Bowmanville, Ontario
| Bowmanville | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Bowmanville
|
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| Coordinates: 43°54′41″N 78°41′15″W / 43.91139°N 78.68750°WCoordinates: 43°54′41″N 78°41′15″W / 43.91139°N 78.68750°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Regional municipality | Durham |
| Municipality | Clarington |
| Elevation | 150 m (490 ft) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
| Forward sortation area | L1C |
| Area code(s) | 905 and 289 |
| NTS Map | 030M15 |
| GNBC Code | FDGDW |
Bowmanville is a suburban community in the municipality of Clarington, located in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It is located approximately 75 km east of Toronto and 15 km east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a town in 1858, but later incorporated with the neighbouring townships of Clarke and Darlington in 1973 to form Clarington. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area.
Settlers were attracted to the area by the farmland, and creeks for water mills, first (including one still standing, now called Vanstone's Mill) at Bowmanville (originally Barber) Creek, at the present-day intersection of King Street and Scugog St., from which businesses and housing spread east, and later on Soper Creek (including another mill still standing as the municipality's Visual Arts Centre, and designated as an architecturally protected historical building).
The lands which would later become Bowmanville were first purchased by John Burk, who later sold it to Lewis Lewis. Lewis opened the first store in what was then called Darlington Mills. The store was purchased in about 1824 by Charles Bowman (for whom the town was eventually named) who then established the first post office. Its first postmaster was Robert Fairbairn, who ran the post office from 1828 to 1857.
By 1866, Bowmanville was a Town with a population of about 3,500 in the township of Darlington, County Durham. It was a station of the Grand Trunk Railway. It was established on the north shore of Lake Ontario. It possessed a good harbour and there was extensive water power in the vicinity. The surrounding country was fertile.
The success of the Vanstone Mill, fueled by the machinery of the Crown's land grant program, led to the rapid expansion of the Bowmanville settlement in the early years of the 19th century. Under the generous yet discriminate eyes of wealthy local merchants such as John Simpson and Charles Bowman, small properties would often be sold to promote settlement and small business. The town soon developed a balanced economy; all the while gradually establishing itself as a moderate player in shipping, rail transport, metal works and common minor business (including tanneries, liveries, stables and everyday mercantile commodity exchange).
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