Acton, Ontario

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acton is located in south central Ontario on the Black Creek, an eventual tributary of the Credit River. It was erected as a town on July 1, 1950. From January 1, 1974, it became part of the town of Halton Hills, part of the Halton Regional Municipality. Population (2001): 7,767. It is served by Ontario provincial highway 7, running between Brampton and Guelph, Ontario, and is served by GO Transit bus service on the Georgetown (GO Transit) corridor.

1 Leathertown
2 Geography
3 Population
4 Actonite or Actonian?
5 Notable Actonians
6 Bibliography
7 External links

[edit] Leathertown

The town is nicknamed Leathertown because of the extensive tanning industry that was located in the area during the 19th Century and early 20th Century. During this time, Acton was the main community of the Halton Hills region, much larger than nearby Georgetown, Ontario which now has four times the population. The area was attractive to the leather industry because of the large numbers of trees in the area. The nickname is still reflected today by the Olde Hide House, a large leather goods store in an old warehouse, and Beardmore Leather downtown. The town also features Fairy Lake, a manmade lake accessible from many locations within the town, but most often from Prospect Park.

Downtown Acton

[edit] Geography

The town's location was chosen because of the good source of waterpower from the Black Creek, and the flour mill established at the beginning is still in operation today, although its source of power has changed. It is also near the watershed between the Credit River and the Grand River which is just west of the urban area, where the Blue Springs Creek begins.

[edit] Population

Acton was largely Protestant - until the Regional Municipality of Halton Act was passed in 1974, which declared the whole of Halton Region to be a separate school zone, the town was unique in being the only urban area in the former Halton County to not have a Roman Catholic school.

The population mix only began to change in the 1990s, when new development was allowed to begin after water and sewer restrictions were lifted after having been in place for almost 30 years. Current construction in the north and east ends of town will allow the population to rise to almost 10,000.

[edit] Actonite or Actonian?

It is interesting to note in older books and papers of the area that not one, but two designations have existed for residents of the area at the same time. "Actonite" was used to identify people who moved to the area, and "Actonian" referred to people who grew up there. The first designation now predominates, due to the last influx of new residents in the 1960s, but older residents still remember it.