Havelock-Belmont-Methuen is a township in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, in Peterborough County.

History

The region's history began with an influx of settlers after Belmont and Methuen Township was surveyed in 1823. The community of Havelock, which was named after British general Sir Henry Havelock, was incorporated as an independent village in 1892.

Early settlers built their homes in an area of dense forests, numerous lakes and rivers within the rocky Canadian Shield. They survived by means of fishing, logging and farming. Later in the nineteenth century and continuing to the present, mining became an important economic activity. Early businesses in Havelock included a post office, store, bakery, a blacksmith and a millinery.

In 1881 the Canadian Pacific Railway surveyed a right-of-way through the area and a year later laid rails on a graded roadbed. In the fall of 1884, the first full passenger train stopped at Havelock, from Toronto on its way to Smith's Falls. Havelock was an important freight depot from the 1880s to the 1960s. The passenger service was terminated in 1985; the freight service east of Havelock ended, shortly afterward. The railway's activity today consists of transporting nepheline syenite and crushed basalt rock from two mines north of Havelock. The old railway station has been designated as an Ontario Heritage Site.

In 1932, Jack Kerouac spent three days in Havelock.

From 1966 to his death in 1984, Havelock was the home of Cyril Dominique Huard of 2-1 in the Devil's Brigade, 1st Special Service Force, of World War Two. Cyril Huard resided at lot 5, concession 6, on Rural Route #3, just south of Highway 7 at Blairton Road. The house in which he and his family lived burnt to the ground in 1997. Cyril Huard was employed by Canadian Pacific Railway from 1948 through 1983. He worked as a brakeman on the two mine runs north of Havelock.

In 1998, the village of Havelock was reamalgamated with the township of Belmont and Methuen to form the current township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen.

Communities

The township comprises the communities of Ashby Mill, Blairton (ghost town), Blairton Station, Blue Mountain, Chase Corners, Cordova Mines, Freeman Corners, Jack Lake, Havelock, Kasshabog Lake, MacDonald Bay, Nephton (ghost town), Oak Lake, Preneveau, Round Lake, Rush Point and Vansickle.

Havelock is the site of an annual country music festival, the Havelock Demographics

According to the 2006 Statistics Canada Census:^[1]

• Population: 4,637
• % Change (2001-2006): 3.5
• Area (km².): 526.02
• Density (persons per km².): 8.8
• Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 1975 (total dwellings: 4199)
• Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 92.0 %
  • French as first language: 1.1 %
  • English and French as first language: 1.1 %
  • Other as first language: 5.8 %

Population trend:^[2]

• Population in 2006: 4637
• Population in 2001: 4479
• Population total in 1996: 4327
  • Havelock (village): 1352
  • Belmont and Methuen (township): 2975
• Population in 1991:
  • Havelock (village): 1376
  • Belmont and Methuen (township): 2697

Source Wikepida