfrew County, and its county seat is Belleville, which is independent of Hastings County. Hastings County has trademarked the moniker "Cheese Capital of Canada".[1]

Administrative divisions

The 14 local municipalities within Hastings County are:

The Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory is within the Hastings census division but is independent of the county. The cities of Belleville and Quinte West are separated municipalities and so are within the geographical boundaries of the county and included in the Hastings census division, but they not under the administration of the county government.

History

Hastings County (named for Francis Rawdon-Hastings) was first organized for electoral purposes in 1792, with its boundaries described as being:

For the initial elections to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, it was united with Northumberland County and most of Lennox County for purposes of returning one member.[2]

It was situated within the Mecklenburg District, which was later renamed the "Midland District" in 1792.[3]

In 1798, the Parliament of Upper Canada passed legislation to provide, that, at the beginning of 1800:

The territory withdrawn from the County continued to form part of the Midland District.[4]

19th century

In 1821, the newly surveyed townships of Elzevir, Madoc and Marmora were added to the county.[5] While in this time agriculture was the most important industry in Hastings County, by 1822 (when the Marmora Iron Works was approaching its peak production) mining was playing an increasingly more important role in the area's economy.

Prominent citizens of Hastings County and Ameliasburgh Township unsuccessfully petitioned the provincial government for district status during 1817, 1818, 1823 and 1825. After Prince Edward County successfully achieved its own government in 1831, Hastings County continued to send petitions throughout the 30s before finally achieving the status of a separate district in March 1837.[6]

It was constituted as the District of Victoria in 1839 (which continued until its dissolution in 1850).[7] By 1845, the county was declared to consist of the following geographic townships:[8]

Belleville, after an abortive attempt two years previously, was organized as a municipality with its own Board of Police in 1836,[9] and was designated as the district seat in 1837.[10] It was constituted as a town under the Baldwin Act in 1850,[11] and later became a city in 1877.[12]

Edward Fidlar became the first warden of Hastings County with their first meeting on January 28, 1850. By this time the Hastings County Council was also interested in education and the building of the railroad.

On October 27, 1856, the first railroad train arrived in Belleville and by 1864 around 100 people were employed by the railroad.

In August 1866, discovery of gold at Eldorado, near Madoc, caused great excitement throughout Hastings County as people flooded to the area from all over North America. According to Barnes, "gold has been found in twenty-seven locations spread over nine townships."[13] The railroads and 170miles of good gravel roads opened these areas to settlement by 1880.

In 1889 the Belleville Waterworks was created as a private company, which was then bought by the city of Belleville in 1889.

20th century

In 1911, Hastings County was the first in the province to appoint a reforestation committee, which was instrumental in passing laws around county forests. Postal service began in the area in 1913.[14]

By 1927 the original townships had each formed separate governance and many of them had been partitioned due to increase in population and development. The 1927 townships were:[15]

Following World War II, more efficient communication and transportation led a trend toward consolidation of township administrations:
The Township of Carlow/Mayo was formed by amalgamation of the contiguous townships of Carlow and Mayo.
The Township of Wicklow and McClure was formed by amalgamation of the contiguous townships of McClure and Wicklow.
Lake Township and Marmora Township were administered as the Township of Marmora & Lake.
Elzevir Township and Grimsthorpe Township were administered as the Township of Elzevir & Grimsthorpe since before 1968.
The Township of Tudor and Cashel was formed by amalgamation of the geographically non-contiguous townships of Cashel and Tudor.

21st century

At the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a trend toward amalgamating rural and urban administrations. On 1 January 1998:

In 1998, the Village of Tweed was amalgamated with its Township of Hungerford and the contiguous Township of Elzevir & Grimsthorpe to form the Municipality of Tweed. In 1999, the Village of Bancroft merged with Dungannon Township to form the Town of Bancroft.

On 1 January 2001, the Municipality of Hastings Highlands was incorporated by amalgamating the contiguous townships of Bangor, Wicklow & McClure, Herschel and Monteagle. Also in 2001, the Village of Marmora amalgamated with the surrounding townships of Marmora and Lake to form the Municipality of Marmora and Lake.

Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hastings County had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 6013.35km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[17]

Historic populations:[18]

Transportation

The county is served by Highway 401 in the south, Highway 7, a leg of the Trans-Canada Highway, in the central region, Highways 62 and 37 travelling north to south, Highway 28 travelling east to west in the northern region, and Highway 127 travelling north from Maynooth, also in the northern region.

