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Chatham-Kent

The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790's, as it straddles the Thames River.

In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place at Moraviantown, near Chatham on October 5, 1813.

During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour.

In 1998 the former Chatham city government merged with that of Kent County to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. In 2003, the population within the boundaries of the former city of Chatham was 43,348.

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent consists of 23 communities. The major communities include:

In 1996, Chatham became the home of Commercial Alcohols, which is the largest ethanol plant in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. In January 2005, the plant was named as one of Canada's 50 best managed companies.Chatham is home to the heaquarters of Union Gas, a natural gas utility. Union Gas is a Duke Energy company.Chatham is also home to a truck plant operated by Navistar International Corporation (NYSE symbol NAV) According to the mid-2001 census, the population estimates there were 107,341 people residing in Chatham-Kent combined city, located in the province of Ontario, of whom 48.7 per cent were male and 51.3 per cent were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 5.7 per cent of the resident population of Chatham-Kent. This compares with 5.8 per cent in Ontario, and almost 5.6 per cent for Canada overall.

In mid-2001, 15.1 per cent of the resident population in Chatham-Kent were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2 per cent in Canada, therefore, the average age is 38.6 years of age comparing to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada.

In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Chatham-Kent declined by 1.8 per cent, compared with an increase of 6.1 per cent for Ontario as a whole. Population density of Chatham-Kent averaged 43.7 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 12.6, for Ontario altogether. The loss of population in Chatham-Kent can be contributed to industry closing or moving out

At the time of the census in May 2001, the resident population of the Chatham-Kent city authority had 107,341 people, compared with a resident population in the province of Ontario of 11,410,050 people.

CHWI A-Channel: a CHUM Limited television station. The station operates out of Windsor, Ontario and has offices in both Chatham, Ontario and Wheatley, Ontario (where it is licensed). This television station has been operating since October 19, 1993.CKSY 94.3FM: an adult contemporary music station on the air since July 1, 1986. In 2002, CKSY swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKUE., a rock music station established on October 6, 1999. In 2002, CKUE swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKSY.CFCO 92.9FM and 630AM: a news, sports, and oldies music station. The original AM broadcasting station was launched in 1926. in October 2005, after Bowes Publishers Limited was acquired by Sun Media Corporation, a division of Quebecor. The experiement lasted only a few weeks before the original title was reinstated in response to public pressure.

There are two main school boards in Chatham-Kent. These are the Lambton-Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board. The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 7 secondary and 21 elementary schools. The St. Clair Catholic board consists of one secondary school and 16 elementary schools.

Chatham-Kent is the home of two colleges - St. Clair College and Ridgetown College.

There are two campuses for St. Clair College located in the municipality - Thames Campus (located in the former city of Chatham) and the Wallaceburg Campus (located in the town of Wallaceburg). There are over 5,000 full time and 12,000 part time students that attend the college each year.

Ridgetown College is actually a campus of the University of Guelph, and offers diplomas in agriculture, horticulture, and veterinary technology.

Dave Gagner: retired NHL hockey player. His sister-in-law, Diane Gagner is currently the mayor of Chatham-Kent.Todd Warriner: former NHL hockey player, picked 4th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques.June Callwood: a prominent magazine writer in the 1950's. Became an Officer in the Order of Canada in 1986

The Indian reserves of Moravian 47 and Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) border Chatham-Kent.