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Stratford
—  City  —
City Hall
Motto: Industria et Ars ("Industry and Art")
Stratford
Coordinates: 43°22′N 80°58′W / 43.367°N 80.967°W / 43.367; -80.967Coordinates: 43°22′N 80°58′W / 43.367°N 80.967°W / 43.367; -80.967
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Perth
Incorporated	1859 (town)
Incorporated	1886 (city)
Government
• Mayor	Dan Mathieson
• Council	Stratford City Council
• MPs	Gary Schellenberger
• MPPs	Randy Pettapiece
Area[1]
• Land	26.95 km2 (10.41 sq mi)
Elevation[2]	345 m (1,132 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	30,886
• Density	1,146.0/km2 (2,968/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code span	N4Z, N5A
Area code(s)	519 and 226
Website	www.city.stratford.on.ca

Ontario Street in the summertime.

Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 30,886 as of 2011.

When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was incorporated as a town in 1859 and as a city in 1886.^[3] The first mayor was John Corry Wilson Daly and the current mayor is Dan Mathieson. The swan has become a symbol of the city. Each year twenty-four white swans and two black swans are released into the Avon River. The town is well known for being the home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

History [edit]

The town was originally a railway junction. Furniture manufacturing became an important part of the local economy by the twentieth century. A 1933 a general strike, started by the furniture workers and led by the Communist Workers' Unity League, marks the last time the army was deployed to break a strike in Canada.^[3]

The city's economy took a major turn when the Stratford Shakespeare Festival started in 1953. The annual festival now brings hundreds of thousands of theatre goers and tourists to the area. Celebrities such as Alec Guinness, Christopher Plummer, Peter Ustinov, Dame Maggie Smith, and William Shatner have performed at the festival. The Canadian novelist and playwright Timothy Findley performed in the first season, and had an ongoing relationship with the festival, eventually moving to Stratford in 1997.

The world-renowned festival takes place in four theatres throughout the city: the Festival Theatre, the Avon Theatre, Tom Patterson Theatre and the Studio Theatre.

Timeline [edit]

• 1828 - Settlement begins.
• 1832 - Thomas Mercer Jones, an agent of the Canada Company, names the village "Stratford" and renames the portion of the Thames River running through it the "Avon River." The first sawmill and gristmill are opened.
• 1849 - The Perth County News is Stratford's first weekly newspaper.
• 1853 - Perth County is created, with Stratford as its county seat.
• 1854 - Stratford is incorporated as a village.
• 1856 - Stratford becomes a railway town with the arrival of the Grand Trunk and Buffalo-Lake Huron railways.^[3]
• 1859 - Stratford is incorporated as a town.
• 1864 - The 17-year-old American telegraph operator Thomas Edison briefly lived at 19 Grange Street.
• 1885 - Stratford is incorporated as a city with a population of 9,000.
• 1918 - A gift from a Michigan Canadian National Railway (CNR) employee, swans come to live in Stratford.
• 1933 - The army is called in to attempt to end a general strike and try to systematically remove communist leaders, but fails, the last time the military is used to quell a strike in Canada.
• 1936 - The Shakespearean Gardens are created.
• 1953 - The Stratford Shakespearean Festival Theatre is opened by a Stratford journalist, Tom Patterson.
• 1957 - The festival moves into its first permanent structure.
• 1964 - The CNR shops close.
• 1976 - The Stratford City Hall is designated a National Historic Site of Canada^[4][5]
• 1992 - Stratford Armoury is a recognised Federal Heritage building 1986 on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.^[6]
• 1997 - Nations in Bloom crowns Stratford the "Prettiest City in the World."
• 2003 - 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 realised a complete renewal and the Studio Theatre, a fourth theatre space seating 250 people, was added.
• 2009 - Canada 3.0 brings 1,500 people to Stratford.

