Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it falls within the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.
Known as the "City of the 1000 Islands", Brockville is situated on the land which was previously inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians and later by the Oswegatchie people. Brockville is one of Ontario's oldest communities, established by Loyalist settlers and is named after the British general Sir Isaac Brock.
Tourist attractions in Brockville include the Brockville Tunnel, Fulford Place, and the Aquatarium.
History Human inhabitation of the upper St. Lawrence River dates at least to the late Middle Woodland period by the Point Peninsula people. Iron oxide pictographs on rock faces have been documented on the Fulford property in Brockville and at Hillcrest west of Brockville. From around 1450 until sometime in the 1500s, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians established a cluster of palisaded agricultural villages in the vicinity of Brockville and Prescott, the Roebuck site being the best known. By 1751, the Oswegatchie people had occupied the north shore of the St. Lawrence between Toniato Creek (now known as Jones Creek, in Thousand Islands National Park) and the Long Sault. After negotiations with the British, they withdrew from the frontage on the north shore of the St. Lawrence in 1784, resettling at what is now Lisbon, New York.
This area of Ontario was first settled by English speakers in 1784, when thousands of American refugees arrived from the American colonies after the American Revolutionary War. They were later called United Empire Loyalists because of their continued allegiance to King George III. The struggle between Britain and the 13 American colonies occurred in the years 1776 to 1783 and seriously divided loyalties among people in some colonies, such as New York and Vermont. In many areas, traders and merchants, especially in the coastal cities or the northern border regions, had stronger business ties and allegiance to the Crown than did the frontiersmen of the interior. During the six-year war, which ended with the capitulation of the British in 1782, many colonists who remained loyal to the crown were frequently subject to harsh reprisals and unfair dispossession of their property by their fellow citizens. Many Loyalists chose to flee north to the British colony of Quebec. Great Britain opened the western region of Canada (first known as Upper Canada and now Ontario), purchasing land from First Nations to allocate to the predominantly English-speaking Loyalists in compensation for their losses and helping them with some supplies as they founded new settlements. The first years were very harsh as they struggled on the frontier. Some exiles returned to the United States.
The Saint Lawrence River got its name from explorer Jacques Cartier's arrival in the gulf on August 10, 1535, the feast day of the martyred Roman Christian, Saint Lawrence. In 1785, the first Loyalist to take up land where Brockville is now located was William Buell Sr. (1751–1832), an ensign disbanded from the King's Rangers from the state of New York. Residents commonly called the first settlement Buell's Bay. Around 1810, government officials of Upper Canada assigned the name Elizabethtown to the developing village.
During mid-1812, the Hon. Charles Jones and other leading residents of the village, then known by the misleading name Elizabethtown, started to refer to the village as Brockville in their correspondence. The commanding British General in Upper Canada and temporary administrator of the province was Major-General Isaac Brock. He was celebrated as the "Hero and Saviour" of Upper Canada because of his recent success in securing the surrender by Americans of Fort Detroit during the first months of the War of 1812. After the surrender of Fort Detroit, General Brock was next involved in other battles on the Niagara Peninsula. On October 13, 1812, he was fatally wounded while leading troops up the heights near the village of Queenston, then temporarily held by American militia. General Brock had learned of the honour being offered by the residents of Elizabethtown, but had no chance to give it his official blessing before his death. It took several years for Provincial officials to officially accept the new name, though most residents used it. A raid on Elizabethtown occurred on the early morning of February 7, 1813, when Benjamin Forsyth and 200 of his American forces crossed the frozen Saint Lawrence River, occupied the settlement, seized military and public stores, freed American prisoners, and captured local militia soldiers and leading citizens.
By 1830, the population of Brockville exceeded 1,000. This entitled it to be represented by its own elected member in the House of Assembly. Henry Jones, the village postmaster, was elected in October 1830 to the 11th Parliament of the Province.
Brockville became Ontario's first incorporated self-governing town on January 28, 1832, two years before the town of Toronto. After the passing of the Brockville Police Act, passed by the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, Brockville was granted the power to govern its own affairs, pass laws, and raise taxes. The first elections for the new Board of Police were held on April 2, 1832, when four male citizens were elected to the Police Board. These four, in turn, chose a fifth member, Daniel Jones, who became the first Police Board President (or Mayor) of Brockville. In March 1836, he became the first native Upper Canadian to receive a knighthood for services to the Crown.
By 1846, the population was 2,111. This growth was accompanied by the construction of many buildings made of stone and brick. There was a County courthouse and Jail, six churches or chapels, and a steamboat pier for travel to and from Montreal and Kingston. Two newspapers were published, two bank agencies were established, and the post office received mail daily. Several court and government departments had offices here. The first industries consisted of one grist mill, four tanneries, two asheries and four wagon makers, in addition to tradespeople of various types.
