Almonte (Ontario)

The former town of Almonte, Ontario, Canada, is now a municipality of Mississippi Mills. Mississippi Mills was created on 1 January 1998 by the unification of the city Almonte with the community of Ramsay and Pakenham. Almonte is located about 50 km southwest of Ottawa. The population in 2005 was approximately 5000 inhabitants.

History

Almonte's first settler was David Shepherd, who in 1819 was assigned by the British crown a larger tract of land to build a mill and entertain. The region was known as the Shepherd's Falls, but this name was never officially. Shepherd sold his rights to the land, after the mill burned down. The buyer of the land rights, Daniel Shipman, the mill and the adjacent settlement rebuilt and since 1820 has this as Shipman's Mills known.

Scottish settlers there, where Shipman's Mills owed ​​its growth were. Soon there were thirty stores and forty other shops. Early known as a city of textiles factories, Almonte called at peak times seven profitable woolen mills his own. During this period of rapid growth, the name of the city of Shipman's Mills moved to Ramsayville and then to Waterford. When the new Canadian post offices pointed out that there was already the place Waterford ( Ontario) in Ontario, it was decided that the city once had to change their name.

The background of the recent name change is in the foreign policy conditions at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The relations between the United States and the British Empire - to the Canada belonged - had remained hostile since the War of 1812. The contradictions were exacerbated by border disputes between Mexico and the United States. Juan Almonte excelled in these skirmishes as a Mexican general, and in 1853 he was appointed ambassador of Mexico in the United States. With the renaming in Almonte, the United States wanted over skeptical inhabitants of Mexico City and General Almonte honor. This makes Almonte the only city in Ontario and probably in all of Canada, which was named after a Mexican general. The name change should have been completed in 1856, but the post office retained the old name until 1859 when.

After the last textile factory was closed in the early 1980s, Almonte had played its role as an industrial center. Since then, the structures have changed, and the focus is now in tourism. The city offers museum tours and has several places of historical importance to offer, such as the birthplace of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. A walk through Almonte is a journey into the past, where conditions since the 19th century have remained unchanged. The Malcolm Street, for example, home to many magnificent buildings from the 19th century, and Daniel Shipman's house still stands on the corner of Bridge and Millstreet.

Presence

Today, Almonte is a small quiet town, and many residents commute daily to the nearby city of Ottawa. Nevertheless, there are numerous festivals and cultural events, such as

• The Puppetry Puppets Up Days,
• The North Lanark Highland Games, a cultural and heritage festival to commemorate the Scottish immigrants,
• The Naismith 3 -on -3 Basketball Festival, a basketball tournament, which is held on the streets of Almonte,
• The River Edge Arts Festival, a festival where music, dance, singing and drama play the main role, and
• The CeltFest, an event in which the folklore and music taken from Scotland in focus.

The Mississippi River, which flows through Almonte, has no connection with the American river with the same name.

• Location in Ontario
• Location in North America
• Lanark County