Madoc, Ontario (township)

This article is about the Township of Madoc. For the community in the Township of Centre Hastings, see Madoc, Ontario (village).

Madoc is a township in Hastings County in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

Madoc
Township (lower-tier)
Township of Madoc
Municipal office
Madoc
Coordinates: 44°35′N 77°31′W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Hastings
Settled	Early 19th century
Incorporated	1850
Government
• Type	Township
• Reeve	Loyde Blackburn
• Fed. riding	Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga
• Prov. riding	Hastings-Lennox and Addington
Area [1]
• Land	274.58 km2 (106.02 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[1]
• Total	2,233
• Density	8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal Code	K0K 1Y0
Area codes	613 and 343
Website	www.madoc.ca

The township was named after Welsh prince Madoc ap Owain Gwynedd, credited by some with discovering North America in 1170. There exists an alternative explanation, for which no evidence exists, that the name comes from a small Welsh village, Llanmadoc, on the Gower Peninsula of Wales, not far from the city of Swansea. Its post office dates from 1836.^[2]

Communities

The township of Madoc comprises several villages and hamlets, including communities such as Allen, Bannockburn, Cooper, Eldorado, Fox Corners, Hazzards Corners, Keller Bridge, Rimington, and Empey.

• 
  Bannockburn
• 
  Eldorado

History

Settlement of the township began around 1830, and it was incorporated on January 1, 1850.^[3]

Eldorado (circa 1900)

Mills and ironworks gave initial stimulus to the community of Madoc. Following the discovery of gold-bearing quartz in 1866,^[4] the community prospered as an industrial centre.^[5] In 1877, the community separated from the township and became an incorporated village municipality.^[6]

Eldorado, 9.7 kilometres (6 mi) north of Madoc village, was the site of Ontario's first gold rush on 18 August 1866 by Marcus Powell and William Berryman (or Nicholas Snider). They opened up a limestone cave, 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet high. The resultant mine was named the Richardson Mine, after John Richardson, owner of the farm where it was located. People soon came from all over North America to this area.^[7]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Madoc had a population of 2,233 living in 868 of its 934 total private dwellings, a change of 7.5% from its 2016 population of 2,078. With a land area of 274.58 km² (106.02 sq mi), it had a population density of 8.1/km² (21.1/sq mi) in 2021.^[1]

Canada census – Madoc community profile

	2021	2016	2011
Population	2,233 (+7.5% from 2016)	2,078 (-5.4% from 2011)	2,197 (6.2% from 2006)
Land area	274.58 km2 (106.02 sq mi)	277.97 km2 (107.32 sq mi)	277.97 km2 (107.32 sq mi)
Population density	8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)	7.5/km2 (19/sq mi)	7.9/km2 (20/sq mi)
Median age	49.6 (M: 49.2, F: 50.0)	49.4 (M: 49.9, F: 48.9)	45.8 (M: 46.0, F: 45.7)
Private dwellings	934 (total)  868 (occupied)	889 (total)	894 (total)
Median household income	$79,000	$63,539

References: 2021^[8] 2016^[9] 2011^[10]

Historical census populations – Madoc, Ontario (township)

Year Pop. ±% 1871 3,479 —     1881 3,182 −8.5% 1891 2,967 −6.8% 1901 2,790 −6.0% 1911 2,351 −15.7% 1921 2,140 −9.0% 1931 2,024 −5.4% 1941 1,860 −8.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1951 1,743 −6.3% 1956 1,724 −1.1% 1961 1,697 −1.6% 1966 1,549 −8.7% 1971 1,500 −3.2% 1976 1,538 +2.5% 1981 1,623 +5.5% 1986 1,645 +1.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1991 1,869 +13.6% 1996 2,031 +8.7% 2001 2,044 +0.6% 2006 2,069 +1.2% 2011 2,197 +6.2% 2016 2,078 −5.4% 2021 2,233 +7.5%
Source: Statistics Canada[1][11][12][13][14]

Notable people

• Charles Wilson Cross – Canadian politician. First Attorney-General of Alberta (1912–1918)

See also

• List of townships in Ontario