Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 46,705 according to the 2021 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, at the head of the Thames River, approximately 128 km from Toronto, and 43 km from London, Ontario. The city is known as the Dairy Capital of Canada and promotes itself as "The Friendly City".
Woodstock was first settled by European colonists and United Empire Loyalists in 1800, starting with Zacharias Burtch and Levi Luddington,Local History. City.woodstock.on.ca. Retrieved on 2013-07-24. and was incorporated as a town in 1851. Since then, Woodstock has maintained steady growth, and is now a small city in Southwestern Ontario. As a small historic city, Woodstock is one of the few cities in Ontario to still have all of its original administration buildings. The city has developed a strong economic focus towards manufacturing and tourism. It is also a market city for the surrounding agricultural industry.
Woodstock is home to a campus of Fanshawe College. The city plays host to a number of cultural and artistic exhibits, including the Woodstock Museum, a national historic site. Woodstock's summer festivals contribute to its tourism industry; however, its economic activity is centred on the manufacturing centre, the city being home to several auto-manufacturing factories. The city's west end has exceptionally well-preserved Victorian streetscapes; most notable of these streets is Vansittart Avenue, named after Admiral Henry Vansittart, one of the city's first settlers. Woodstock has a large community centre with a rink capable of accommodating 1,800 spectators for hockey games. The centre also has a large banquet hall and atrium which play host to many social gatherings for the community.Woodstock District Community Complex. City.woodstock.on.ca. Retrieved on 2013-07-24.
History
The community was first settled in 1800 after it was determined by Sir John Graves Simcoe, governor of what was then known as Upper Canada, that the area would make a good townsite. The early settlers were generally American immigrants from New York state, such as Levi Burtch and Dr. Levi Hoyt Perry.
Increased immigration from Great Britain followed in the 1820s and 1830s, including the half pay officers Henry Vansittart and Andrew Drew. Admiral Vansittart commissioned Commander Andrew Drew to build a church (Old St. Paul's) in a new area of Oxford that was known as the "Town Plot". The men would later quarrel, which would lead to the construction of a second church known as "New St. Paul's".
In 1836 there were 200 people living in Woodstock, and by 1846 the population had grown to almost 1100 inhabitants. There were six churches or chapels, a jail, a court house, one bank agency, a school and two weekly newspapers. Several court and government offices were located here. Industry included two grist mills, a saw mill, a fulling mill, a brewery and a distillery and four wagon makers.
Woodstock was incorporated as a town in 1851 and had its first town meeting in the Royal Pavilion Hotel. This year also saw the start of the Town Hall and local government.
In 1901, Woodstock, with a population of nearly 9,000, petitioned the provincial legislature for city status and the "Town of Woodstock" was incorporated into the "City of Woodstock".
From 1900 to 1920, an electric streetcar ran down the streets of Woodstock; as well, after 1920, bricks were used to pave the main street of Woodstock. The bricks were later removed in the 1940s.
Historical events
Mowat's provincial premiership Sir Oliver Mowat, a native of Kingston, Ontario, served as member of the provincial parliament for the region from 1872 to 1896, during which time he was also premier of the province of Ontario.
1890 Birchall Trial The 1890 Trial began with the arrest of Reginald Birchall in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Birchall was held at the Woodstock jail for seven months until his murder trial began in September of that year. The trial took place at the Woodstock Town Hall as the Court House was under construction at the time. The trial received worldwide media coverage, with reporters camped out across from the Town Hall in the Oxford Hotel.
1979 tornado
On August 7, 1979, the Woodstock area was hit by three tornadoes, two of which were rated F4 on the Fujita scale.
Climate
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Woodstock had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
According to the 2016 Canadian Census, approximately 78.2% of residents were European Canadians, whereas 5.3% were visible minorities and 2.2% were aboriginal (including 1.4% First Nations). The largest visible minority group was Black Canadian with 1.6% of the population. No other visible minority makes up more than 1% of the population. The median household income was $68,213 as of 2016.
Government The city government, Woodstock City Council, consists of four city councillors, two city and county councillors, and the mayor who serves as the Head of Council. The current mayor, Jerry Acchione, was elected as mayor on Oct. 24, 2022 after serving two terms as a city councillor.
Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, with the County Administration Building located across from City Hall in the area of Dundas and Reeve Streets. The city is governed by both the city and Oxford county councils, each with specific "spheres of jurisdiction". During 2005, economic development services, then exclusive to the county, was negotiated away from them by former mayor Michael Harding.
