Editing Goderich, Ontario (section)

== History ==
[[File:Plan of the town of Goderich Upper Canada founded by the Canada Company 1829.jpg|thumb|upright= 1.40|Plan of the town of Goderich, 1829]]
According to the historic plaques erected by the Province, the [[Canada Company]] acquired the vast amount of land called the [[Huron Tract]] in 1826 and in 1827, under Superintendent [[John Galt (novelist)|John Galt]], established its base in what would become Goderich. Development was under way by 1829. In 1850, with a population of about 1,000, the community was incorporated as a town. In addition to Galt, another important individual was Dr. William "Tiger" Dunlop who was Warden of the Forests for the Canada Company, and helped develop the Huron Tract and later, to found Goderich. Also noteworthy, Thomas Mercer Jones administered much of the million acre Tract and built a richly furnished mansion, Park House, in Goderich in about 1839.<ref name="auto1"/>

Town records indicate that the Huron Tract had been acquired by the government from the Chippewa First Nation and that the location of the community was based on coastal surveys completed in 1824 by Captain Bayfield. A log cabin was erected, at the top of the hill overlooking the [[harbour]] in 1827; this building, the home of Dr. William "Tiger" Dunlop, was later referred to as "The Castle".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goderich.ca/en/townhall/goderichhistory.asp |title=The History of the Town of Goderich |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2015 |website=Goderich |publisher=Town of Goderich |access-date=9 March 2017 |quote=The Town of Goderich came into being as an indirect result of the war of 1812-14. During that war the settlers in the vicinity of Lakes Ontario and Erie had suffered much loss, both from the soldiers billeted on them and from invaders. In an attempt to recompense them, John Galt and a group of investors in England formed the Canada Company. The British government granted the company 1,100,000 acres of the land it had recently acquired from the Chippewa First Nation. The plan was that the land would be sold to settlers and part of the profits used to settle the war claims. As it turned out, the claimants received nothing. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324190916/http://www.goderich.ca/en/townhall/goderichhistory.asp |archive-date=24 March 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

An 1846 Gazette indicated that a harbour was operating, but the docks were not in a good state of repair. A light house was being erected. Roads were available to [[Wilmot Township, Ontario]] and to the town of [[London, Ontario]]. Shipbuilding was already underway. A fishing company had started but did not succeed and closed down. There were five churches in Goderich, four Protestant and one Roman Catholic.<ref name="Smiths">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Wm. H. |date=1846 |title=Smith's Canadian Gazetteer - Statistical and General Information Respecting all Parts of The Upper Province, or Canada West |url=https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit |location=Toronto |publisher=H. & W. Rowsell |page=[https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit/page/64 64]-65}}</ref> By 1869 the population was 4,500; a railway station and steamship docks were in operation. Wheat was the primary crop shipped from this area.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/provinceontario00mcevgoog |title=The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory|publisher=Robertson & Cook |date=1869|first=Henry|last=McEvoy |page=[https://archive.org/details/provinceontario00mcevgoog/page/n206 174]|isbn=9780665094125 }}</ref>

Research by the [[University of Waterloo]] indicates that the Canada Company built piers to protect ships in the harbour between 1830 and 1850 and in 1872 the first modern harbour was created. The railway arrived in June 1858 and a grain elevator was erected in 1859. Harbour Hill was graded in 1850. Fishing became an important part of the community, and the pier was lined with fish shanties. A modern rail station was built near the harbour and the building still stands today. Goderich became a very busy rail shipping location by the 1940s and had a roadhouse and turntable until the 1960s. Salt mining, which eventually became a major industry, was started in 1866 when Samuel Platt began opening salt mines beside his flour mill on the Maitland River. The harbour at Goderich was also the home of large flour mills starting in the 1870s.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/heritage-resources-centre/sites/ca.heritage-resources-centre/files/uploads/files/9%20Goderich%20Harbour%20CHL%20Study%20-%20May%204,%202010%20-%20FINAL.pdf |title=Goderich Harbour Cultural Heritage Landscape Study |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=4 May 2010 |website=U of W Heritage Resources |publisher=University of Waterloo |access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref>

The ''Smith's Canadian Gazetteer'' of 1846 describes Goderich as follows:
<blockquote>It was laid out in 1827 by Mr. Galt ...  the town is rather exposed to north and north west winds from the lake, in consequence of which the weather is occasionally wintry, even in the middle of summer ... Owing to its remote situation ... Goderich has not increased as fast as many other places of the same age. A harbour has been constructed but the piers are now getting out of repair. This is the only harbour between Port Sarnia and the Saugeen Islands. A light house is just about being erected .... A steamboat and several schooners have been built here. Stages run twice a week from Goderich to London and Galt, and during the last season the steamboat Goderich called here on her weekly trips ... A fishing company was established here, some years since, but from some mismanagement did not succeed very-well, and is now broken up. Goderich contains five churches and chapels, ... there is also a stone jail and court house, and the Canada Company's offices... Post Office, post four times a week. Population, 659."<ref name="Smiths" /></blockquote>

