Huntsville, Ontario

Huntsville
—  Town  —
Huntsville
Motto: Touch the Past, Embrace the Future
Huntsville
Coordinates: 45°20′N 79°13′W / 45.333°N 79.217°W / 45.333; -79.217
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Muskoka
Settled	1869
Incorporated	1886
Government
• Type	Town
• Mayor	Claude Doughty
• Federal riding	Parry Sound—Muskoka
• Prov. riding	Parry Sound—Muskoka
Area[1][2]
• Land	710.64 km2 (274.38 sq mi)
• Urban	68.72 km2 (26.53 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Town	19,056
• Density	26.8/km2 (69/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal code FSA	P1H
Area code(s)	705 and 249
Website	www.town.huntsville.on.ca

Huntsville Town Hall and Civic Centre

Huntsville (2011 population 19,056) is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. It is located 215 kilometres (134 mi) north of Toronto and 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of North Bay.

Huntsville is located in the hilly terrain of the Canadian Shield, dotted with many lakes. It is known as a popular summer vacation destination for boaters and cottagers, and acts as a western gateway to Algonquin Provincial Park. The city was host to the 36th G8 summit in May 2010.

History

The area was first settled, and founded in 1869 by George Hunt, who built a small agricultural centre there. In 1870, a post office was built and the area was named Huntsville after Hunt, who became the first postmaster. Huntsville's economic development was stimulated by the engineering of a navigable water route north from Port Sydney to Huntsville which opened in 1877. A railway route from Gravenhurst was built by the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway in 1885, which encouraged development and resulted in Huntsville becoming officially incorporated in 1886. ^[3]

In the following year, the Muskoka Colonization Road reached this area. The central Ontario community became an important industrial area in the late 19th century and had several saw, planing and shingle mills, as well as a tannery. Today, the many lakes and hills in the area, combined with the town's proximity to both Algonquin Park and Toronto, make Huntsville and the Muskoka region a major tourist destination.

In June 2010, Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville was host to the 36th G8 summit.

Communities

In addition to the main townsite of Huntsville, the communities of Allensville, Ashworth, Aspdin, Britannia Road, Canal, Centurion, Etwell, Grassmere, Hidden Valley, Ilfracombe, Lancelot, Martins, Melissa, Muskoka Lodge, Newholm, Norvern Shores, Parkersville, Port Sydney, Ravenscliffe, Stanleydale, Utterson, Vernon Shores, Williamsport and Yearley are located within the municipal boundaries.

Culture

Huntsville is a magnet for and home to many acclaimed visual artists. Famed Canadian artists Tom Thomson and his successors, the Group of Seven painted here frequently. Huntsville boasts a Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery with over 40 outdoor murals celebrating the work of these Canadian heroes. Local community visual arts group The Huntsville Art Society hosts many annual shows, exhibits & skills-sharing workshops throughout the year.

Many summer camps for children such as Camp Wabanaki, Camp Tawingo, Camp Mini-Yo-We Muskoka Woods, Camp Nagiwa, Ontario Pioneer Camp and Olympia Sports Camp are within a few kilometers of Huntsville. Resorts such as Deerhurst Resort, where Shania Twain was discovered in 1988-1989, Hidden Valley Resort and Cedar Grove Lodge are located within the town's boundaries.

Huntsville supports a number of arts festivals, including Huntsville Festival of the Arts. The Huntsville Festival of the Arts recently provided a seed grant which enabled a book of poetry entitled Fringe Festival Poetry, Poems from the Poetry Cafe, edited by June Salmon and Marta Mirecki-de Roode. Other arts activities include the annual Muskoka Novel Marathon, started by Canadian authors Martin Avery and Mel Malton in 2001; the Film North - Huntsville International Film Festival which had its inaugural year in 2010, and most recently Nuit Blanche North, produced by the Huntsville Festival of the Arts and Edge of the Woods Theatre.

There are also many new arts organizations and associations. The Huntsville Art Society is a not-for-profit membership of local visual artists. They recently opened up a new art gallery called 'The Art Space'. Edge of the Woods Theatre presents artistic works for, with and by the community in Huntsville. They produce an annual traveling outdoor theatre event, as well as facilitating many different community and arts education projects with local seniors and youth.

