Rockland | |
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Community | |
Laurier Street
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Location of Rockland in southern Ontario | |
Coordinates: 45°29′00″N 75°12′00″W / 45.48333°N 75.20000°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
County | Prescott and Russell |
Municipality | Clarence-Rockland |
Founded | 1868 (as parish) |
Government | |
• Representatives | 8 MPs and 9 MPPs |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 11,099 |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC−5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
Postal code | K4A, K4K, K1E |
Area code(s) | 613, 343 |
Rockland is a bilingual community located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Clarence-Rockland. Rockland has a population of 11,099.
The Clarence region began growing in 1840 with the development of the road to l'Orignal-Bytown. Before then, farmers relentlessly cleared wooded space to be able to cultivate land, their only survival mean. In 1868, a young entrepreneur, William Cameron Edwards, decided to establish a sawmill at the McCaul point. The opening of link to the Grand Trunk Railway followed in 1888 to allow wood and merchandise to be transported. Edwards, who held timber rights in the area and was also the first postmaster, named the area for the rocky nature of its landscape.
In 1889, the mission served by the priest Caron from Clarence-Creek became a parish. The first priest of the new parish was Siméon Hudon, native of Québec City. The first school opened in 1875 while the first high-school opened in 1905.
Construction of a second railroad in 1908 linking Ottawa and Hawkesbury greatly promoted population. In effect, for 75 cents (return) people could go to Ottawa to run errands and return in the same day. The woodmill owned by W. C. Edwards closed its doors in 1926, as a result of the economic turmoil following the First World War. A large part of the population moved to the Quebec province to find employment in the woodmills in Hull and Gatineau. The economic recovery began in 1939 with the start of the Second World War. The return of soldiers after the war brought an increase in population. Construction of homes increased rapidly creating a need for expanded water services, electricity and a sewer system implemented in 1964.
Throughout the 1970s, Rockland was a small community with a population of about 3500 people. Since the turn of the millennium, it has seen rapid growth in housing development. Prior to 2000, new homes built were below 60 or 70 annually, but in the period 2000–2010, the total number of new homes built was 2185.
Rockland is a rapidly growing community, and is constantly adding new retailers and businesses to service the community.
Rockland has local outlets of major chains like A&W Restaurant, Boston Pizza, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, Subway Restaurant, Dollarama, Food Basics, EB Games, Giant Tiger, Home Hardware, Independent Grocers, LCBO, McDonald's Restaurant, Mark's Work Wearhouse, 2Networkit.com Inc., Shoppers Drug Mart, SonXPlus, Roch Drouin Auto Repair, St-Hubert Express Restaurant, Gabriel's Pizza, POP Shoes, RE/Max Riviera 2000 Realty Inc., Brokerage, TSC and Walmart Supercentre.