The Goderich lighthouse, the first on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, opened in 1847 with a tower and the keeper's house. After the 1913 storm it was remodelled.<ref name="auto2"/> A severe storm on Lake Huron in November 1913 caused the loss of 19 ships and 244 lives. A great deal of wreckage floated to the Goderich area shore. The bodies of the sailors were identified and collected by a Lake Carriers' Association committee based at Goderich.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_Huron16.html |title=The Great Storm of 1913 |publisher=Alan L. Brown |website=OntarioPlaques.com |access-date=April 26, 2019}}</ref>

In 1866, four artesian wells began providing the town's water and also attracted tourists who had heard about the water's medicinal properties. The Ocean House Hotel, built in the 1850s, housed many tourists. From about 1910, the sandy beach near town were also used heavily by locals and by visitors who appreciated the shallow, warm water. In 1930, a "bathing house" was built with lockers, restrooms and a small store.<ref name="auto2"/>

Early in World War II, what is now the [[Goderich Airport]] became the site of one of Canada's air training facilities; it opened in December 1939, at Sky Harbour. The school operated until March 1945. A Lancaster X airplane, FM 213, was donated in the 1960s by Branch 109 Royal Canadian Legion in honour of those who died or went missing during the war.<ref name="auto1"/>

Goderich has many historically designated buildings, listed on a map published by the Town.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.goderich.ca/en/Heritage/MapOfDesignatedSitesAndDistricts.asp |title=Heritage Map |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2015 |website=Goderich |publisher=Town of Goderich |access-date=9 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312044619/http://www.goderich.ca/en/Heritage/MapOfDesignatedSitesAndDistricts.asp |archive-date=12 March 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goderich.ca/en/Heritage/PropertyPhotosAndStatementsOfSignificance.asp |title=Heritage Property Photos |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2015 |website=Goderich |publisher=Town of Goderich |access-date=9 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326060838/http://www.goderich.ca/en/Heritage/PropertyPhotosAndStatementsOfSignificance.asp |archive-date=2017-03-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2018, a strike involving over 350 salt mine workers broke out in Goderich, following labour disputes between the [[Unifor]] Local 16-0 union and the American-owned company [[Compass Minerals]], which owns the mine, over a new contract.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/goderich-compass-minerals-strike-barricade-1.4734808|title='Unless they bring a tank down here, I ain't going anywhere,' vows striking miner {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-07-05|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/goderich-salt-mine-blocking-entrance-1.4734394|title=Striking workers at Goderich salt mine ramp up fight in week 10 {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-07-05|language=en-US}}</ref> The strike ended in July 2018 having lasted for 12 weeks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/goderich-salt-workers-ratify-contract-end-strike|title='A huge toll': Goderich salt mine strike ends, but anger lingers {{!}} London Free Press|work=LFP|access-date=2018-07-17|language=en-US}}</ref>

On August 9 2022, the at-the-time Mayor, John Grace, died in a boating accident in Northwestern Ontario.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Trevithick |first1=Matthew |date=August 10, 2022 |title=Boating accident in northwestern Ontario claims life of Goderich, Ont. Mayor John Grace |publisher=Global News |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9050110/goderich-ont-mayor-john-grace-dies-in-boating-accident-in-northwestern-ontario/ |access-date=August 12, 2022}}</ref> The Deputy Mayor, Myles Murdock, took over as the acting Mayor for the remainder of the 2022 term of council. Myles Murdock was elected as the Mayor of Goderich for the 2022-2026 term of council during the [[2022 Ontario municipal elections|2022 Ontario Municipal Election]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=2022 Municipal Election Results: Huron County |url=https://blackburnnews.com/midwestern-ontario/2022/10/24/2022-municipal-election-results-huron-county/ |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=BlackburnNews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

===The Square===
[[File:The Square, Goderich, Ontario (1941).jpg|thumb|The Square, 1941]]
[[File:County Courthouse-The Square-Goderich-Ontario-HPC7450-20220901.jpg|thumb|The County Courthouse]]

Goderich's downtown has an octagonal [[roundabout]] known as 'The Square'. The county courthouse stands in the middle of The Square. This is where, in 1959, [[Steven Truscott]] was convicted of murdering Lynne Harper. The conviction was overturned in 2007.<ref>[[CBC.ca]], [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/court-acquits-truscott-calling-conviction-miscarriage-of-justice-1.668524 Court acquits Truscott, calling conviction 'miscarriage of justice'], August 28, 2008</ref>

