Tweed, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Tweed is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 and a village located in central-eastern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, in Hastings County
Hastings County, Ontario
Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is The Cheese Capital of Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario. The population was 125,915 in 2001 and grew to 130,474 in the 2006 Canada Census...

.

The Municipality of Tweed is an amalgamated
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...

 municipality comprising the former Village of Tweed
Tweed, Ontario (village)
Tweed, Ontario is a community on Stoco Lake and the only urban centre in the Municipality of Tweed in Hastings County, central-eastern Ontario, Canada. Tweed has a population of 1,540 according to the 2001 Canada Census...

 and the former Townships of Hungerford and Elzevir & Grimsthorpe. The Municipality was officially incorporated on January 1, 1998, as a lower tier municipality within the County of Hastings two tier governing system.

As of 2004, the total land area was approximately 230,000 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s (930 km²), 30% of which was Crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....

. Lakes, rivers and streams account for approximately 4,650 acres (18 km²). There are approximately 600 kilometres (372.8 mi) of roads throughout the Municipality. The total 2004 property assessment for the Municipality of Tweed was $309,000,000. Its composition was 84% residential, 7% farm, 6% commercial and industrial, and 3% other categories.

Lake Stoco, which borders the town of Tweed, is home to a popular and uncommon sport-fish, the muskellunge
Muskellunge
A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...

 or Muskie (Esox masquinongy). The Black River
Black River (Ontario)
Black River may refer to several rivers by that name in the province of Ontario, Canada.*The Black River in Hastings County, Ontario joins the Moira River near Tweed, Ontario....

 joins the Moira River
Moira River
The Moira River is a river in Hastings County in eastern Ontario, Canada. It travels from its source in the centre of the county to the county seat Belleville and is named after Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Earl of Moira.-Course:...

 near the Village of Tweed.

Demographics

Population trend:
  • Population in 2006: 5614 (2001 to 2006 population change: 0.0 %)
  • Population in 2001: 5612
  • Population in 1996:
    • Elzevir and Grimsthorpe township: 854
    • Hungerford township: 3280
    • Tweed village: 1572
  • Population in 1991:
    • Elzevir and Grimsthorpe township: 781
    • Hungerford township: 3085
    • Tweed village: 1626


Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 2283 (total dwellings: 2709)

Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 95.8 %
  • French as first language: 0.8 %
  • English and French as first language: 0.4 %
  • Other as first language: 3.0 %

Forest fire protection history

The Tweed Forest Fire District was founded by the former Ontario Department of Lands and Forests (now the MNR) in 1922 as one of 17 districts to help protect Ontario's forests from fire by early detection from fire towers. The headquarters for the district were housed at Hungerford Road in town. It was the central headquarters for 21 fire lookout tower
Fire lookout tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness...

s. When a fire was spotted in the forest a towerman would get the degree bearings from his respective tower and radio back the information to headquarters. When one or more towermen from other towers in the area would also call in their bearings, the forest rangers at headquarters could get a 'triangulation' read and plot the exact location of the fire on their map. This way a team of forest firefighters could be dispatched as soon as possible to get the fire under control. In 1958 the 100 feet (30.5 m)-tall Hungerford firetower was erected beside the station. However, in the 1970s all the towers had been decommissioned as aerial fire fighting techniques were employed. The Hungerford tower was disassembled in 1996 and placed behind the Tweed Heritage Centre.

Notable stories

  • One of Tweed's former claims to fame was that it had the smallest jailhouse in the province. Although its jail (4.9 metres x 6.1 metres) is indeed one of the smallest, other towns in the province have come forward with similar or smaller dimension jails. These include: Berens River, Providence Bay, Ontario, Port Dalhousie, Ontario
    Port Dalhousie, Ontario
    Port Dalhousie is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its waterfront appeal. It is also home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three routes of the Welland Canal.The city's most popular beach, on the...

    , Rodney, Ontario, Coboconk and Creemore, Ontario
    Creemore, Ontario
    Creemore is a former village, now part of Clearview Township, located in Simcoe County, Ontario. It lies approximately north of Toronto, 40 minutes west of Barrie, and 20 minutes south of Collingwood and Georgian Bay. It sits on the eastern boundary of the Niagara Escarpment.Creemore purportedly...

    . Today, the Tweed jail has been converted into a community police station.

  • In 1996 the town made news when it applied for a CFL
    Canadian Football League
    The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

     team, in an attempt to become the Green Bay
    Green Bay, Wisconsin
    Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

     of Canada. Had the attempt been successful, the team would have been known as the Tweed Muskies.

  • In 1989 the Ottawa branch of the Elvis Sighting Society declared Elvis was alive and well and living in Tweed. For several years after that an Elvis is Alive festival was held in July. More recently Tweed and Elvis made the headlines when a reporter from the Toronto Sun came to investigate if there was truth to the rumours. The only evidence that remains now that Elvis may have ever been in the community is a very short road now called Elvis Lane. Oddly enough not far from the proposed site of the Tweed Muskies stadium.

