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Stratford
City Council Information Page
Stratford
Ontario Canada-
(extracted
with permission from http://www.city.stratford.on.ca/site_tourism/about_stratford_history.asp)
History:
The settlement of Stratford began with the surveying of
the Huron Road by the Canada Company in 1828. In December of that year and
January of 1829, their agent, William "Tiger" Dunlop, planted his surveyor's
stakes around the area that was to become this beautiful city.
The Canada Company had been formed in 1824, when the government of Upper
Canada was granted a million acres of land to settle. The district was known
as the Huron Tract and included what is now Stratford and most of Perth County.
Stratford, itself, began to take shape in 1832 when Thomas Mercer Jones,
a Canada Company director, gave a picture of William Shakespeare to William
Sargint, the owner of the Shakespeare Hotel. A stone marks the site of this
hotel, near 70 Ontario Street.
Jones gave the village the name of Stratford and the creek, which had
been known as Little Thames, was renamed the Avon River.
In 1834 surveyor John MacDonald created the town plan. He placed the geographic
centre of town at the point where four townships met, not far from today's
Wade's Flower Shop. He then created four main roads radiating from the centre.
Three of these roads were named for the Great Lakes to which they lead,
Huron, Erie and Ontario.
In 1853 Perth
County decided to separate from the Huron district, of which it had always
been a part. A condition of separation was that Stratford become the county
seat, with a courthouse, jail and registry office. The next year Stratford
was incorporated as a village, and in 1859 it became a town.
The year 1856 signaled the arrival of the Grand Trunk Railway and the
Buffalo and Lake Huron Line, beginning Stratford's long history as a major
rail centre. In 1871 a locomotive repair shop came to town; it was expanded
in 1889 and 1906. The Grand Trunk amalgamated with the Buffalo and Lake
Huron Railway and in 1923 was taken over by the Canadian National Railway.
The CNR was a significant contributor to the town's economy until the closure
of the shops in 1964.
Another major economic sector was the furniture industry. In 1886, the
year after Stratford was incorporated as a city, George McLagan created jobs
in the furniture industry. These positions attracted prospective workers to
the area in the early 1890's, a time of economic hardship in other parts of
the country.
With corporate
success came industrial dispute. In 1933 a general strike, which started
with furniture workers and chicken pluckers, became so unruly that the army,
along with its tanks, was called in to put a stop to the strike. The strike
was a major event in Canadian industrial history and is the subject of playwright
James Reaney's play Kingwhistle!
In 1904 the Parks Board was established. It created Upper Queen's Park,
a professionally designed horticultural system around the area where the Festival
Theatre now stands. Another major accomplishment came between 1905 and 1912,
when the Board and citizens dissuaded the Canadian National Railway from
laying its tracks along the Avon River.
Stratford's signature swans were introduced to the park system in 1918.
And, in 1936, R. Thomas Orr, an original member of the Parks Board, succeeded
in having the Shakespearean Gardens created.
It wasn't until 1953 that Tom Patterson, a Stratford-born reporter for
Maclean's Magazine, and a group of local supporters opened the Stratford Festival.
As the CNR shops closed and the success of the furniture industry waned,
the Festival helped make tourism a significant industry for the city. Today
Stratford has a diversified economy featuring manufacturing, finance and
service-related businesses.
| Facinating Facts About Stratford |
| 2002
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The Stratford Festival of Canada celebrated its 50th
season welcoming 672,924 patrons to 18 plays.This was a record number of
playgoers during the 50 seasons. The Avon Theatre realized a complete renewal
and The Studio Theatre, a fourth theatre space seating 250 people was added.
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| 1997
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Stratford named "Prettiest City in the World" as
champion of the Nations in Bloom Award presented in Spain |
| 1997 |
Act III, a $13 million
Festival Theatre renovation project, updates patron services including seating,
box office and theatre store. |
| 1993
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Canadian Travel & Tourism Industry nominates the Stratford
Festival as the Canadian Attraction/Event of the year. Population
reaches 28,200 with an economy based on theatre and automotive industries.
|
| 1991 |
Tom Patterson Theatre dedicated. (formerly
the Third Stage.) |
| 1985
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$3 million dollar addition to Festival Theatre allows
production facilities to be housed in one of North America's largest backstage
areas. |
| 1982 |
150th anniversary of the founding of
settlement. |
| 1957
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Stratford Festival moves into a new permanent structure.
|
| 1953 |
Stratford Festival opens in a tent,
founded by Stratford journalist, Tom Patterson.
CNR announces its closure. |
| 1935
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Shakespearean Gardens open. |
| 1918 |
First swans given to the city by a
Michigan CNR employee. |
| 1904
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Parks Board founded, eventually servicing 850 acres
of city parkland. |
| 1901 |
The 1250 seat "Theatre Albert" is
built (now the Avon Theatre). |
| 1882-1889
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Stratford reaches a population of 9000, designated a
city. Present jailhouse and courthouse are built. |
| 1856 |
Stratford becomes a railway town with the
coming of the Grand Trunk and Buffalo-Lake Huron railways. |
| 1854
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Stratford is established as a village. |
| 1849 |
First weekly newspaper, 'Perth County
News' is established. |
| 1832-1834
|
'Shakespeare Hotel' opens as Stratford is officially
named. First sawmill & gristmill are built. |
| 1827 |
Stratford is surveyed as a site for the Canada
Company. |
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