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Chatham-Kent

Chatham-Kent
Municipality (single-tier)
Municipality of Chatham-Kent
Thames River in Chatham
Thames River in Chatham
Nickname(s): The Maple City, The Classic Car Capital of Canada
Map of Ontario CHATHAM-KENT.svg
Coordinates: 42°24′00″N 82°11′00″W / 42.40000°N 82.18333°W / 42.40000; -82.18333Coordinates: 42°24′00″N 82°11′00″W / 42.40000°N 82.18333°W / 42.40000; -82.18333
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
County (historical) Kent
Formed by political merger 1998
Government
 • Mayor Randy Hope
 • Governing body Chatham-Kent Municipal Council
 • MPs Bev Shipley (CPC)
Dave Van Kesteren (CPC)
 • MPPs Rick Nicholls (OPC)
Monte McNaughton (OPC)
Area
 • Land 2,458.09 km2 (949.07 sq mi)
Elevation 198 m (650 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Municipality 103,671 (Ranked 50th)
 • Density 42.2/km2 (109/sq mi)
 • Urban 44,074 (Chatham)
10,163 (Wallaceburg)
4,700 (Tilbury)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code N7L - N7M
Area code(s) 519 226
Website chatham-kent.ca

Chatham-Kent (2011 population 103,671) is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Mostly rural, its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the merger of Kent County and its municipalities.

The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790s, as it straddles the Thames River. The town was named after the Earl of Chatham, William Pitt (the Elder). It was built as a naval dockyard, a characteristic shared by Chatham, Kent, England. In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ceto and the Old English ham thus meaning a forest settlement. Following the American Revolution and the Gnadenhutten Massacre, a group of Christian Munsee Indians settled in what is now Moraviantown.

In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place between Moraviantown and Thamesville on October 5, 1813.

During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States.John Brown, the abolitionist, planned his raid on the Harpers Ferry Virginia Arsenal in Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. The small village of North Buxton, part of the African Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in the Underground Railroad.


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Wikipedia

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