+Woodstock federal election results Year Liberal Conservative New Democratic Green 2021 24% 5,102 42% 8,794 21% 4,444 2% 518 2019 22% 4,600 43% 9,200 23% 4,858 8% 1,650
+Woodstock provincial election results Year PC New Democratic Liberal Green 2022 48% 7,119 24% 3,555 16%2,295 4% 661 2018 51% 9,319 34% 6,132 8%1,501 4% 740
For provincial and federal elections, Woodstock is included in the riding of Oxford. Currently, the MP of Oxford is Arpan Khanna (Conservative), and the MPP is Ernie Hardeman (Progressive Conservative).
Healthcare
Woodstock General Hospital was located on Riddell Street in central Woodstock for over a century. In the fall of 2011, the WGH moved to a new location in a newly developing area in the southern end of Woodstock. Through millions of dollars in local private donations, backed by government grants, the city now has a new state-of-the-art medical facility. The new hospital is close to highway 401, the busiest highway in North America, and has many upgrades including a helipad and an MRI/cancer centre. It caters to a population of about 55,000 people. It has a workforce of nearly 600 people and 270 volunteers.
Woodstock was the former home of the Oxford Regional Centre. Opened in 1906 as the Hospital for Epileptics, it was later renamed the Ontario Hospital in 1919. Originally on the west side of Highway 59, the hospital then expanded on the east side in the 1950s and transformed into a house for mentally disabled individuals. At its peak, the centre employed 1,500 people. It closed in 1996, and since then all buildings have been demolished except for part of the powerhouse, now the Brickhouse Brewpub - part of the Upper Thames Brewing Company, and the mess hall which has been converted into a community centre for Sally Creek. As well a carved insert with the words "Ontario Hospital" remains in the stone wall on the west side of Highway 59 north of Fairway Road. A polished black granite memorial to the institution sits at Dr. J. J. Williams Park on Lakeview Drive east of Highway 59.
Woodstock also has a variety of Provincial IHF Facilities and Specialists including Large outpatient Cardiology Centre KMH, which houses Cardiologists and Internal Medicine Specialists offering Cardiology Testing such as Echocardiograms, SPECT nuclear medicine, and Holter monitors.
Sister cities Woodstock has two sister cities: Sylvania, Ohio, United States, and Pesche, Italy.
Culture
Festivals The Woodstock Wood Show The Woodstock Car Show & Shop The Ontario Woodworking Championships Canada's Outdoor Farm Show The Woodstock Fair Cultural Canvas Cowapolooza Oxford Creative Connections Woodstock Rotary Club Dragon Boat Festival Woodstock Rotary Festival of Music Summer Streetfest Woodstock Fleece Festival Woodstock Pet Expo
Year-round attractions Gallery Cinemas Theatre Woodstock OLG Slots Ross Butler Studio Agricultural Art Gallery
Cultural Woodstock Museum - National Historic Site Woodstock Art Gallery Theatre Woodstock Dairy Capital Of Canada
The Woodstock Art Gallery is located at 449 Dundas Street in the renovated John White Building. The Art Gallery, which originally started in the basement of the Woodstock Public Library, proudly showcases the work of Florence Carlyle.
Theatre Woodstock houses plays year-round in the former market building across from the museum.
Downtown Downtown Woodstock stretches from Vansittart Avenue to Huron Street on Dundas Street, the city's main street. It houses the city's banks, administration buildings, independent retailers and several restaurants. The majority of buildings are a century old. Downtown promotes itself through its Business Improvement Area members as a place to shop, work, play and dine. Although there are a few vacancies in the city centre, the downtown is full of beautiful historic buildings and several unique retail outlets. In the 1990s the city undertook an extensive makeover of the main street, adding many gardens and cobbled sidewalks. Every summer the main street is shut down for the city's "Summer Streetfest" celebrations, a mix of retail sales and various entertainment.
Historical landmarks
The Town Hall The Old Town Hall, now the Woodstock Museum, NHS was built in 1853 and modelled architecturally on the Town Hall in Woodstock, England. Designed by Peter Craib, the Town Hall was built by David White, W.P. Dixon and William McKay. It is majestic for its size, with semi-circular windows and a domed cupola. It served as the first market, first fire hall, community hall, and lockup for the town, and was the location of the world-famous Birchall-Benwell murder trial in 1890. Canada's first elected female mayor of a City, Bernadette Smith, served here from 1952 to 1965, and the original town council chamber used from 1871 to 1968 inside has been restored. (Start, Turner, Gardhouse, Bennett, Historic Buildings of Woostock, Ontario)
The Market Building
The Woodstock Market was built in 1895 by the architect W.B. Ford, using 140,000 feet of lumber, tons of nails, and miles of putty on a site previously occupied by wooden market sheds. The low roof and wide canopies are typical of market construction in this period, and interesting features included the twin towers, the drinking fountain at the front door, and the use of stone in the trim. (Start, Turner, Gardhouse, Bennett, Historic Public Buildings of Woodstock, Ontario)
Woodstock Jail/Gaol