Later in the 19th century, the town developed as a local centre of industry, including shipbuilding, saddleries, tanneries, tinsmiths, a foundry, a brewery, and several hotels. By 1854, a patent medicine industry had sprung up in Brockville and Morristown, New York, across the Saint Lawrence River, featuring such products as Dr Morse's Indian Root Pills, Dr. McKenzie's Worm Tablets, and later, Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People.
In 1855, Brockville was chosen as a divisional point of the new Grand Trunk Railway between Montreal and Toronto. This contributed to its growth, as it could offer jobs in railway maintenance and related fields. At the same time, the north–south line of the Brockville and Ottawa Railway was built to join the timber trade of the Ottawa Valley with the Saint Lawrence River ship route. A well-engineered tunnel for this railway was dug and blasted underneath the middle of Brockville. Completed in December 1860, the Brockville Tunnel was the first railway tunnel built in Canada.
Brockville and many other towns in Canada West were targets of the threatened Fenian invasion after the American Civil War ended in 1865. In June 1866, the Irish-American Brotherhood of Fenians invaded Canada. They launched raids across the Niagara River into Canada West (Ontario) and from Vermont into Canada East (Quebec). Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald called upon the volunteer militia companies in every town to protect Canada. The Brockville Infantry Company and the Brockville Rifle Company (now The Brockville Rifles) were mobilized. The unsuccessful Fenian Raids were a catalyst that contributed to the creation of the new confederated Canada in 1867.
By 1869, Brockville had a population of 5000 and a passenger station on the Grand Trunk Railway. It was the County Town of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and a Port of Entry. Steamboats stopped in Brockville daily while plying among Montreal, Kingston, Toronto and Hamilton. The Brockville and Ottawa Railway connected Brockville with Smith's Falls, Perth, Almonte, Carleton Place and Sand Point. During the summer, a steam ferry plied every half-hour between Brockville and Morristown, New York.The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory. H. McEvoy Editor and Compiler, Toronto: Robertson & Cook, Publishers, 1869
In 1962, Brockville was granted official status as a city. Its coat of arms featured a beehive surrounded by a golden chain and bears the motto Industria, Intelligentia, Prosperitas. This is an official heraldic design. Brockville is one of the few Canadian cities to have a recognized heraldic flag.
Geography Brockville is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, about halfway between Kingston to the west and Cornwall to the east. It is south of the national capital Ottawa. Brockville faces the village of Morristown, New York, on the south side of the river.
Climate Brockville experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb). The highest temperature ever recorded in Brockville was on July 31, 1917, and June 4, 1919. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on February 4, 1886, and January 28, 1925.
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Brockville 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.
Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2021 Census) Population group Population % of total population White 20,265 Visible minority group South Asian 440 Chinese 165 Black 170 Filipino 145 Arab 175 Latin American 95 Southeast Asian 35 West Asian 35 Japanese 35 Korean 20 Visible minority, n.i.e. 30 Multiple visible minority 55 Total visible minority population 1,395 Aboriginal group First Nations 165 Métis 45 Inuit 0 Multiple Aboriginal identity 30 Total Aboriginal population 205 Total population 21,515 100%
Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2006 Census) Population group Population % of total population White 20,670 Visible minority group South Asian 70 Chinese 150 Black 55 Filipino 95 Latin American 50 Arab 0 Southeast Asian 125 West Asian 20 Korean 15 Japanese 10 Visible minority, n.i.e. 45 Multiple visible minority 50 Total visible minority population 685 Aboriginal group First Nations 230 Métis 150 Inuit 0 Aboriginal, n.i.e. 20 Multiple Aboriginal identity 10 Total Aboriginal population 410 Total population 21,765 100%
Economy
Brockville is home to several large industrial manufacturers. 3M operates four factories in Brockville, manufacturing tape and occupational health and safety products. Procter & Gamble manufactured dryer sheets and cleaning products from the brands their brands Bounce and Swiffer respectively, employing 600 people. However, operations began to slow down in 2017 until the closure of the plant in 2020 and all operations of the plant being moved to locations in West Virginia. In January 2022, the Canadian food company Leclerc, a brand known for making dessert products, announced it would be moving into the vacant P&G plant.
Other industries include manufacturer Canarm, pharmaceutical manufacturer Trillium Canada, and the oil-blending plant of Shell Canada. Canadian retailer Giant Tiger has also opened a distribution centre for frozen food in Brockville. Brockville is also the primary administrative, health care, and commercial centre for Leeds—Grenville county. The Upper Canada District School Board is headquartered in Brockville. The Brockville General Hospital has completed a major expansion project. The Brockville Mental Health Centre is located east of Brockville.
Tourism