South Glengarry is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

in eastern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. South Glengarry

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

Communities

The township of South Glengarry comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including the following communities: * Charlottenburgh Township: Glen Walter, Green Valley, Martintown, Summerstown, Summerstown Station, St. Raphaels, Williamstown; ''Avondale'', ''Cashions Glen'', ''Glen Brook'', ''Glendale'', ''Glen Falloch'', ''Glenroy'', ''MacGillivrays Bridge'', ''Munroes Mills'', ''Tyotown''; ''Bayview Estates'', ''Glendale Subdivision'', ''Glen Gordon'', ''Loon Island'', ''North Branch''; ''Camerons Point'', ''Danis Point'', ''Farlingers Point'', ''Flannigans Point'', ''Fraser Point'', ''McGibbons Point'', ''Pilons Point'', ''Prevost Point'', ''Stonehouse Point'' * Lancaster Township: Bainsville, Brown House Corner, Dalhousie Mills, Glen Nevis, Glen Norman, Lancaster, North Lancaster, South Lancaster; ''Bridge End'', ''Curry Hill'', ''Pine Hill''; ''Lancaster Heights'', ''Maple Hill'', ''North Lancaster Station'', ''Picnic Grove'', ''Redwood Estates''; ''Brittania Point'', ''Creg Quay'', ''Faulkners Point'', ''Nadeaus Point'', ''Pointe Mouillee'', ''Westleys Point'' The township administrative offices are located in Lancaster. File:Martintown ON.JPG, Martintown File:NorWesters Loyalist Museum.JPG, Williamstown File:James Clyde's Blacksmith and Farrier Shop, Martintown, ON, and Farm Implement Sales Shop (I0002504).tiff, James Clyde's Blacksmith and Farrier Shop (right) and Farm Implement Sales Shop (left), etween 1895 and 1910File:Daniel Columbus McArthur Blacksmith Shop, Martintown, ON (I0002505).tiff, Daniel Columbus McArthur Blacksmith Shop, etween 1895 and 1910

History

Charlottenburgh and Lancaster were two of the original eight "Royal Townships", established along the

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North Americ ...

in the 1780s. This area was first settled by

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...

. The development of this area was encouraged by Sir John Johnson, then the Superintendent General and Inspector General of Indian Affairs, who had been forced to abandon his land holdings in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

.assnat.qc.ca: "John JOHNSON (1741-1830)"
/ref> From the late 18th century to the early 19th century, the area was almost entirely settled by Scottish highlanders, especially from

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in popula ...

, after the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase result ...

Canadian Gaelic Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig Chanada, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada. Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scot ...

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

had been spoken in Glengarry County since its first settlement in 1784. Sir John built a house in Williamstown which was completed in 1785 and is now a

Canadian National Historic Site National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

, the Sir John Johnson Manor House. A grist mill and saw mill, now gone, were also built on the same location. Williamstown also has the oldest house in Ontario, The Bethune-Thompson House built in 1784. Occupants over the years have included the Reverend John Bethune (1751–1815), the great-great-grandfather of Doctor Norman Bethune, and David Thompson, Canadian explorer. Some of the main partners of the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

, including Hugh McGillis, lived in this area. Ruins of St

Alexander McMartin Alexander McMartin (1788–July 12, 1853) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada. He was the first person born in Upper Canada to serve in its Legislative Assembly. He was born in Charlottenburgh Township in 1788, the son of a ...

, the first person born in

to serve in the Legislative Assembly, was from Martintown. The Glengarry Celtic Music Hall of Fame is located in Williamstown. Williamstown is also home to Ontario’s oldest continuing annual fair, which celebrated its bicentennial in 2012. (North America’s oldest being the Hants County agricultural exhibition of Windsor, Nova Scotia, some 47 years older, est. 1765) The Nor'Westers and Loyalist Museum is also located in Williamstown. South Glengarry is the location of four

National Historic Sites of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as bein ...

: the Bethune-Thompson House, the Glengarry Cairn, the Sir John Johnson House, and the ruins of St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church. St. Raphael's Catholic Church was completed in 1821 under the authority of Alexander Macdonell later Bishop of Regiopolis (now Kingston, Ontario). This is one of the oldest churches in what was then the colony of

. In late 1970, the church interiors, roof and tower were destroyed by fire, but the ruins were preserved. In 1973, a smaller church with the same name was built, attached to the ruins . The township was established on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former Townships of Charlottenburgh and Lancaster, along with the Village of Lancaster.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, South Glengarry had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Culture

Canadian author Hugh Hood mentions Williamstown in his short story "Getting to Williamstown," first published in 1928.

Sport

The

Char-Lan Rebels The Char-Lan Rebels are a junior ice hockey team in Williamstown, Ontario. Between 2014-15 and the end of the 2019-2020 seasons, the EOJHL and the CCHL set a new agreement in an attempt to create a better player development model. This resulted ...

of the CCHL2 League play out of the Char-Lan Recreation Centre in Williamstown.

Notable people

* Sir John Johnson, one of the original landowners and developers of the area. Constructed The Manor House in Williamstown, now a

. * James Leroy (1947-1979), nationally recognized songwriter, performer and recording artist; spent his childhood and adolescence in Martintown. * Alexander Macdonell, later Bishop of Regiolopolis (now Kingston, Ontario). *

Ran McDonald Ranald "Ran" John McDonald (November 21, 1889 – January 29, 1950) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 159 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Among the ...

, hockey player, born in Cashion's Glen and played in the PCHA reaching the height of his career in the 1919 Stanley Cup Finals. * Hugh McGillis, partner in the

, from Martintown; first person born in

to serve in the Legislative Assembly. * David Thompson, resident of Williamstown; Canadian explorer.

References

External links

* {{Geographic location , Centre = South Glengarry , North = North Glengarry , Northeast = , East = {{nowrap, {{flagicon, QC Sainte-Justine-de-Newton, {{nowrap,

Saint-Télesphore Saint-Télesphore is a municipality located in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, Quebec ( Canada). The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 754. The municipality is situated west of Saint-Polycarpe, south of Sainte-Ju ...

, {{nowrap,

Rivière-Beaudette Rivière-Beaudette () is a municipality of Quebec, Canada, located in the southwest corner of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality on the border with Ontario along the St. Lawrence River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian ce ...

, Southeast = , South = '' Lake Saint Francis''
{{flagicon, QC Akwesasne,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Saint-Anicet Saint-Anicet is a municipality in Le Haut-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie administrative region of Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 2,523. Geography Saint-Anicet is located in the southweste ...

, Southwest = ''

Akwesasne 59 Iroquois of St Regis Indian Reserve 59 ( moh, Kawehnò:ke)Onkwe'ta:ke, The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne's Monthly Community Newsletter, Volume 4 Issue 5,May 2014. Page 1/ref> is a First Nations reserve in Ontario. It is part of The St Regis Indian ...

, West = South Stormont

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, Northwest = North Stormont Township municipalities in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Ontario populated places on the Saint Lawrence River