Cannington, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Cannington is a community located in Brock Township
Brock, Ontario
Brock is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. Brock Township is also a former municipality and geographic township prior to the amalgamation that formed the current municipality.-History:...

, Durham Region, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

History

Originally part of the original Brock Township, Cannington was first settled in 1833. It was originally known as McCaskill's Mills after a local mill-owning family. In 1849, a post office was opened, at which point the settlement was renamed Cannington after former British foreign secretary and Prime Minister George Canning
George Canning
George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...

 (1770–1827). Cannington separated from Brock Township in 1878 when it was incorporated as a Village.

When Durham Region was created in 1974, Cannington was amalgamated with the original Brock Township, Thorah Township and the Village of Beaverton
Beaverton, Ontario
Beaverton is a community in Brock Township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada.Originally part of Thorah Township in Ontario County, Beaverton was first settled in 1822. The settlement is located on Lake Simcoe at the mouth of the Beaver River...

 to create the newly expanded Township of Brock. In 1987 there was a fire that destroyed dozens of homes through the town.

Cannington today

The community serves as a service centre for the surrounding rural area. It is home to the municipal offices of Brock Township
Brock, Ontario
Brock is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. Brock Township is also a former municipality and geographic township prior to the amalgamation that formed the current municipality.-History:...

, as well as a secondary school, Brock High School
Brock High School
Brock High School is a public high school located in Cannington, Ontario. It falls within the Durham District School Board, and serves families in Brock Township. The school has students in grades 9 through 12 and offers a wide range of academic and extracurricular activities.-History:The school...

, and an elementary school, McCaskill's Mills Public School, which was originally 2 separate schools, H.W. Knight Public School, and Cannington Public School. The 2 schools later amalgamated, forming McCaskill's Mills Public School, named after the old name of the town. A new school was built in 2006. The school also offers a French Immersion
French immersion
French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French...

 Program. The high school does not. The majority of French Immersion students are bused to Port Perry High School, which offers French Immersion. The post office on Cameron St. W. services locals with lock boxes and two rural routes. There are also many restaurants such as, Mays Restaurant, Georgios and The Locker.

Notable residents

Cannington was the adopted hometown of guitarist Don Ross
Don Ross (guitarist)
Donald James Ross , commonly known as Don Ross, is a Canadian fingerstyle guitarist noted for the emotion and intensity of his playing as well as his use of extended technique....

 for twelve years.

CBC TV Presenter Ralph Benmergui lived in Cannington in the late 80's and early 90's.

Cannington was home to the author Timothy Findley
Timothy Findley
Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, OC, O.Ont was a Canadian novelist and playwright. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.-Biography:...

, who wrote a memoir, From Stone Orchard
From Stone Orchard
From Stone Orchard is a memoir by Timothy Findley, published in 1998.The book, which includes some articles Findley had originally written for Harrowsmith magazine, is a memoir of Findley's life at Stone Orchard, the farm near Cannington, Ontario where he lived with his partner William Whitehead....

, about his experiences living at a farm on the outskirts of Cannington. After Findley moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 due to declining health, dancer Rex Harrington
Rex Harrington
Rex Howard Harrington, OC, FRSC is a Canadian ballet dancer. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2005, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by York University and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada...

 purchased Stone Orchard.

Cannington is also the birthplace of Rick MacLeish
Rick MacLeish
Richard George MacLeish is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings...

, a retired NHL hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 player who starred with the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 in the 1970s and 1980s.

Artist Robert Holmes
Robert Holmes
- Politicians :*Robert Holmes elected in 1653*Robert D. Holmes , governor of Oregon*Robert A. "Bob" Holmes, Georgia state legislator*Robert E. Holmes , Ohio state supreme court justice...

 (1861–1930) was an artist known for his watercolour depictions of wildflowers. He also taught at Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College , located in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an independent elementary and secondary school for boys between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The secondary school segment is divided into ten houses; eight are...

, the Central Ontario School of Art and Design and its successor, the Ontario College of Art
Ontario College of Art & Design
OCAD University is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. It is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on McCaul Street beside the Art Gallery of Ontario...

. Some of his works can be seen in the Cannington Historical Society's Museum in the upper part of MacLeod Park.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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