Tweed, Ontario (village)

Main street in Tweed

Tweed, Ontario is a community on Stoco Lake and the only urban centre in the Municipality of Tweed in Hastings County, central-eastern Ontario, Canada. Tweed has a population of 1,540 according to the 2001 Canada Census. The principal thoroughfare through Tweed is Highway 37.

History

Tweed was first settled in the 1830s, originally named Hungerford Mills, after the surrounding township of Hungerford. The settlement was renamed Tweed after the River Tweed in Scotland. The economic development of the community was enabled by lumbering and mining developments during the mid 19th century. Tweed became a service centre for area farmers.[1] It was incorporated as a Village in 1891.

In 1967, Tweed was the site of the first all-women municipal council in Canada.[1]

In 1998, Tweed was amalgamated with the Township of Hungerford and the Township of Elzevir & Grimsthorpe to form the Municipality of Tweed.

Notable events

In 1996 the town made news when resident Presbyterian minister Larry Turner and Russel Moon applied for a CFL team, in an attempt to become the Green Bay of Canada. Had the attempt been successful, the team would have been known as the Tweed Muskies.

In 1989 the Ottawa branch of the Elvis Sighting Society declared Elvis was alive and well and living in Tweed. For several years after that an Elvis is Alive festival was held in July. More recently Tweed and Elvis made the headlines when a reporter from the Toronto Sun came to investigate if there was truth to the rumours. The only evidence that remains now that Elvis may have ever been in the community is a very short road now called Elvis Lane. Oddly enough not far from the proposed site of the Tweed Muskies stadium.

Between 2007 and 2009, a series of crimes occurred in Tweed and neighbouring Cosy Cove including 2 sexual assaults, but mainly numerous thefts of women's undergarments and clothing. In February 2010 Jessica Lloyd of nearby Belleville was found dead in Tweed after Russell Williams led police to her body, confessing to her murder, as well as that of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, a military flight attendant stationed at CFB Trenton, but living in neighboring Brighton. Williams pleaded guilty to all charges on October 18, 2010.

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_5658_1.html Ontario Heritage Trust Founding of Tweed
  2. "Hon. Patrick J. LeSage Q.C., Counsel". Gowlings. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
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Coordinates: 44°28′30″N 77°18′30″W / 44.47500°N 77.30833°W / 44.47500; -77.30833

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