McKellar, Ontario

McKellar is a township and census subdivision in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada. The 2021 population was 1,419.

McKellar
Township (single-tier)
Township of McKellar
McKellar
Coordinates: 45°29′N 79°51′W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Parry Sound
Settled	ca. 1860
Incorporated	1873
Government
• Type	Township
• Reeve	David Moore
• Fed. riding	Parry Sound-Muskoka
• Prov. riding	Parry Sound—Muskoka
Area [1]
• Land	176.07 km2 (67.98 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[1]
• Total	1,419
• Density	8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal Code	P0G 1C0, P2A 0B4
Area codes	705, 249
Website	www.mckellar.ca

McKellar is named for Archibald McKellar (1816-1894), a member of the legislative assemblies for the province of Canada (1857-1867) and Ontario (1867-1875).

Communities

Municipal offices and library

McKellar is also the primary and largest community within the township, located along Provincial Highway 124. It was originally known as Armstrong's Rapids, but the name McKellar was given when the post office opened in the community in 1870. Broadbent is named for American Steel Millionaire, Samuel Broadbent (1845-1923) who financed the building for the Trans-Canadian Railway. Hurdville is named for Canadian Financier William Faulkner Hurdville (1838-1910), who also helped finance the Trans-Canadian Railway.^{[citation needed]}

Other population centres within the township are:

• Broadbent
• Hurdville

History

In the 1860s, the community of Broadbent was founded, named after its settlers Henry and Edward Broadbent. In 1867, the settlement of Armstrong's Rapids was formed by Samuel Armstrong Jr., Andrew Moore, and John McKeown, coming from Parry Sound. Two years later in 1869, a mill is built at Armstrong's Rapids. That same year the township was surveyed. In 1871, its post office opened, and in 1873, the township was incorporated with Samuel Armstrong as its first reeve.^[2]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, McKellar had a population of 1,419 living in 695 of its 1,515 total private dwellings, a change of 27.7% from its 2016 population of 1,111. With a land area of 176.07 km² (67.98 sq mi), it had a population density of 8.1/km² (20.9/sq mi) in 2021.^[1]

Historical census populations – McKellar, Ontario

Year Pop. ±% 1881 1,056 —     1891 1,189 +12.6% 1901 697 −41.4% 1911 562 −19.4% 1921 551 −2.0% 1931 494 −10.3% 1941 549 +11.1% 1951 419 −23.7%	Year Pop. ±% 1956 440 +5.0% 1961 437 −0.7% 1966 361 −17.4% 1971 478 +32.4% 1976 636 +33.1% 1981 686 +7.9% 1986 644 −6.1% 1991 879 +36.5%	Year Pop. ±% 1996 939 +6.8% 2001 933 −0.6% 2006 1,080 +15.8% 2011 1,144 +5.9% 2016 1,111 −2.9% 2021 1,419 +27.7%
1881 and 1891 Population figures include population of Hagerman geographic township. Source: Statistics Canada[1][3][4][5][6][7]

Mother tongue (2021):^[1]

• English as first language: 92.6%
• French as first language: 1.9%
• English and French as first language: 0%
• Other as first language: 5.5%

See also

• List of townships in Ontario