Bronte | |
---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Coordinates: 43°23′22″N 79°43′4″W / 43.38944°N 79.71778°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
Regional municipality | Halton |
Town | Oakville |
Founded | 1834 |
Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Forward sortation area | L?? |
Area code(s) | 905 and 289 |
NTS Map | 030M05 |
GNBC Code | FALWE |
Bronte is the community that makes up much of the west end of Oakville, in Ontario, Canada. Twelve Mile Creek (known informally as Bronte Creek) flows through the middle of town and empties into Lake Ontario. Main roads include Bronte Road (north-south), Lakeshore Road West (east-west, parallel to Lake Ontario) and Rebecca Street (east-west). Streets in the business section include Lakeshore, Jones, Marine, and Ontario Street. Bronte is also accessed via a superhighway (the Queen Elizabeth Way) located to the north of the former village. Riggs Road was planned but never opened. Other main roads include Third Line, Speers Road and Burloak Drive to the west (the latter was named after the boundary of Burlington and Oakville.)
Bronte is a former fishing village which became annexed in 1962 with the former Township of Trafalgar, forming the Town of Oakville, along with the other formerly autonomous communities, including Sheridan.
The urban area of Bronte is to the north, east and the southwest. The north-central part is industrialized while the west is mixed with some farmland, a former Petro-Canada refinery (which has closed and has yet to be dismantled as of 2010) and forests cover the northwest and includes Bronte Creek Provincial Park which cuts off Upper Middle Road. The park area is also used for trailers and tents. Farmland used to cover most of Bronte (except for the northwest) before suburban housing came in the 1960s and the 1970s. Lakeshore houses are situated along the shore of Lake Ontario. The narrow ravine of Bronte Creek is undeveloped, except at the mouth which serves as a harbour.
Bronte's neighbourhood stretches from Burloak Drive in the west to Fourth Line, and from Lake Ontario in the south to the Queen Elizabeth Way. Coronation Park, which has a large playground, lots of parking space, a field room, and sandy beaches, hosts the annual Waterfront Festival. Its greatest attraction is an outdoor stage fronting an area 256 feet deep and 152 feet wide, with a hillock at the side. During the Waterfront Festival, the east field has carnival rides such as 1001 Niches and Polar Express, and features game kiosks. The parking lot is turned into a string of kiosks offering food and product information. The stage has extra lighting installed with a projector screen, an autograph booth at the side, and a DJ booth in the middle.