County council

Following are members of Hastings County Council as of August, 2019:[19]

Warden: Rick Phillips
Town of Bancroft: Paul Jenkins
Township of Carlow/Mayo: Bonnie Adams
Municipality of Centre Hastings: Tom Deline
Town of Deseronto: Dan Johnston
Township of Faraday: Dennis Purcell
Hastings Highlands: Tracy Hagar
Township of Limerick: Carl Stefanski
Township of Madoc: Loyde Blackburn
Municipality of Marmora & Lake: Jan O'Neill
Township of Stirling/Rawdon: Bob Mullin
Township of Tudor & Cashel: Libby Clarke
Municipality of Tweed: Jo-Anne Albert
Township of Tyendinaga: Rick Phillips
Township of Wollaston: Lynn Kruger

Education

Currently, Hastings & Prince Edward District School Board operates public schools. Previously, Hastings County Board of Education operated public schools.

Emergency Services

There are 5 EMS stations in Hastings County with Hastings-Quinte EMS HQ located in Belleville, Ontario.

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Artisanal Cheese. hastingscounty.com. 2017-12-07.
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=b7RKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA27 Proclamation of July 16, 1792
  3. An act for building a gaol and court house in every district within this province, and for altering the names of the said districts. S.U.C.. 1792. 8. 3. https://books.google.ca/books?id=b7RKAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA24&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false.
  4. 1798 Act, s. 18
  5. An Act to repeal part of an Act passed in thirty-eighth year of His late Majesty's Reign, intituled, "An act for the better division of this province," and to make further provision for the division of the same into Counties and Districts . S.U.C.. 1821. 3. 5. https://archive.org/stream/statutesprovinc18progoog#page/n276/mode/1up.
  6. An Act to authorise the Erection of the County of Hastings into a Separate District . S.U.C.. 1837. 31. 5. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112103435170?urlappend=%3Bseq=104.
  7. An Act for abolishing the Territorial Division of Upper-Canada into Districts, and for providing for temporary Unions of Counties for Judicial and other purposes, and for the future dissolutions of such Unions, as the increase of wealth and population may require. S.Prov.C.. 1849. 78. B. https://books.google.ca/books?id=MLxRAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA614&pg=PA439#v=onepage&q&f=false.
  8. An Act for better defining the limits of the Counties and Districts in Upper Canada, for erecting certain new Townships, for detaching Townships from some Counties and attaching them to others, and for other purposes relative to the division of Upper Canada into Townships, Counties and Districts. S.Prov.C.. 1845. 7. B. https://archive.org/stream/provincialstatu03canagoog#page/n114/mode/1up.
  9. An Act to repeal an Act passed in the fourth year of His present Majesty's reign, entitled 'An Act to establish a Board of Police in the Town of Belleville, and to make further provisions for the establishment of a Police in said Town. S.U.C.. 1836. 14. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112103435162?urlappend=%3Bseq=237.
  10. 1837 Act, s. 1
  11. An Act to provide, by one general law, for the erection of Municipal Corporations, and the establishment of Regulations of Police, in and for the Counties, Cities, Towns, Townships and Villages in Upper-Canada. S.Prov.C. 1849. 81. 201. B. https://books.google.ca/books?id=MLxRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA518#v=onepage&q&f=false.
  12. An Act for the Incorporation of the Town of Belleville as a City, and for the Consolidation of the debt thereof. S.O.. 1877. 33. https://archive.org/details/statutesofprovin1877onta/page/179.
  13. Book: Barnes. Michael. Gold in Ontario. 1995. The Boston Mills Press. Erin. 155046146X. 13–18.
  14. Historic Hastings by Gerald E. Boyce
  15. http://ontario.heritagepin.com/hastings-county-in-historical-ontario/
  16. https://2oldguyswalking.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/the-mills-on-cold-creek-frankford/ 2 Old Guys Walking: The Mills on Cold Creek, Frankford.
  17. Web site: Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census divisions . . February 9, 2022 . April 2, 2022.
  18. Web site: 2001 Community Profiles. www12.statcan.ca.
  19. Web site: Warden and Council . County of Hastings . August 6, 2019.