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The Municipality of Chatham-Kent (2006 population 108,177) is a city-status single-tier municipal government in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The municipality is mainly rural and agricultural, with industry in the larger urban areas.
History
The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790s, as it straddles the Thames River. The town was named after Chatham, Kent, England, which was also developed around a naval dockyard. In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ceto and the Old English ham thus meaning a forest settlement.
In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place between Moraviantown and Thamesville on October 5, 1813.
During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States. The Rev. John Brown, the abolitionist, planned his raid on the Harpers Ferry Virginia Arsenal in Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. The small village of North Buxton, part of the African Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in the Underground Railroad.
In 1998 the County of Kent and the city of Chatham were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. Some say this controversial move has had a negative impact on small-town Ontario, where the province shifted financial responsibility unto the individual municipalities, and taxes and infrastructure suffered as a result. The Municipality of Chatham-Kent currently consists of 23 communities.
Much paranormal activity has been reported in and around Chatham-Kent, mainly due to its rich--and often turbulent--history. The downtown area, following the Thames River, is rife with ghost stories, both past and present. The most famous case in the area is the Baldoon Mystery-which actually took place just outside Wallaceburg. In 2004, local author/historian Sheila Gibbs wrote a book titled The Ghosts of Chatham-Kent, which quickly became a best-seller among the locals. A sequel was released in October 2007.
Geography
At 2,458 square kilometres, Chatham-Kent is the twelfth-largest municipality by area in Canada and the largest in southwestern Ontario. Over 59,000 of the 108,000 residents live in the former City of Chatham. Other population centres in the municipality include Wallaceburg, Blenheim and Tilbury, Ridgetown and Dresden.
The Lower Thames River runs through Chatham-Kent to Lake St. Clair in the west, while the Sydenham River flows through Wallaceburg and Dresden. The municipality has several kilometres of shoreline along lakes Erie and St. Clair.
The Indian reserves of Moravian 47 and Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) border Chatham-Kent.
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