Transportation [edit]

Historically, the city was a railway junction. Today, Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, and the Goderich-Exeter Railway provide freight links and Via Rail Canada is the passenger carrier.^[7] While not on the Ontario freeway system, it is at the junctions of Highways 7, 8, and former 19 (Now Perth Road 119) and is connected to Highway 401 by expressways from Kitchener. Greyhound Canada provided daily service between London and Kitchener but the route was cancelled as of July 2011.^[8] The owners of Cherrey Bus Lines, Robin Hood Tours provides chartered bus service from Stratford to locations as far as Kincardine and Wingham.^[9] Within the city, Stratford Transit provides the local bus service, running every half hour six days a week.^[10] The Stratford Municipal Airport(CNM4) is located just north of the city.

Sports and recreation [edit]

Stratford is home of the OHA Midwestern Junior B hockey team, the Stratford Cullitons. The Cullitons have produced notable NHL players such as Ed Olczyk, Craig Hartsburg, Garth Snow, Rob Blake, Chris Pronger, Nelson Emerson, Tim Taylor, Greg de Vries, Jeff Halpern, Rem Murray and Boyd Devereaux and won several Sutherland Cup championships.^[11] Stratford hosted Tim Hortons Hockey Day in Canada on January 30, 2010.^[12] Stratford used to also have an Intercounty Baseball League Team called the Stratford Nationals, and a soccer team in the Kitchener and District Soccer League. House League sports are also available in the Stratford area. There is the Stratford Rotary Hockey League, Hoops For Fun Basketball, Stratford Minor Baseball, the Stratford Soccer House League and the Stratford Dragon Boat Club. The Chess Federation of Canada has its administrative office in Stratford.

Music [edit]

The Stratford Summer Music Festival has been held for seven seasons and features indoor and outdoor performances by international, classical, and world music artists as well as young Canadian performers around downtown Stratford.^[13]

The Stratford Concert Band, a local wind ensemble, traces its history back to the GTR Employees Band, later named the CNR Employees' Band formed in 1907 by James Malone.^[14] 2007 marked their 100th anniversary performing in Stratford and they celebrated with a gala concert and reception in May. The band performs a free outdoor concert in Upper Queen's Park every Wednesday evening in the summer months.

Notable musicians with a local connection include, Loreena McKennitt (who now makes Stratford her home), Richard Manuel of The Band, Dayna Manning, Graham Van Pelt of Miracle Fortress, Darren Dumas of The Salads, John Till, who backed Janis Joplin, and Ken Kalmusky, who played with Ian & Sylvia's Great Speckled Bird. During their early careers, Manuel, Till and Kalmusky were members of the Stratford group, The Revols, and later became members of Ronnie Hawkins' backing group, The Hawks. Ken Kalmusky's son David Kalmusky, is a Juno awarded, multiple gold selling, Grammy nominated producer, mixer and musician. Several international operatic singers reside in Stratford such as Baritone, James Westman, and Tenor, Roger Honeywell. Pop artist Justin Bieber grew up in Stratford as well. A plaque with Bieber's name rests outside Stratford's Avon Theatre. Bieber was noticed by his current Manager after he saw videos of Bieber performing in a local Stratford singing competition.

Climate [edit]

Demographics [edit]

Media [edit]

Digital media [edit]

• I On Stratford

Newspapers [edit]

• The Beacon Herald,
• The Stratford City Gazette
• SNAP Perth

Radio [edit]

• CJCS 1240 AM
• CHGK-FM 107.7 FM

CHYM FM (96.7 FM)

Economy [edit]

Stratford maintains manufacturing, tourism, commercial, financial and service industries, supporting a diverse economy. The top two sectors of the economy being tourism and manufacturing.^[17] The annual Shakespeare Festival is a large contributor to the Stratford economy.

Education [edit]

The city's three secondary schools are:

• Stratford Central Secondary School,
• Stratford Northwestern Secondary School,

both part of the Avon Maitland District School Board, and

• St. Michael's Catholic Secondary School, which is part of the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board. It is Stratford's only school for special education.

