INTRODUCTION
Dundas, Canada is located near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and
was incorporated as a city in 1847. It
has a population of 24, 702. It has been
given the nickname, Valley Town.
HISTORY AND POLITICS
Dundas was named by Lieutenant Governor, John Graves Simcoe,
in Upper Canada for his friend, Henry Dundas, who was 1st Viscount of Melville, and a Scottish lawyer
and politician who never visited North America.
Prior to 1814, it was Coote's Paradise, but became
incorporated as a city in 1847 as part of Wentworth County. It was considered prosperous to access the
Lake Ontaria via Desjardins Canal, an important town in Canada and Canada West,
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
It was an economic powerhouse in Canada for many centuries.
Several Ontario's cities maintain Dundas importance by naming
city streets after it. One example is
Toronto's Dundas Street (Highway 5) was an early route used by Dundas first
settlers.
McMaster University, in West Hamilton, 1930, has been a
thriving bedroom community for many university faculty and students. It has become a community of pottery, studio
shows and walking tours every year.
On March 1, 1976. the town council proclamed Dundas, Ontario
as the “Cactus Capital of Canada”. The
Chamber of Commerce and Dundas Jaycees hosts a summer Cactus Festival.
DEMOGRAPHICS
According to a 2001 census reports a population of 24,395 for
the city of Dundas. There are about
1.41% South Asians, 1.19% Chinese, 0.79% Blacks and 2.32% for other minorities.
Those that make up the religious population are 43.57%
Protestant, 26.94% Catholic, 19.83% no religious affiliation, 3.62% Jewish and
6.04% for other religions.
The age characteristics for the populaion of Dundas is 0-14
years—18.29%, 15-64 years—53.63% and 65 years and older—18.18%.
CULTURE
For Fine Arts, Dundas is home to the Dundas Valley School of
Art, which was established by Marian Farnan and Emily Dutton in 1964 and became
a non-profit organization three years later.
It has been in it's present location in the Canada Screw Works building
since the 1970's and began a full-time working programme with McMaster
University in 1998.
The Carnegie Gallery, which is located in the Carnegie library
building celebrated its 25th anniversary in
2005. Run by the Dundas Art & Craft
Association, it hosts art exhibitions, book readings, concerts, as well as a
gift shop.
Music
Dundas, Ontario is the title album to “Start Breaking My
Heart” by the artist Caribou, formerly known as Manitoba, is a native of
Dundas.
The Dundas Sobriquet, or Valley Town was used as the title
song of Mountain Meadows by the band, Eliot Brood—one of its members, Casey
LaFloret spent many childhood summers in Dundas.
Dundas also produced other independent artist such as Junior
Boys, Koushik, Jeff Button, and smaller bands like Winter Equinox and Dirty
Nil.
Folk singer, Stan Rogers, who died in plane crash in 1983, who
was born in Dundas, is best remembered for the unofficial Nova Scotia anthem.
Dundas native, Ryan Van Sickle, a singer/songwriter's claim to
fame is the first musician to embrace the Google's social platform, Google+,
who used it to bring his album, “Ghosts of the Brokenhearted” to success.
The Dundas Valley Orchestra, an amateur valley orchestra that
was founded by Arthur Vogt in the fall of 1978 is home to Dundas. It has produced such former conductors as
Rosemary Thomson, Michael Hall, Stephane Potvin, Dr. Glenn Alan Mallory, and is
currently being conducted by Laura Thomas.
There is also the Dundas Concert Band, which was founded as a
military band in 1873. It was renamed
the Dundas Citizens Band in 1923 and currently is known as Dundas Concert Band
since the 1940's. It holds “Concerts in
the Park” as part of the series by the Dundas Driving Park Bandshell in 1958.
FILMS
The 19th downtown architecture of
Dundas buildings has been the scenery of many films like “Haven”, “Cabin
Fever”, and “Wrong Turn,” as well as many others.
