The township was incorporated on January 1, 1998, by amalgamating the former townships of Mountain and Winchester with the independent villages ofChesterville and Winchester.[3] The village of Winchester is the township's primary administrative centre.
The township of North Dundas comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including the following communities:
In the former Mountain Township: Hallville, Harmony, Inkerman, Mountain, South Mountain;Belmeade,Inkerman Station,North Mountain,Reid's Mills,Rosehaven,Van Camps;Baldwins Bridge,Cloverdale,Mulloys,Oak Valley,Vinegar Hill;Hyndman's Ridge,Kerr's Ridge
In the former Winchester Township:Chesterville,Marionville (partially), Morewood, Mountain, Ormond, Winchester;Cannamore (partially),Cass Bridge,Connaught,Melvin,North Winchester,Winchester Springs (partially);Annable,Bethune Bush,Forward,Limerick,Maple Ridge,Nation Valley,The Boyne,The Ninth,Toyes Hill.
The township administrative offices are located in Winchester.
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, North Dundas had a population of11,304 living in4,537 of its4,673 total private dwellings, a change of0.2% from its 2016 population of11,278. With a land area of 502.41 km2 (193.98 sq mi), it had a population density of22.5/km2 (58.3/sq mi) in 2021.[1]
2021 population figure based on revised count. Population numbers prior to 1998 are totals for the Townships of Mountain and Winchester and the Villages of Chesterville and Winchester. Source: Statistics Canada[2][7]
In 1998, the Villages of Winchester and Chesterville and the Townships of Winchester and Mountain were amalgamated into the Township of North Dundas. The Township of North Dundas Council replaced the councils of the four former municipalities.[30]
There are a number of major summer fairs and festivals that take place in the Township of North Dundas. Every summer, Chesterville holds a summer agricultural fair.[31] The Village of Winchester hosts "Dairyfest" in early August and the Village of South Mountain hosts their summer agricultural fair also in August.[32]
The Village of Chesterville hosts the Chesterville Farmer's Market on the waterfront every Saturday during the summer months, and an annual Art on the Waterfront in June.
There are three public elementary schools, one Catholic elementary school, and one public high school in North Dundas:
Winchester Public School (JK-Grade 6): 547 Louise Street South, Winchester.[33] Winchester Public School was founded in 1890. The original building burned down in 1927 and a new school was built on the same lot later that year.[34][35]
Chesterville Public School (JK-Grade 6): 38 College Street, Chesterville. Chesterville Public School was founded in 1902. The original building was demolished in 1963 to make way for a larger, more modern school. Happy Face Nursery School operates out of this location, offering the following programs: Toddler (18–30 months of age), Preschool (2.5–6 years of age), Kindergarten (6–8 years of age), and School Age (8–13 years of age).
Nationview Public School (JK-Grade 6): 3045 County Road 1, South Mountain. Nationview Public School was founded in 1971.[36][37] The school formerly taught students from kindergarten to grade 8, but this ended in June 2011 due to declining enrolment.[38] After this, grade 7 and 8 students were primarily split between North Dundas Intermediate School in Chesterville and Seaway High School in Iroquois. Happy Face Nursery School operates out of this location, offering the following programs: Infant (0–18 months of age), Toddler (18–30 months of age), Preschool (2.5–6 years of age), Kindergarten (6–8 years of age), and School Age (8–13 years of age).
St. Mary's Catholic School (JK-Grade 6): 67 Main Street South, Chesterville. St. Mary's Catholic School was founded in 1903. From 1907 to 1972, the Sisters of Providence taught at the school. The original school was demolished in 1963 to make way for a larger, more modern school.
