Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Listowel, Ontario

Listowel, Ontario Clock TowerThe first permanent settler of Listowel, Ontario, John Binning arrived in 1852. Within four years David Davidson Hay, one of the most enterprising early settlers, had erected a sawmill and a settlement called Mapleton developed.

When a post office was opened on June 1, 1856, it was named Listowel after the town in Ireland. The community, with a population of 200, contained taverns and a general store operated by William H. Hacking. Ten years later the population had increased to 800 and the settlement became an incorporated Village. The arrival of a branch line of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway hastened the Village's development and it became a Town with a population of 2,054 in 1875.

Location of Listowel, OntarioIn 1998, it was the largest community amalgamated into the new Municipality of North Perth (2006 pop. 12,254).

The town has a frozen, foodservice and specialty food plant owned by the Campbell Soup Company. It has just been announced after 48 years, the planr will close within a year, laying off 500.