  • Tweed is the home of IANA Theatre Company, a critically acclaimed producer of original Canadian Musical Theatre. Founded in 2007, IANA has produced three very successful seasons in Tweed. Their upcoming 2012 Season consists of an original musical 'STALKYARD HURTS: The 2012 End of the World Reunion Tour', 'GODSPELL' the classic broadway musical, and a provincial tour of their smash hit from last season 'ALECK BELL: A Canadian Pop Rock Musical'. IANA's musical 'TWEED: A New Canadian Musical' is currently nominated for 20 BroadwayWorld.com awards for their 2011 production in Toronto. IANA operates out of the Marble Church Arts Centre in Actinolite, a builidng owned and operated by the Tweed and Area Arts Council. IANA is a professional musical theatre company whose past performers have included Melissa O'Neil (Canadian Idol), David Light (Billy Elliot: National Tour), and Loretta Bailey (Original Canadian Cast of Les Mis) to name a few. Artistic Director Tim Porter is currently nominated for the Premiere's awards of Ontario for his work with IANA.

Communities

  • Actinolite
    Actinolite, Ontario
    Actinolite is a community on the Skootamatta River in eastern Ontario. It is in the Municipality of Tweed, in Hastings County, on Highway 37 just south of Highway 7 and north of Tweed....

  • Bogart
    Bogart, Ontario
    Bogart is a settlement in the municipality of Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, about south of the community of Sulphide and east of the village of Tweed. The Clare River, a tributary of the Moira River, flows through the community.-References:...

  • Buller
  • Chapman
  • Cosy Cove
    Cosy Cove, Ontario
    Cosy Cove is a settlement on Stoco Lake in the municipality of Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, about southwest of the community of Sulphide and east of the village of Tweed. Sulphide Creek, a tributary of the Moira River, reaches its mouth at Stoco Lake in the community.-References:...

  • Coulters Hill
  • Duff Corners
  • East Hungerford 44.502°N 77.151°W
  • Elzevir
  • Farrell Corners 44.452°N 77.134°W
  • Hungerford
    Hungerford, Ontario
    Hungerford is a settlement in the municipality of Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, about east of the community of Sulphide and northeast of the village of Tweed. Sulphide Creek, a tributary of the Moira River, flows northwest the community....

  • Larkins
  • Lime Lake
  • Lodgeroom Corners
  • Lost Channel 44.419°N 77.316°W
  • Marlbank
    Marlbank, Ontario
    Marlbank is a small community located in Tweed, Ontario, Canada, a few kilometers west of Highway 41. Widely recognized as one of the greatest Ghost Towns in Ontario, this small commune plays host to several stories of horror and mischief....

  • Moneymore
  • Otter Creek
    Otter Creek, Hastings County, Ontario
    Otter Creek is the name of a settlement in the municipality of Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada. It lies east of the community of Sulphide and northeast of the village of Tweed. Otter Creek, a tributary of the Clare River in the Moira River drainage basin, flows through the...

  • Queensborough
    Queensborough, Ontario
    Queensborough is a hamlet in the municipality of Tweed, in Hastings County, in eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of Highway 7 on the Black River, about 20 km north-west of the town of Tweed and 15 km north-east of the town of Madoc....

  • Stoco
  • Sulphide
    Sulphide, Ontario
    Sulphide is a settlement in the municipality of Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, about west of the community of Hungerford and northeast of the village of Tweed. Sulphide Creek, a tributary of the Moira River, flows through the community. Founded in 1836, the town was named for a series...

  • Thomasburg 44.388961°N 77.345896°W
  • Tweed
    Tweed, Ontario (village)
    Tweed, Ontario is a community on Stoco Lake and the only urban centre in the Municipality of Tweed in Hastings County, central-eastern Ontario, Canada. Tweed has a population of 1,540 according to the 2001 Canada Census...



Approximately 30% of the population resides the Village of Tweed, the only urban centre. The remainder of the Municipality consists of five hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 (Actinolite
Actinolite, Ontario
Actinolite is a community on the Skootamatta River in eastern Ontario. It is in the Municipality of Tweed, in Hastings County, on Highway 37 just south of Highway 7 and north of Tweed....

, Marlbank
Marlbank, Ontario
Marlbank is a small community located in Tweed, Ontario, Canada, a few kilometers west of Highway 41. Widely recognized as one of the greatest Ghost Towns in Ontario, this small commune plays host to several stories of horror and mischief....

, Queensborough
Queensborough, Ontario
Queensborough is a hamlet in the municipality of Tweed, in Hastings County, in eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of Highway 7 on the Black River, about 20 km north-west of the town of Tweed and 15 km north-east of the town of Madoc....

, Stoco, and Thomasburg) and a large rural area which reaches from Wadsworth Lake in the north to Roslin
Roslin, Ontario
Roslin, Ontario is a community in Hastings County, Ontario, Canada.-References:*...

 in the south. The residents of the hamlets and the rural area comprise the other 70% of the population. As of 2004, there were approximately 2870 households.

External links

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