The town has a new municipal centre and performing arts theatre, the Algonquin Theatre. The theatre provides space for local dance, music, and school activities. For profit venues are also scheduled, and most of the labour is provided by local volunteers.

Rocker Hawksley Workman was born and raised in Huntsville. His 2003 album Lover/Fighter included a track called "Ilfracombe" or "Motorbike".

Les Stroud, a Canadian musician and survival expert best known as the host of the television program Survivorman, resides in Huntsville.

Economy

Major employers in Huntsville include Deerhurst Resort, Panolam, and Kimberly Clark.

Transportation

Huntsville is accessible through a variety of roadways, including Highway 60, Highway 11 and Muskoka (Regional) Road 3. Buses to and from Toronto come into the city daily.

Passenger train service to the town from Toronto is provided daily by the Northlander at the Huntsville railway station.

Huntsville Transit provides local bus service in the town.

Sports

Hockey and lacrosse are popular sports in Huntsville. The town is the hometown of sports icons such as Jack Bionda, for whom an ice surface in Huntsville's municipal arena (The Canada Summit Centre) is named. Don Lough Arena is the name of the Olympic ice surface in the new Canada Summit Centre.

Huntsville is home to one of the largest running Girls Hockey Associations (Huntsville Girls Hockey Association). This association has been in existence since 1971/72, and is home to Huntsville Honeys Senior C Team, and the Huntsville Sting Peewee B team.

The town has a lacrosse team, the Huntsville Hawks of the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League The town also has an Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League team called the Huntsville Otters, which has had players move on to major junior A in the Ontario Hockey League.

Huntsville is one of three Canadian towns hosting Ironman 70.3 triathlons.

Notable residents

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Jack Bionda, Professional Hockey and Lacrosse athlete best known as a lacrosse player.
• Ethan Moreau, a major league hockey player, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings.
• Les Stroud, survival expert and host of the television program Survivorman.
• Hawksley Workman, Canadian musician and songwriter, has achieved international success.
• George Selkirk, a major league baseball player, was born here in 1908. Selkirk succeeded the legendary Babe Ruth as the right fielder for the New York Yankees.
• Shania Twain, top-selling country singer in history. Recipient of The Order of Canada.

Demographics

Huntsville had a population of 18,280 people in 2006, which was an increase of 5.4% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Huntsville was $52,331, which is below the Ontario provincial average of $60,455.^[4]

Racial Profile

• 95.5% White
• 4.0% Aboriginal
• 1.6% Chinese
• 0.0% Korean
• 1.0% other

Religious Groups

• 46.0% Protestant
• 15.6% Roman Catholic
• 2.0% other Christian
• 0.4% Jewish

Age Group

• 0–14 years: 18.9%
• 15–64 years: 67.6%
• 65 years and over: 16.8%

Media

Radio

• FM 94.3 - CBLU, CBC Radio One
• FM 98.9 - CJLF-3, Christian
• FM 105.5 - CFBK ("FM105.5"), adult contemporary
• FM 106.9 - CBL-1, CBC Radio 2
• Online Media - Hunters Bay Radio www.muskokaonline.com community radio

Television

• Channel 8: CBLT-TV-2 - CBC
• Channel 11: CICI-TV-11 - CTV
• Channel 13: CICA-TV-13 - TVOntario

Newspaper

• Huntsville Forester (published by Metroland Media Group)

Education

Public education for students from kindergarten through high school is administered by the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, which oversees the town's single high school, Huntsville High School, and six elementary schools.^[5] Primary Catholic education at a single school is administered by the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.^[6] There are several private schools that serve students through elementary and high school ages.^[7]

Post-secondary education consists of the Waterloo Summit Centre for the Environment, established with funding provided by the 2010 G8 Summit Legacy Fund as a partnership between the Town of Huntsville and the University of Waterloo. This facility is utilized by researchers and students of the University of Waterloo and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.^[8]

The Huntsville District Memorial Hospital is a community teaching hospital affiliated with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.^[9]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Huntsville, Ontario

• Town of Huntsville

		McMurrich/Monteith, Perry
	Muskoka Lakes		Lake of Bays
		Huntsville
		Bracebridge

Coordinates: 45°20′N 79°13′W / 45.333°N 79.217°W / 45.333; -79.217