Teeswater, Ontario

Teeswater is a community in the municipality of South Bruce, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is located 12 kilometers west of Mildmay, 16 kilometers north of Wingham on County Road 4, and 25 kilometers southeast of Ripley on Bruce Road 6. Population (2006) circa 1200.

History

Teeswater is located on the Teeswater River, a tributary of the Saugeen River. Surveyors named the river after the River Tees in England and the settlement was named for the river. The first settlers, mainly English and Scottish, arrived in 1856. Teeswater was incorporated as a village in 1875 and remained a separate municipality until it was amalgamated with Culross Township to form the Township of Teeswater-Culross in 1998. In 1999, Teeswater-Culross was itself amalgamated with the Township of Mildmay-Carrick to form the new municipality of South Bruce. Teeswater is the administrative centre of South Bruce and the largest community in the municipality.

A weekly newspaper, "The Teeswater News" was published from 1871 until 1996. Like many other Ontario villages, Teeswater nurtured a musical tradition as it grew, supporting first a string orchestra and a later a flourishing concert band. It is home to the prize-winning [http://www.libris.ca/pipers Teeswater Highlanders Pipes and Drums] (established in 1961), which regularly presents concerts on the lawn beside the Town Hall.

Famous people

*Frank Leahy, (Fiddler). The youngest person to ever win the Canadian National Fiddling Championship, he has been described as an innovator, as much at home as a champion fiddler and master of the full gamut of clogs, reels and jigs as he is in other genres, such as jazz, swing, big band and classical. He was born in 1961 in Teeswater and started playing at home when he was three years old.
*Bob Worrall, (Piper). One of North America's leading teachers, adjudicators and performers, Bob was born and raised in Teeswater. He won the North American Professional Championship an unprecedented seven times, and held the Ontario Championship Supreme title for 12 of his 13 years in professional competition. In 1977, he was winner of both the March and the Strathspey/Reel events at the Northern Meeting in Inverness, Scotland.

Churches

Knox Presbyterian Church was built in the 1870s, and is now a continuing congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Another church of the same denomination, Westminster Presbyterian Church, burnt to the ground in the 1970s. Teeswater United Church was built in 1879 as the Wesleyan Methodist Church. It became the Teeswater Methodist Church in 1884, and since 1925 has been affiliated with the United Church of Canada. Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church was built around the same time as the two protestant churches, and is located next to the school of the same name. In the past, Teeswater has been home to churches of the Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal, Free Presbyterian, Episcopal Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist faiths. Now there are only three churches: the Roman Catholic, United, and Presbyterian.

chools

The village is currently home to two schools, Hillcrest Central Public School (Bluewater District School Board), and Sacred Heart Catholic School (Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board).

Industry

Home Hardware

Teeswater once had a Home Hardware on the village's main street. This Home Hardware closed years ago, but the sign on the side of the building remains.

Creamery

Teeswater was the site of the first commercial creamery in Ontario/second in Canada. The creamery is still in business today, and is owned by Gay Lea.

Grist Mills

Teeswater was a site of 2 commercial grist mills, Littles mill , and the Teeswater & district Co-op grist mill. Littles mill is still standing and is now a house, with the mill pond and river dam still in place. The co-op mill burnt down in 1976, and the dam taken out in about 1991. The pond location and dam bed can still be seen today. For many years before and after the mill burned down, children would go and play ice hockey on the frozen mill pond. The site of the co-op mill building is located near the teeswater creamery "stink tank". This is slang for a holding tank for spoiled milk.

Fire Hall

The Teeswater-Culross Fire Hall occupies the former British Petroleum Canada (BP) service station. Alex Casagrande began operating at the location in 1954 when it was a Cities Service station. In 1959, the service station was destroyed by fire. The lot was purchased by Mr. Casagrande and a new garage was erected under the BP banner. In 1976, Mr. Casagrande retired and the garage was sold to the Teeswater-Culross Fire Department.

Events

*Kinsmen (Kids') Fishing Derby first Saturday after fishing season open (May)
*Howell's Fish Fry Presented by the Teeswater Curling Club (first Sunday in May)
*Teeswater-Culross Fair (last week in August)
*Ye Olde Spook House last weekend before Halloween.
*Annual Kinette Craft Show last Sunday Before Halloween

pecial Events

*International Plowing Match September 16-20, 2008 (www.plowingmatch.org)
*Old Boy's Reunion July 2009

ee also

*Gay Lea
*Teeswater River