In December 2005, filming was complete for “Man of the Year”,
which starred Robin Williams and Brody Beard.
Williams signed autographs and photos to the delight of many Dundas
citizens.
In early December 2004, The NBC TV show, “The West Wing,” used
parts of Dundas and remade the Town Hall and Deluxe Restaurant as parts of the
New Hampshire locale. Fans of the show
braved the chilly weather to witness the three episodes filmed, at the snail's
pace in television filming, in late January and early February 2005 and get autographs
with celebrities.
In 2004-2007, the film, “Dark Oracle” was filmed in Dundas.
SPORTS
The Dundas Blues is a junior ice hockey from Dundas and play
in the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League.
The Dundas Real McCoys is a senior ice hockey from Dundas and
plays in Ontario's Hockey Association's Major Hockey League. They won the 1986 “Hardy Cup” as Senior “AA”
Champions of Canada.
On April 3, 2010, NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, named Dundas
winner of the 2010 Kraft Hockeyville competition during a live announcement of
Hockey Night of Canada. The Dundas
community received $100,000 CAD arena upgrades as well as hosted the NHL
pre-season the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres prior to the 2010-2011
season.
After 93 years, the Dundas Chiefs senior baseball team ended
in 2010. It won 11 Ontario Baseball
Associations provincial titles with the first in 1961 and the last in
2001. It has 3 straight titles in 1976
and 1978 and back to back titles in 1987 and 1988.
SCHOOLS
Dundas is home to 6 public and private elementary
schools: Dundas Central Public, Dundana,
Yorkview, Dundas Valley Montessori School, Sir William-Osler, St. Augustine,
St. Bernadette, Dundas Calvin Christian School and Pleasant Valley and Central
Park—now closed; a middle school: Dundas District, which closed November 5,
2007 and 3 high schools: Parkside,
Highland, and Dundas District—which closed in June 1982.
GEOGRAPHY
There are many waterfalls in the region of Dundas—the two most
common which are most accessible by Bruce Trail that leads to the Dundas
Peninsula, called Webster Falls, after Joseph Webster, who purchased the
property in 1819 on the escarpment above Dundas that includes the waterfall and
still bears his name. In 1856, Webster's
son built huge flour mills above the waterfall, but was destroyed in 1898 in a
fire. After the fire, the first
hydro-electric generators were set up at the base of the falls in Ontario. In 1938, former Mayor Colonel W.E.S. Knowles
bequeathed monies to the area surrounding area of Webster Falls and is now a
public park.
Tew's Falls, the second common falls, overlooks Dundas from
Bruce Trail in the Flamborough and is one of the most visited sites in
Dundas. Hikers who take Bruce Trail from
Tew's or Webster Falls, can get a peak at Dundas and Hamilton.
LANDMARKS
The Collins Hotel is the longest running hotel in
Ontario. It's one feature has a front
portico with fluted Doric Columns which are above tripglyphs and metopes which
are found on a traditional Doric entablature with a discrete comice. Its roof has a series of dormers with
Florentine pediments. It has two floors
with the second consisting of a full length balcony which runs the entire
length of the building and the first has street-level shops.
FAMOUS RESIDENTS
Some famous residents who have resided in Dundas, Ontario,
Canada: Actor/Comedian Dave Thomas from
SCTV; Canadian physician William-Osler; Folk singer Stan Rogers; Musician
Daniel V. Snaith, formely known as “Manitoba” and “Caribou” and wrote “Dundas
Canada”; DJ/Producer Jeff Button; Singer/Songwriter Sara Ruba from “New Look”;
Pete Wood, major league pitcher, 19th Century;
Independent film director Paul G. Boyle; Racecar driver Don Thomson, Jr.,
five-time CASCAR Series Champion; Singer/songwriter John Elison who wrote “Some
Kind of Wonderful”; and Rainbow and Michael Falcore c/o “The Birthday
Massacre”, to name but a few.
REFERENCES
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