Ingersoll is a town in Oxford County on the Thames River in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The nearest cities are Woodstock to the east and London to the west.
Ingersoll is situated north of and along Highway 401. Oxford County Road 119 (formerly Ontario Highway 19) runs north diagonally through the town. A Canadian National rail line bisects the town east to west through its centre. Passenger service from the Ingersoll train station is provided to other stops in Southwestern Ontario by Via Rail. To the south is the Ontario Southland Railway (former CP) line, with spurs into local industries, which provides freight service to points in the region. The local high school is Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute.
The Ingersoll area was first settled in the 1790s by families from New England, became famous for homemade cheese production before the War of 1812,Describing Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Thames) township in a book written in 1812, author Michael Smith, a Methodist missionary, summed it up: "This township lies west of Blenheim and Burford, is rich, well watered, thickly timbered, settled and well improved by industrious people, from the states of New York and Vermont. The people in this town are famous for making butter and cheese." Geographical View of the Province of Upper Canada (New York, 1813) and its surrounding County of Oxford was home to the first cheese factories in Canada, starting in 1864. In 1866, through collaboration by the town's businessmen, a giant wheel of cheese weighing was produced at the James Harris Cheese Factory just south of Ingersoll, for promotion of the area's cheese industry. The "Mammoth Cheese" was exhibited at the New York State Fair in Saratoga, NY, and then in England.Heather Menzies, By the Labour of their Hands, the Story of Ontario Cheddar Cheese (Kingston, 1994), 26–38. It was a Eureka! accomplishment applauded by the whole country, and in 1867 the Canadian Dairymen's Association was established in Ingersoll, attended by nearly two hundred dairymen from across Canada, followed by annual conventions long thereafter. A booming cheese export industry in the millions of pounds grew from Ingersoll to many parts of the world, and the town's name became synonymous with quality products.A 25-year retrospective of all these developments is contained in the Dept. of Agriculture's Annual Reports of the Dairymen's Associations (Toronto, 1892), available online. The Canadian Museum of History provides a comprehensive 'virtual museum' online titled Ingersoll's Mammoth Cheese and the History of Cheese Making in Oxford County (link deleted by Wiki editor)
Ingersoll also developed as an industrial centre. During the late 19th century, the town's largest industries were Noxon Bros., a manufacturer of farm implements (1856-1916) and the Ingersoll Packing Co., a cheese-exporting and pork-packing firm (1880-1920s). The Noxons' firm was shuttered in 1916, but other large industries took root during the early 20th century, including the St. Charles Condensing Co. (later Borden's Condensed Milk), the Morrow Screw & Nut Co., the Ingersoll Machine and Tool Co., and the Ingersoll Cream Cheese Company.a photo and text compendium of Ingersoll's industrial history can be found on the website Ingersoll Historical Photo Gallery created by the Ingersoll Public Library; for summary see
In the 21st century, heavy manufacturing is Ingersoll's largest industry, including CAMI Assembly, a General Motors car manufacturing plant. Originally a joint venture established in 1986 with Suzuki Motors of Canada, it has produced millions of vehicles.
Ingersoll is twinned with Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Early history
Ingersoll's founder, Thomas Ingersoll (1749–1812), was a native of Westfield, Massachusetts who moved to Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the early 1770s, and then to Queenston in the Niagara District, Upper Canada in 1795, where he operated an inn while organizing his grand venture to create a new settlement deep in the Upper Canadian wilderness. In 1793 he and associates had received grant of Oxford township, which became the site of the community of Oxford-on-the-Thames, and where he opened roads, established a farm for his family and settled dozens of other families on their own farms nearby. Further rights to the township were revoked in 1798, and Ingersoll's own grant was limited to 1200 acres (486 ha). Discouraged by this and the resulting slow pace of the settlement, Thomas withdrew his family from Oxford in 1806 and took up operation of a government-owned inn and ferry at Port Credit, but after his death the family decided to return to the Oxford homestead, at first Thomas Jr. (1796-1847) with James (1801-1886) in 1818, then his widow Sarah and his other children in 1821 along with eldest son Charles (1791-1832) and Charles' wife and children. Together Thomas Ingersoll's four sons laid the foundations for the hamlet of Ingersoll. Thomas's eldest daughter, Laura Secord (1775-1868), who had married in 1797, had distinguished herself as a heroine of the War of 1812, and remained with her husband and children in Queenston.
