Goderich, Ontario
Goderich is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time. It was incorporated as a town in 1850.
As of the Canada 2021 Census, the population is 7,881 in a land area of 8.54 square kilometres.
Located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron at the mouth of the Maitland River, Goderich faces the lake to the west and is notable for its sunsets. Some claim that Queen Elizabeth II once commented that Goderich was "the prettiest town in Canada" although no reigning monarch has ever visited Goderich. The town indicates that tourism is among its important industries. It has been named one of Ontario's best small towns by Comfort Life, a website for retirement living in Canada.
The town participates yearly in the Communities in Bloom competition; and has won awards in many categories. In 2012, Goderich was a National Finalist in the competition, and was also part of the Circle of excellence.
History
According to the historic plaques erected by the Province, the Canada Company acquired the vast amount of land called the Huron Tract in 1826 and in 1827, under Superintendent John Galt, established its base in what would become Goderich. Development was under way by 1829. In 1850, with a population of about 1,000, the community was incorporated as a town. In addition to Galt, another important individual was Dr. William "Tiger" Dunlop who was Warden of the Forests for the Canada Company, and helped develop the Huron Tract and later, to found Goderich. Also noteworthy, Thomas Mercer Jones administered much of the million acre Tract and built a richly furnished mansion, Park House, in Goderich in about 1839.Town records indicate that the Huron Tract had been acquired by the government from the Chippewa First Nation and that the location of the community was based on coastal surveys completed in 1824 by Captain Bayfield. A log cabin was erected, at the top of the hill overlooking the harbour in 1827; this building, the home of Dr. William "Tiger" Dunlop, was later referred to as "The Castle".
An 1846 Gazette indicated that a harbour was operating, but the docks were not in a good state of repair. A light house was being erected. Roads were available to Wilmot Township, Ontario and to the town of London, Ontario. Shipbuilding was already underway. A fishing company had started but did not succeed and closed down. There were five churches in Goderich, four Protestant and one Roman Catholic. By 1869 the population was 4,500; a railway station and steamship docks were in operation. Wheat was the primary crop shipped from this area.
Research by the University of Waterloo indicates that the Canada Company built piers to protect ships in the harbour between 1830 and 1850 and in 1872 the first modern harbour was created. The railway arrived in June 1858 and a grain elevator was erected in 1859. Harbour Hill was graded in 1850. Fishing became an important part of the community, and the pier was lined with fish shanties. A modern rail station was built near the harbour and the building still stands today. Goderich became a very busy rail shipping location by the 1940s and had a roadhouse and turntable until the 1960s. Salt mining, which eventually became a major industry, was started in 1866 when Samuel Platt began opening salt mines beside his flour mill on the Maitland River. The harbour at Goderich was also the home of large flour mills starting in the 1870s.
The Smith's Canadian Gazetteer of 1846 describes Goderich as follows:
It was laid out in 1827 by Mr. Galt... the town is rather exposed to north and north west winds from the lake, in consequence of which the weather is occasionally wintry, even in the middle of summer... Owing to its remote situation... Goderich has not increased as fast as many other places of the same age. A harbour has been constructed but the piers are now getting out of repair. This is the only harbour between Port Sarnia and the Saugeen Islands. A light house is just about being erected.... A steamboat and several schooners have been built here. Stages run twice a week from Goderich to London and Galt, and during the last season the steamboat Goderich called here on her weekly trips... A fishing company was established here, some years since, but from some mismanagement did not succeed very-well, and is now broken up. Goderich contains five churches and chapels,... there is also a stone jail and court house, and the Canada Company's offices... Post Office, post four times a week. Population, 659."
The Goderich lighthouse, the first on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, opened in 1847 with a tower and the keeper's house. After the 1913 storm it was remodelled. A severe storm on Lake Huron in November 1913 caused the loss of 19 ships and 244 lives. A great deal of wreckage floated to the Goderich area shore. The bodies of the sailors were identified and collected by a Lake Carriers' Association committee based at Goderich.
