Vankleek Hill, Ontario

Vankleek Hill is a community in Champlain township in eastern Ontario, situated 94 kilometre (58 miles) east of Downtown Ottawa.

This agricultural based community became a thriving community in the 1890s and still retains many of the buildings and structures which were present then. This is reflected in the fact that Vankleek Hill is the Gingerbread (the wood carvings on the eaves of one's roof) capital of Ontario.

It was named after Simeon Vankleek, a United Empire Loyalist, who settled there near the end of the 18th century. Relatives report that he left his farm in New York (Poughkeepsie, New York area), in fear of soldiers from the Revolutionary War. He hopped on his horse and rode as far as he could until he got to what was to be Vankleek Hill, where the horse dropped dead. The town has a population of 1,996 and the local newspaper is The Review.

The name of the local hockey team is the "Vankleek Hill Cougars." Vankleek Hill also has a soccer league, the Champlain Soccer League, and takes part in the Glengarry Soccer League. There is also a competitive hockey league for girls and women called the Hawkesbury/Champlain Girls Hockey Association.

Vankleek Hill is currently home to a community garden, which has two acres of organically-grown produce being harvested by residents within a few steps from Main Street.

The town has one set of traffic lights, 9-hole golf course, golf driving range, parks, arena and a fair ground.

In recent years, the town has become the home of Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, an award-winning microbrewery that supplies pubs, restaurants, and LCBOs throughout Eastern Ontario.

Simeon Van Kleeck and his wife Cecilia Jaycox arrived in Nova Scotia from the former British Province of New York in 1783. Simeon, of Dutch descent, was a demobilized officer who had supported the British crown during the American Revolution. His wife Cecilia had witnessed her brother’s capture and execution for his British allegiance.

As a United Empire Loyalist, Simeon was to receive land in payment for his services, and he applied for his grant several times. The legend is that while he waited for a decision, he sighted high ground on a plane of flat land south of the Ottawa River. Simeon and his son Simeon Jr. settled c.1797 on Concession IV, Lots 7,8, and 9, Hawkesbury Township. Today this is the location of Vankleek Hill.

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