The hamlet of Ingersoll was proclaimed a village in 1852 and a town in 1865. Whereas Woodstock, the county seat, was Oxford County's administrative centre, Ingersoll became the county's principal industrial centre, in 1871 home to all four of the County's industries that had 50 or more hands. Noxon Brothers and the Eastwood foundry, both manufacturers of agricultural implements, employed 103 and 70 hands respectively. With 4,022 in population in 1871, Ingersoll's population surpassed that of Woodstock (3,982), although its advantage was not to last. By the 1860s, dairying was an emerging industry, sparked farm-wife production of cheese and butter, and then by the introduction of the factory system of cheese production in 1864. In 1866, to promote Ingersoll cheese as a high-quality, standardized brand, a cheese producer, James Harris, and local businessmen produced a 7,300-pound mammoth cheese, exhibited it at the New York State Fair in Saratoga, N.Y., and then exported it to England.James Sinclair, A History of the Town of Ingersoll (Ingersoll, 1924);
Annual town events
Ingersoll was home to the fall fair of the Ingersoll, North and West Oxford Agricultural Society (founded 1847) for more than a century. In 1967 it was succeeded by the Ingersoll Cheese and Wine Festival, which continued for two decades, featuring a variety of events, zaniest of which was the Mayors' Grape Stomp contest, in which the mayors from other communities, appearing in a boxing ring at the town's arena in front of cheering crowds, competed with Ingersoll's mayor to stomp the greatest quantity of juice from each one's bathtub full of grapes. From this later came Harvest Fest, a multi-day event which has now been divided into Harvest Fest, Pumpkin Fest and Kiwanis Rural Urban Dinner Night events. In 1999 a free folk festival was launched which continues each July as the Canterbury Folk Festival. For a number of years there was a Ribfest and an arts program known as the Halls Creek Festival. The year ends with Santa's Village weekends and parade and Winter Lights Festival.
Cultural resources Fusion Youth Centre
As part of a community strategic plan developed in 2003, Ingersoll Town Council adopted a vision statement that “Youth will be encouraged to achieve a high sense of purpose, of identity and of pride for, and within their community.” Towards this, the Fusion Youth Centre was developed by the town in a former elementary school property on Thames Street, which offers after-school and weekend programs and special events for any and all youth between ages 12 and 18, using the centre's meeting rooms, computer equipment, skatepark, recording studio, TV studio, gym, cafeteria and kitchen. Some of the creative work from the centre is posted on its YouTube channel at FusionIngersoll.
Ingersoll Seniors Activity Centre Operating from a former residential and recreation complex built for Suzuki employees involved in management in the early years at the CAMI auto plant, Ingersoll Services for Seniors organizes a full calendar of social programs.
Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum and Sports Hall of Fame Ingersoll has the distinction of having been Oxford County's cheese capital from the mid-1800s to early 1900s, producing and packaging a good deal of the county's renowned cheddar. The museum showcases the town's unique history. It opened in 1977, consisting of a re-creation of a 19th century cheese factory. Buildings that are part of the museum include: a working blacksmith shop, two barns, a bread oven and a schoolhouse portraying two different time periods of one room schools. The agricultural barns were built from lumber and timbers taken from barns found in Oxford County. It required the barn board and beams to be reclaimed from three existing barn buildings in the area. The buildings were disassembled and materials transported to the site where these building now stand. Construction was done by hand like the original process. No power tools were used in the construction of these buildings. Workers worked from a single photograph of the original Old Ingersoll Cheese Factory. The buildings were completed within 3 months by a crew of approximately 6 people from the Ingersoll area.
The Sports Hall of Fame showcases the town's athletic history. "Path of the Giants" – a 20-foot (6 m) "fully round" wood carved scene by the late Wilson Johnston – depicts the pioneer trek of his ancestors, the "Dunkards", from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Cambridge, Ontario in the 1700s.
Ingersoll Creative Arts Centre Started in 1972, this active arts centre features an exhibit gallery as well as offering classes in a variety of arts and crafts in pottery, painting and fibre arts studios. This arts centre is located at 125 Centennial Lane.
Ingersoll Pipe Band The Ingersoll Pipe Band is Canada's oldest, non-military, independent pipe band. Beginning in 1910 with two brothers, Jack and James Little, their cousin William Collins, and Pipe Major Tom Johnston, the band was formed. For over 100 years the band has attracted many talented players, competed and traveled world wide. The band hall is the site for practices and offers lessons to those interested in learning to play.
Ingersoll Public Library A branch of the Oxford County Library. It is located in the Ingersoll Municipal Building. War Memorial and Honour Roll are located on the south side of the Town Centre. In the lobby are a statue and plaque to honour Thomas Ingersoll, the founder of Ingersoll. The former library was a Carnegie library located near the corner of Thames and Charles Streets.
Ingersoll Theatre of Performing Arts Several amateur productions are presented each year by ITOPA in the former Park Place Theatre, the town's second cinema, which has received several upgrades since 2011 to help improve the experience of its patrons.
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