In 1866, four artesian wells began providing the town's water and also attracted tourists who had heard about the water's medicinal properties. The Ocean House Hotel, built in the 1850s, housed many tourists. From about 1910, the sandy beach near town were also used heavily by locals and by visitors who appreciated the shallow, warm water. In 1930, a "bathing house" was built with lockers, restrooms and a small store.
Early in World War II, what is now the Goderich Airport became the site of one of Canada's air training facilities; it opened in December 1939, at Sky Harbour. The school operated until March 1945. A Lancaster X airplane, FM 213, was donated in the 1960s by Branch 109 Royal Canadian Legion in honour of those who died or went missing during the war.
Goderich has many historically designated buildings, listed on a map published by the Town.
In 2018, a strike involving over 350 salt mine workers broke out in Goderich, following labour disputes between the Unifor Local 16-0 union and the American-owned company Compass Minerals, which owns the mine, over a new contract. The strike ended in July 2018 having lasted for 12 weeks.
On August 9, 2022, the at-the-time Mayor, John Grace, died in a boating accident in Northwestern Ontario. The Deputy Mayor, Myles Murdock, took over as the acting Mayor for the remainder of the 2022 term of council. Myles Murdock was elected as the Mayor of Goderich for the 2022-2026 term of council during the 2022 Ontario Municipal Election.
The Square
Goderich's downtown has an octagonal roundabout known as 'The Square'. The county courthouse stands in the middle of The Square. This is where, in 1959, Steven Truscott was convicted of murdering Lynne Harper. The conviction was overturned in 2007.The Square was formally listed in the Register of Historic Place by the Government of Canada in May 2007. The Town had already recognized the value of the area in 1982, under the Ontario Heritage Act.
The Square was designed and developed between 1840 and the mid 1890s and in its early days, contained the main office of the Canada Company which helped to develop much of the county. The design of the square — a "radial composition" — is attributed to John Galt of the Company, inspired by ancient Roman city plans. Over the years it was called "Market Square", "The Square" or "Courthouse Square" by locals. The original courthouse was located here but was destroyed in a fire and replaced by a modern structure in the 1950s.
Contrary to a popularly held belief, plans for The Square were not intended for Guelph. It is thought this rumour started when Goderich was founded, as town planners the Canada Company originally wanted their community to be called Guelph after the Royal Family; the Company eventually resigned to accepting the decisions of Superintendent John Galt to keep the name Goderich.
2011 tornado
On the afternoon of 21 August 2011, an F3 tornado touched down in the area, after coming ashore as a waterspout, with the mesocyclone thunderstorm cell moving across Lake Huron. It was the strongest tornado that had hit Ontario since the Arthur, Ontario tornado of April 20, 1996, though on average, F3 tornadoes occur in Ontario every eight years. The devastating storm downed power lines, tore roofs from houses, and left cars and trees scattered along city streets. Hundred-year-old trees surrounding the Goderich Courthouse were uprooted in seconds. The tornado killed one person: Norman Laberge, 61, of Lucknow, who was working on a dock associated with a salt mine on the coast of Lake Huron when the storm hit. 37 people were injured. The Environment Canada weather forecast office in Toronto issued a tornado warning for Goderich and southern Huron County 12 minutes before the tornado struck. The town did not have a tornado siren unlike some other Ontario cities.News reports later indicated that one hundred houses, 25 buildings and thousands of 150-plus-year-old trees were seriously damaged or destroyed.
Rebuilding The Square area
After the tornado, the roofs of several buildings around the square had been destroyed, and the trees in the green space around the courthouse had been damaged or uprooted.A year later, 152 of the 170 downtown businesses had reopened but reconstruction of the courthouse, some historic buildings and the trees in the area took much longer.
By 2015, the park had re-opened with a new band shell. New trees, greenery, a statue and a water feature had been installed in front of the court house.
Much of the area around the park had been reconstructed including commercial building on Kingston Street and The Square. The last work to be completed was the Kingston block of commercial buildings on Kingston Street and The Square. Although the farmers' market and flea market had closed before the tornado, it re-opened.