Huntingdon, Quebec

Infobox City
name = Huntingdon, Quebec
native_name = Ville de Huntingdon
nickname =
settlement_type = Ville
motto =




image_shield =


mapsize =
map_caption =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_type2 = Region
subdivision_type3 = RCM
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name = CAN
subdivision_name1 = QC
subdivision_name2 = Montérégie (16)
subdivision_name3 = Haut-Saint-Laurent
subdivision_name4 =
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Stéphane Gendron
leader_title1 =Federal MP
(Beauharnois—Salaberry)
leader_name1 =Claude DeBellefeuille
(Bloc Québécois)
leader_title2 =Quebec MNA
(Huntingdon)
leader_name2 =Albert De Martin
(Action démocratique du Québec)
established_title = Constitution
established_date = 09 Oct, 1848
established_title2 = Reconstitution
established_date2 = 17 Mar, 1921
area_footnotes =
area_magnitude = 1 E8
area_total_km2 =
area_total_sq_mi =
area_land_km2 = 2.60
area_land_sq_mi =
area_water_km2 =
area_water_sq_mi =
area_water_percent =
area_urban_km2 =
area_urban_sq_mi =
area_metro_km2 =
area_metro_sq_mi =
population_as_of =2006
population_footnotes =
population_note =
population_total =2,587
population_density_km2 =994.0
population_density_sq_mi =
population_metro =
population_density_metro_km2 =
population_density_metro_sq_mi =
population_blank1_title =Change ~2001
population_blank1 =-3.0%
population_blank2_title =Dwellings
population_blank2 =1,162
population_urban =
timezone = EST
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
coor_type = 23, rue King
latd=45 |latm=05 |lats=16 |latNS=N
longd=74 |longm=10 |longs=28 |longEW=W
elevation_m =
elevation_ft =
postal_code_type = Postal code(s)
postal_code = J0S
area_code = 450
blank_name =Access Routes
blank_info =jct|state=QC|QC|138
jct|state=QC|QC|201
website = [http://www.villehuntingdon.com/ villehuntingdon.com]
footnotes =

Huntingdon is a small town in Huntingdon County in the Haut-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality and the Montérégie region of the province of Quebec, Canada. The town is located 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Montréal, and only a few miles from the border with New York State.

History

The town was first settled by British soldiers after the War of 1812 and the fertile land in the area led to a successful farming economy. Once the fear of attack from the Americans was gone, in the 1820s businessmen established lumber and grist mills on the banks of the Chateauguay River.

During the first few decades of the 20th century, when transport from major urban centers to the outlying rural areas became economically feasible, the textile industry began expanding at a rapid rate in various towns throughout the province of Quebec. By the 1930s, Huntingdon was home to a small but thriving textile industry. After World War II, entrepreneurs François Cleyn and Alec Tinker acquired the textile businesses in Huntingdon and built their company, Cleyn & Tinker Limited, into one of the most successful woolen mills in all of Canada. In Huntingdon, the business expanded to five interconnected operations around the town and the decades of the 1950s through to the early part of the 1970s saw the town prosper and the company acquire subsidiaries in Sherbrooke, Quebec and in Castlecomer, Kilkenny, Ireland.

Recent history

Huntingdon was also home to Huntingdon Mills (Canada) Ltd., another textile business and a significant employer in the town. In December 2004, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and announced they would have to close putting more than 215 employees out of work. Cleyn & Tinker too announced it would be closing its operations in the town in April 2005. Shortly after the announcement, some of the company's assets and supply contracts were acquired by the Greensboro, North Carolina based International Textile Group Inc. who have a partnership with China Ting Group, a textile manufacturer based in Hong Kong. On January 28 2005, Mayor Stéphane Gendron announced that the town was purchasing the five textile plants that were closing with the expectation that they could be sold to new businesses.

In recent years, the small town had to deal with a substantial increase in teen vandalism. In August 2004 a controversial municipal bylaw went into effect that placed a 10:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew on unsupervised children aged 15 and under. The controversial bylaw held parents responsible for their children's activities through fines if a child was caught in violation of the curfew. After parents filed a legal action to have the bylaw overturned, the Council suspended application of the bylaw.

The town has a bilingual (English & French) weekly newspaper, "The Gleaner/La Source".

Mayor

In August 2006, Mayor Stéphane Gendron (as of 2004), who was also a television (TQS) and radio host (CHMP-FM), drew public attention with controversial remarks about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict by claiming that, "Israelis are the Nazis of modern times." [http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=10013] [http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060822/CPARTS/608220605] fr icon He refused to retract this comment.

Demographics

Mother tongue language from Canada 2006 Census

Geographic Location

Geographic Location (8-way)
Centre = Huntingdon
North = Godmanchester
South = Hinchinbrooke

ee also

* CIT du Haut-Saint-Laurent provides commuter and local bus services.
* Huntingdon (disambiguation)
* Electoral district
* List of Canadian federal electoral districts

References

* [http://www.mamr.gouv.qc.ca/accueil.asp/ Affaires Municipales et Regions Quebec]
* [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Index.cfm?Lang=E/ Statistics Canada]

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=45.088308,-74.171276&spn=0.052114,0.12394 Street map from Google Maps]
* [http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/carto.asp?Speci=29325&Latitude=45,08333&Longitude=-74,16666&Zoom=1700 Commission de la toponymie du Québec. Ville de Huntingdon]