Stratford is also home to the Stratford Chef School.

University of Waterloo Stratford Campus [edit]

September 2010 marked the official opening of the Stratford campus.^[18] The University of Waterloo’s Stratford Campus offers undergraduate, graduate and advanced education programs and research opportunities. It is a forward-looking research, education and convergence center that will drive the next generation of digital media applications and content models. Using a collaborative education style, the campus will bring students, leading researchers, businesses and entrepreneurs together to create, examine and commercialize opportunities in the digital media space. It is envisioned to quickly become a center piece for collaboration, learning and sharing through conferences and workshops.^[19]

The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus showcases a collaboration of academic, government and private sector support. The University of Waterloo, as well as The University of Western Ontario, will collaborate on teaching, research and professional efforts on the Waterloo's soon-to-be-established Stratford campus. The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding in Stratford to investigate shared academic initiatives. The University of Western Ontario has expertise across the institution in various aspects of digital media, information technologies and critical media studies.

In June 2009, the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus and the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) hosted the Canada 3.0 forum in Stratford to map Canada’s digital future and create opportunities for new business and jobs. In May 2010, the second Canada 3.0 was held in Stratford again.

Notable past and present residents [edit]

Statue of William Shakespeare.

Notable residents that have lived in Stratford include singers Loreena McKennitt and Richard Manuel, classical singer James Westman, and actor Shawn Roberts. Canadian news anchors Lloyd Robertson and Tony Parsons both got their start in broadcasting at local radio station CJCS, Robertson in 1952 and Parsons in 1957. CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge and his wife Cynthia Dale currently live in Stratford, as does actor Colm Feore.

Stratford is often credited as the home of hockey star Howie Morenz, who was actually from nearby Mitchell. The northern block of Nile Street, between Lakeside Drive and Water Street (on which the Allman Arena is situated) was renamed to Morenz Drive in his honour. William D. Connor, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 1907–1909, grandfather of former Congressman and Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird, and great-grandfather of Jessica Laird Doyle, wife of Governor James Doyle of Wisconsin, was born near Stratford on a farm.^[20]

Thomas Edison briefly worked as a telegraph operator for the Grand Trunk Railway at Stratford's railway station. John Davis Barnett was an Assistant Mechanical Superintendent of the Grand Trunk Railroad and Mechanical Superintendent of the Midland Railroad^{[disambiguation needed]} and librarian; later in life becoming a collector donating to the University of Western Ontario. The assistant architect of the United States Capitol, Michael G. Turnbull, was born in Stratford and lived there until the age of eleven, when his family emigrated to the United States.

Dr. Norman Bethune made Stratford his temporary home in the early part of 1917.^[21] He worked as a physician at the home/office on Albert Street that was occupied by Dr. Lorne Robertson in the 1930s (now demolished). The two cast iron dogs from this residence now stand guard outside the entrance to Queen's Park at the north end of Parkview Drive. His sister Janet and her husband Thomas Stiles were host to Norman and his new wife Frances in 1924, when they stayed at Janet's home (at 335 Cobourg Street) for several months.

Dr. Robert B. Salter was born in Stratford

Sister cities [edit]

Stratford is a member of the Stratford Sister Cities program which was created to promote friendship and cultural exchange between participating countries. Participation is restricted to places called "Stratford" that have a Shakespeare Theatre or Festival. A reunion is held every second year by a different member.^[22]

The five principal sister cities of Stratford, Ontario are:

• Stratford upon Avon, England, United Kingdom
• Stratford, London, England, United Kingdom
• Stratford, New Zealand
• Stratford, Connecticut, United States
• Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stratford, Ontario

• The City of Stratford
• The City of Stratford at Statistics Canada
• The Stratford Festival Official Website
• Ovation Music Festival
• Pictures of Stratford
• Stratford Summer Music Festival
• Stratford Public Library
• Stratford Visitors Information
• I On Stratford

		Perth East
	Perth South		Perth East
		Stratford
		Perth South

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