Puslinch | |
|---|---|
| Township of Puslinch | |
 Morriston | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Puslinch  Puslinch | |
| Coordinates:43°27′N80°10′W / 43.450°N 80.167°W /43.450; -80.167 | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Ontario |
| County | Wellington |
| Incorporated | January 1, 1850 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Township |
| • Mayor | James Seeley |
| • Governing Body | Township of Puslinch Council |
| • MP | Mike Chong (Con) |
| • MPP | Ted Arnott (PC) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 214.82 km2 (82.94 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 7,944 |
| • Density | 37/km2 (96/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Postal Code FSA | |
| Area codes | 519, 226 and 548 |
| Website | www.puslinch.ca |
Puslinch (/ˈpʊslɪntʃ/) is atownship in south-centralOntario, Canada, inWellington County, surrounding the south end ofGuelph. The main source of production is agricultural, spring water bottling and mining. Aggregate mining has been dominant throughout the county.[2] About half of the township is forested, and a conservation area lies to the southwest. Near the western edge of the township, just outsideCambridge, Ontario, isPuslinch Lake, the largestkettle lake in North America. It is part of the Guelphcensus metropolitan area.
The township has its own strategic plan, with the current version dated 2015 to 2020. Its mission statement is "Progressing together to provide reliable and sustainable services to our residents, businesses and visitors. We will protect our resources while respectfully building upon our heritage as a safe, fun and prosperous rural community."[3]
Puslinch township includes the communities of Aberfoyle, Aikensville, Arkell, Badenoch, Crieff, Glen Christie, Killean, Paddock's Corners, Morriston, Corwhin, Downey, Puslinch, and Puslinch Lake.[4] The offices of the township are located at 7404 Wellington Road 34, Puslinch (village of Aberfoyle).
Aberfoyle is the administrative centre for Puslinch Township and is home to the municipality's administrative offices, and fire station. It is located at the headwaters ofMill Creek, which was important for early settlers to power their mills.[5] The community is approximately three kilometres south ofGuelph city limits on Brock Road, formerly a portion of old Hwy 6. Aberfoyle was first settled in the 1840s and is named forAberfoyle,Scotland. In 1869, the population was only 100.[6]
It is known for its spring waterAberfoyle Spring Water, which is bottled at the well in Aberfoyle.Nestlé bought the company in 2002, through its subsidiaryNestlé Waters North America and changed the name. In 2020, the company announced that it was selling the business toIce River Springs ofShelburne, Ontario, but the deal failed and the company was later acquired spun off asBlueTriton Brands in 2021.
Other features include the Aberfoyle Antique Market,[7] and Aberfoyle Public School.[8]
Arkell, pronounced "AR-kull", has a long relationship with beer brewing. Arkell was founded in 1830 by John Arkell, an Englishman who returned to the UK and foundedArkell's Brewery.[9] Just north and east of the village runs the Arkell Spring Aquifer, renowned for its fresh spring water which has brought many beverage companies to the area, includingSleeman Breweries,Wellington Brewery, andF&M Brewery. Wellington Breweries named one of their beers 'Arkell Best Bitter' in honour of the prized water they use in their brewing.[10] TheArkell Spring Grounds also provide some of the municipal water for the city of Guelph.[11]
Arkell is a common stopping point for cyclists and hikers to take a break when touring the country-side roads the surrounding city ofGuelph, or the hiking trails at theStarkey Hill loop just east of the village, or the Arkell Springs trail which stretches along theEramosa River from Watson Rd. Just north of Arkell, east to nearbyEden Mills near the Eden Mills outdoor education centre and south-east to Arkell Rd. at the Nassagaweya-Puslinch Townline Rd. intersection, opened in 1974 by the Guelph Hiking Club.[12]
Before colonization, the area was a "neutral" zone and was inhabited by theNeutral Nation (also known as the Attawandaron), in a village of 4,000 in what is now the Badenoch area of Puslinch, near Morriston.[13] Other First Nations settlements were at Puslinch Lake, Arkell Springs and Morriston Pond.[5]
The township was named afterPuslinch House in Devon,England, where Elizabeth Yonge, the wife ofLieutenant Governor of Upper Canada SirJohn Colborne, was born. The name was given by Lady Seaton after her birthplace in Devon, England. Sir John would later be the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836.[14] An historical plaque indicates that the township was surveyed in 1828-1832 by David Gibson and was originally known as the Church Lands.[15] Many people arrived in the 1830s via Stone Road from Dundas to Galt toward Killean in Puslinch.[16] A settler, Edward Ellis who arrived in 1839, donated land for the construction of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, also known as Ellis Chapel, in 1861.[17][18][19] Records from 1846 indicate a population in the township of 1500, most of whom were "Highland Scotch".[20]
The township was an important source of granite used in the construction of homes as well as of limestone and sandstone provided by quarries.[21]
The Arkell area was named after John Arkell (from an originally Dutch family) who emigrated fromKempsford,South Gloucestershire, arriving to the township in May 1831. He established the small community, but returned to England three years later. His first cousin Thomas Arkell remained, built a home, bred sheep and cattle, and was a Magistrate for three decades.[22][23] Henry Arkell, a breeder of sheep was heavily involved with the Puslinch Agricultural Society and was a Director of the Guelph Central Exhibition and the Fat Stock Show.[23]
The settlement of Aberfoyle was named by John McFarlane fromAberfoyle,Perthshire, Scotland who arrived in 1841 and ran the first general store. A small mill had been built earlier, in 1831, by George Schatz who built a sawmill and also laid out lots of land at a time when the area was called Schatzville, inhabited mostly by German families. Schatz also operated a foundry and brickyard over the years in the Aberfoyle area. The post office did not open until 1854 with Samuel Falconbridge the first postmaster. The first church, Mount Carmel, was built in 1877.[24]
Many of the Germans lived around Morriston, also part of Puslinch.[25] By 1857, Morriston had established the “Victoria Fire Company of the United Village of Morriston and Elgin” with a single fire wagon.[26] In that year, Morriston had a "daily male population of about 400".[27]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 4,943 | — |
| 1996 | 5,416 | +9.6% |
| 2001 | 5,885 | +8.7% |
| 2006 | 6,689 | +13.7% |
| 2011 | 7,029 | +5.1% |
| 2016 | 7,336 | +4.4% |
| 2021 | 7,944 | +8.3% |
| [28][29][30][1] | ||
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Puslinch had a population of7,944 living in2,857 of its2,946 total private dwellings, a change of8.3% from its 2016 population of7,336. With a land area of 214.82 km2 (82.94 sq mi), it had a population density of37.0/km2 (95.8/sq mi) in 2021.[31]
The mainthoroughfares in the area include:
In December 2017, the township considered renaming Swastika Trail, a private road on the western edge of the township.[33] The road was initially named in the 1920s,[33] before the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933 (although Adolf Hitler's party adopted theswastika as the Nazi party symbol in 1920).[34] Residents on the street were divided by the name change, while the Jewish groupB'nai Brith Canada supported it. The township ultimately decided not to rename the road, citing the previous decision of the cottager's association to leave the name in place.[35]
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Places adjacent to Puslinch, Ontario | |
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