North Dundas District High School (Grades 7–12): 12835 County Road 43, Chesterville.North Dundas District High School was founded in 1963.[39] Following a fire in 1962 that destroyed Winchester High School (founded 1914), the North Dundas District High School Board (later part of the SDG Board of Education, then the Upper Canada District School Board) built an amalgamated high school to service both Winchester and Chesterville, as well as the surrounding areas.[40][41] As a consequence, Chesterville High School (founded 1911), was demolished in 1963. Due to declining enrolment, Maple Ridge Senior Elementary School closed in 2011 and the North Dundas Intermediate School was created for grades 7 and 8.[42] The Intermediate School is located on the second floor of NDDHS.
The community has been served by a number of newspapers over the years.
West Winchester Directory (1881-1888) andWinchester Press (1888–2020). TheWest Winchester Directory was a weekly newspaper founded by Eli Lester White in 1881. In 1887, it was sold to Rolla Law Crain of Merrickville, who owned it only a year before selling to Byron Lane in 1888.[43] With the recent incorporation of the village under the name of Winchester, Lane renamed the newspaper theWinchester Press. The first edition of thePress was published in April or May of 1888.[44]George H. Challies, who later served as MPP for the area, was a newspaper boy for thePress in 1894. ThePress was sold in 1912 to George C. Lacey, who later sold it in 1915 to James H. Ross after buying theChesterville Record.[45] The business was devastated in 1921 when a fire destroyed their office, which was located on the south side of Main Street West, directly beside the store owned byAaron Sweet (now Sweet Corner Park), but it soon re-established itself.[46] For the next 30 years, it had several homes, including the Dixon pump factory (Church Street), a building that used to be at the current site of the Winchester Legion,[47] and the Lannin Block (north side of Main Street West).[48][49] After Ross' death in 1935, the paper was operated by his widow, Blanche Gardner Ross, and his stepson, William Agnew. In 1943, it was taken over by William Fernland "Fern" Workman, who had worked at thePress since 1918 and served as editor since 1939.[50] ThePress moved to a new office in October 1951 on the north-east corner of St. Lawrence and Clarence Streets, where it would remain until 2020.[51] Following Fern's death on March 30, 1957, his sons Reginald and Ronald became co-owners.[52] They sold the newspaper in August 1981 to John and Robin Morris, who co-owned 2woMor Publications Inc.[53] Robin eventually left to create his own company, leaving John as the sole owner. John Morris died on June 5, 2004 and ownership of thePress then transferred to Morris' wife, Beth, who owned it until the newspaper's closure in January 2020.[54] The last edition was published on January 1, 2020.
Chesterville Record (1894–present). The Chesterville Record is a weekly newspaper that was founded by Robert L. Harrop, the Chesterville station master. It was first published on December 12, 1894, and Thomas T. Shaw purchased the newspaper the following year. The Record office burned in the Great Fire of 1909 and was given a new home in 1910 when an office was built on King Street, where the business remained until 2018. T. T. Shaw sold the Record to George C. Lacey in 1915, who owned it until 1950. Lacey's daughter Helen, along with her husband Keith Graham, then became the co-publishers until they sold the newspaper to Blake Feeley and Wayne LaPrade in 1969.[55] In 1976, the Record was sold to 2woMor Publications Inc., co-owned by brothers John and Robin Morris. Robin Morris eventually split from the St. Lawrence Printing Company and established Etcetera Publications, under which he continued to publish the Chesterville Record. Robin Morris acted as editor of the Record for many years until his death on December 9, 2014. In August 2018, the newspaper was purchased by Linda Vogel, AJ Al-Rajab, and Donald Good.[56] In June of that year, the business moved to 29 King Street and in December, the long-time office at 7 King Street was demolished.
Eastern Ontario Agri-News (1978–present). Eastern Ontario Agri-News is a monthly tabloid published by Etcetera Publications (owner of the Chesterville Record). It was first published in late February 1978 by John and Robin Morris, who at the time were co-owners of 2woMor Publications Inc.[57] When Robin Morris broke off from the company and established Etcetera Publications, he continued to publish Agri-News.
Nation Valley News (2016–present).Nation Valley News is an all-digital news and advertising company founded and operated by Nelson Zandbergen.
