Owen Sound | |
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City (lower-tier) | |
City of Owen Sound | |
Owen Sound Harbour
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Nickname(s): The Scenic City | |
Coordinates: 44°34′N 80°56′W / 44.567°N 80.933°WCoordinates: 44°34′N 80°56′W / 44.567°N 80.933°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
County | Grey |
Government | |
• City Mayor | Ian Boddy |
• Governing Body | Owen Sound City Council |
• MPs | Larry Miller |
• MPPs | Bill Walker |
Area | |
• Land | 24.22 km2 (9.35 sq mi) |
• Urban | 25.98 km2 (10.03 sq mi) |
• Metro | 627.80 km2 (242.39 sq mi) |
Elevation | 307 m (1,007 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• City (lower-tier) | 21,341 |
• Density | 879.2/km2 (2,277/sq mi) |
• Urban | 22,032 |
• Urban density | 1,053.7/km2 (2,729/sq mi) |
• Metro | 31,820 |
• Metro density | 50.6/km2 (131/sq mi) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
Postal Code | N4K |
Area code(s) | 519 & 226 |
Highways |
Highway 21 Highway 6 Highway 26 |
Website | www.owensound.ca |
Dwellings: 9,532 dwellings |
Owen Sound (Canada 2011 Census population 21,688; CA population 32,092), the county seat of Grey County, is a city in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, Canada. Owen Sound is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay.
The area around the upper Great Lakes has been home to the Ojibwe people since prehistory. In 1815, William Fitzwilliam Owen surveyed the area and named the inlet after his older brother Admiral Edward Owen. A settlement called Sydenham was established in 1841 by Charles Rankin. The settlement was renamed in 1851 and became an incorporated town in 1857.
At one time, Owen Sound's roaring seaport made it a rowdy town known as "Corkscrew City." Supporting this reputation was a tavern named "Bucket of Blood", located on the corner of an intersection known as "Damnation Corners", due to the taverns on all four corners. Ironically, its location was one block away from an intersection known as "Salvation Corners", populated by four churches.
Louis' Steakhouse, a popular upscale restaurant just outside town, was opened by the Gavaris family in the 1980s in a historic building which changed hands several times before being demolished in 2016. It was originally a home (built in 1881), but became a brothel from 1907-1915, where the madam would stand in its castle-like tower and watch the port for a ship to come in, and she would ready her prostitutes to excite the sailors. This reputation for vice and villainy, and the problems that came with it, caused the city to ban all drinking establishments for several decades. The city was "dry" until 1972.