The Square was formally listed in the Register of Historic Place by the Government of Canada in May 2007. The Town had already recognized the value of the area in 1982, under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The Square was designed and developed between 1840 and the mid 1890s and in its early days, contained the main office of the [[Canada Company]] which helped to develop much of the county. The design of the square - a "radial composition" - is attributed to John Galt of the Company, inspired by ancient Roman city plans. Over the years it was called "Market Square", "The Square" or "Courthouse Square" by locals.  The original courthouse was located here but was destroyed in a fire and replaced by a modern structure in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7450 |title=The Square |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2011 |website=Historic Places |publisher=Parks Canada |access-date=9 March 2017 |quote=Sources: Town of Goderich by-law 1982-02, 1993-26; The Square, Goderich: A Heritage Conservation District Plan (Nicholas Hill, 1977)}}</ref>

Contrary to a popularly held belief, plans for The Square were not intended for [[Guelph]]. It is thought this rumour started when Goderich was founded, as town planners the Canada Company originally wanted their community to be called Guelph after the Royal Family; the Company eventually resigned to accepting the decisions of Superintendent [[John Galt (novelist)|John Galt]] to keep the name Goderich.<ref>[http://www.goderich.ca/heritage/districts.html Heritage Goderich] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202080710/http://www.goderich.ca/heritage/districts.html |date=February 2, 2006 }}</ref>
[[File:Hotel_Bedford.jpg|thumb|Hotel Bedford at Goderich downtown.]]

====2011 tornado====
[[File:Damage in Goderich after a tornado, August 2011.jpg|thumb|Felled trees and demolished buildings along a road in Goderich after the tornado.]]

{{Main|2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado}}

On the afternoon of 21 August 2011, an [[Fujita scale|F3]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Pope|first=Alexandra|title=F3 tornado aftermath in Goderich: Like a war zone|url=http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201109.html|access-date=23 August 2011|newspaper=The Weather Network News|date=August 23, 2011|author2=Andrea Stockton}}</ref> tornado touched down in the area, after coming ashore as a [[waterspout]], with the [[mesocyclone]] [[thunderstorm]] cell moving across [[Lake Huron]]. It was the strongest tornado that had hit Ontario since [[Southern Ontario Tornadoes of 1996#Wellington & Dufferin County tornado|the Arthur, Ontario tornado of April 20, 1996]], though on average, F3 tornadoes occur in Ontario every eight years. The devastating storm downed power lines, tore roofs from houses, and left cars and trees scattered along city streets. Hundred-year-old trees surrounding the Goderich Courthouse were uprooted in seconds.  The tornado killed one person: Norman Laberge, 61, of [[Lucknow, Ontario|Lucknow]], who was working on a dock associated with a salt mine on the coast of Lake Huron when the storm hit.  37 people were injured. The Environment Canada weather forecast office in Toronto issued a tornado warning for Goderich and southern Huron County 12 minutes before the tornado struck.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/goderich-residents-had-12-minutes-warning-before-tornado-struck/article2137119/ |location=Toronto |work=The Globe and Mail |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822171612/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/goderich-residents-had-12-minutes-warning-before-tornado-struck/article2137119/ |title=Goderich residents had 12 minutes warning before tornado struck |archive-date=August 22, 2011 }}</ref> The town did not have a tornado siren unlike some other Ontario cities.

News reports later indicated that one hundred houses, 25 buildings and thousands of 150-plus-year-old trees were seriously damaged or destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Joe |date=6 April 2012 |title=Goderich: The town Queen Elizabeth once described as the prettiest in Canada weathers on after devastating tornado |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/goderich-the-town-queen-elizabeth-once-described-as-the-prettiest-in-canada-weathers-on-after-devastating-tornado | work=National Post |location=Toronto |access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref>

==== Rebuilding The Square area ====
After the tornado, the roofs of several buildings around the square had been destroyed, and the trees in the green space around the courthouse had been damaged or uprooted.<ref>{{cite news |last=Miner |first=John |date=22 August 2011 |title=Tornado slams Goderich |url=http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2011/08/22/tornado-slams-goderich |work=Sun Times |location=Owen Sound |access-date=9 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312051837/http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2011/08/22/tornado-slams-goderich |archive-date=12 March 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

A year later, 152 of the 170 downtown businesses had reopened but reconstruction of the courthouse, some historic buildings and the trees in the area took much longer.

By 2015, the park had re-opened with a new band shell. New trees, greenery, a statue and a water feature had been installed in front of the court house.
Much of the area around the park had been reconstructed including commercial building on Kingston Street and The Square. The last work to be completed was the Kingston block of commercial buildings on Kingston Street and The Square. Although the farmers' market and flea market had closed before the tornado, it re-opened.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northhuron.on.ca/goderich-s-downtown-gets-new-features-after-tornado-damage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312061834/http://www.northhuron.on.ca/goderich-s-downtown-gets-new-features-after-tornado-damage |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-03-12 |title=A whole new look - Goderich's downtown gets new features after tornado damage |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 2015 |website=North Huron |access-date=8 March 2017 }}</ref>