Hudson Allison (1881–1912), Montreal stock-broker and victim of theTitanic disaster. He was born in Chesterville in 1881 and worked as a clerk in Chester Casselman's general store. His wife, Bess Waldo Daniels, and their daughter, Helen "Lorainne", also perished in the sinking. Their infant son, Hudson "Trevor" Allison, survived the sinking. Hudson's body was recovered by theMackay-Bennett and interred at Maple Ridge Cemetery, Chesterville.
George Beverly "Bev" Shea (1909–2013) was born on February 1, 1909, in Winchester. He is a Grammy Award-winninggospel singer and hymn composer. Shea has often been described as "America's beloved Gospel singer" and is considered "the first international singing 'star' of the gospel world" as a consequence of his solos atBilly Graham Crusades and his exposure on radio, records, and television. According to theGuinness Book of Records Shea holds the world record for singing in person to the most people ever, with an estimated cumulative live audience of 220 million people.
Andrew Broder (1845–1918), MPP forDundas (1875–1886), MP forDundas (1896–1917). He was a long-time merchant in Winchester.[58] His store was located on the south-west corner of Main and St. Lawrence Streets, the current site of Sweet Corner Park. He was the uncle of Aaron Sweet.
Jacob Erratt (1847–1928), 18th mayor of the city ofOttawa from 1889 to 1890.
Aaron Sweet (1854–1937), MPP for Dundas (1923–1926).[59] In 1888, he served as the first Reeve of the newly incorporated village of Winchester. He was a merchant in Winchester for many years. His store, formerly located on the south-west corner of Main and St. Lawrence Streets, was previously owned by his uncle, Andrew Broder. Sweet Corner Park, which now occupies the space where the store was, was named in his honour.
Orren D. Casselman (1861–1950), MP for Dundas (1917–1921), was born in Chesterville. He was the half-brother of William H. Casselman.
William H. Casselman (1868–1941), MPP for Dundas (1919–1923). He was born in Chesterville and served as Reeve from 1931 until his death. He was the half-brother of Orren D. Casselman.
Preston Elliott (1876–1939), MP for Dundas (1921–1925), was born in Chesterville.
^"TABLE 1.—Areas, Dwellings, FamiHes, Population, Sexes, Conjugal Condition".Census of Canada. 1870-71. Volume I(PDF). Ottawa: I. B. Taylor. 1873. pp. 24–25. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^"TABLE I.—Areas, Dwellings, Families, Population, Sexes, Conjugal Condition".Census of Canada. 1880-81. Volume I(PDF). Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co. 1882. pp. 58–59. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^"TABLE IL—Population, Families and Dwellings".Census of Canada. 1890-91. Volume I(PDF). Ottawa: S. E. Dawson. 1893. pp. 42–43. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^"TABLE 8. Population by districts and sub-districts according to the Redistribution Act of 1914 and the amending act of 1915, compared for the census years 1921, 1911 and 1901".Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Volume I--Population(PDF). Ottawa: F. A. Acland. 1924. pp. 59–60. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^Canada Dominion Bureau of Statistics (1933). "TABLE 21. Population, Canadian, British and Foreign born, ciassifled by sex, for municipalities, townships or other subdivisions, 1931".Seventh Census of Canada, 1931. Volume II: Population by Areas(PDF). Ottawa: J. O Patenaude. p. 204. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^Canada Dominion Bureau of Statistics (1953). "TABLE 6. Population by census subdivisions, 1871-1951".Ninth Census of Canada 1951. Volume I: Population(PDF). Ottawa: Edmond Cloutier. pp. 39–40. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^Canada Dominion Bureau of Statistics (1962). "TABLE 7. Population by sex, for census subdivisions, 1961".1961 Census of Canada. Series 1.1: Population(PDF). p. 30. Retrieved18 November 2025.
^Chesterville and District Historical Society (2020).Bridging the Centuries; History of Chesterville 1988-2020. Chesterville: Gilmore Doculink International. p. 41.
