Greater Napanee


Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created by amalgamating the old Town of Napanee with the townships of Adolphustown, North and South Fredericksburgh, and Richmond in 1999. Greater Napanee is co-extensive with the original Lennox County.
The town is home to the Allan Macpherson House, a historic 1826 property that is now a museum. Macpherson was a major in the Lennox militia, operated the town's grist and saw mills, as well as the distillery and general store. He served as post master and land agent, operated the first local printing press and helped fund the establishment of many local schools and churches. The home sits on the banks of the Napanee River, which runs through the town.
The largest employer is a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company passenger car tire plant.
The main streets are Dundas Street and Centre Street. Dundas Street is part of former provincial Highway #2, also known as Kingston Road, and travels through downtown from Toronto in the west and onward to Kingston in the east. Centre Street travels through the centre of the town from the modern commercial area close to Highway 401 to the downtown and onwards, as County Road 8 to Lake Ontario.

History

The first recorded settlement in the area of Greater Napanee is Ganneious, an Iroquois village, settled temporarily by the Oneida from approximately 1660 to 1690. The village was located on or near the Hay Bay area and is one of seven Iroquois villages settled on the northern shores of Lake Ontario in the 17th century. The exact location of the village has not been determined.
The area was settled by Loyalists in 1784 and Napanee was first incorporated in 1854. The first Loyalists settlers arrived at Adolphustown on June 15, 1784. Their landing spot and site of the first Loyalist cemetery in the area has been preserved by the Loyalists.
The town developed at the site of a waterfall, the head of navigation, on the Napanee River where early industry could utilize the power potential of the river. The river transported logs from the interior north of the town. Sawmilling, gristmilling and other farm service industries were established. Napanee was first known as Clarksville after Robert Clark, who built a grist mill there.
Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, practised law in Napanee.

Historical sites

Napanee's downtown core is also lined with historical buildings dating back to the 1800s. The Town of Greater Napanee's Self-Guided Historic Walking Tour provides locations and information on these sites as well as other historical locations nearby.

Annual town events

Some annual events are the Napanee Riverfront Festival and the Multicultural Festival, Music By The River, the Scarecrow Festival, the Downtown Shopping Party and the Big Bright Light Show, as well as an annual art exhibition and sale in Conservation Park, Art in the Park. Napanee also hosts a bi-weekly Hometown Market in the summer months.
You can also find a couple of music festivals that take place at the Napanee Fairgrounds. The Napanee Country Jamboree and Voodoo Rockfest which takes place the 3rd week of September annually.

Demographics

Population:
Mother tongue:
Some students commute a short distance to Ernestown Secondary School to the east in Loyalist township, Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School further east in Kingston, or Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute for the LEAP and Challenge Program in Kingston. A bus also takes students to Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute for the International Baccalaureate program.

Notable people

The Napanee Raiders Jr. C hockey club joined the Empire B Junior C Hockey League in 1989. In that time they have claimed eight league championships. In 1993 they went on to capture the All-Ontario, Clarence Schmalz Cup as the Ontario Hockey Association's Junior "C" ice hockey champions by defeating the Hanover Barons of the Western Ontario Junior C Hockey League. The Raiders used to be the only EBJCHL team to ever capture the All Ontario title up until the Picton Pirates accomplished the task in 2013. Their home games are played in the Strathcona Paper Centre, which opened in 2004. Prior to the Raiders, Napanee played in the Quinte-St. Lawrence Junior C Hockey League as The Napanee Kelly Tiremen. Their uniform resembled the green, yellow and white uniform of the Minnesota North Stars formerly of the NHL. In 1980, the Kelly Tiremen were rebranded as the Napanee Warriors. The Warriors and the league ceased operation in 1986.
Napanee made one appearance in the Ontario Junior "B" Provincial hockey championship playoffs during the 1934-35 season. They defeated Kingston, 13-10 in a two-game, total goals series, second round playoff. They were eliminated from the Sutherland Cup playoffs by Peterborough in the next round.
The Napanee Comets were a successful Ontario Major Intermediate A Hockey team that won three consecutive Ontario championships in 1958, 1959 and 1960 and provincial Intermediate B championships in 1971 and 1972.
The Lennox & Addington Lynx floor hockey team took the gold medal at the Special Olympics Canadian National Winter Games in Quebec City in 2008, defeating teams from across the country.
Napanee is also well known for its success in both boys and girls softball. Napanee has won four national midget championships since 1982 including 2018 when it claimed the title on home field. The Napanee Legionnaires captured the Canadian title in 1982 and the Napanee Express took top honours in 1997 and 2005. The Napanee North Key Express won the 2010 Canadian Junior fastball championship defeating the host Nova Scotia Eagles 6-1 in the national final. The Napanee Express boys claimed a National Junior Fastball title in 1996. Also in 2008, the Napanee Express girls fastball team captured the provincial tier II title defeating Oakville 7-4 in the final. The girls also became the first team in Napanee history to qualify for the Eastern Canadian Championships where they finished in second place.
The Napanee Golf and Country Club was established in 1897. The course has nine holes, with different tees for the front and back nine. The course record is 62 set by local amateur Josh Whalen, breaking the previous record of 63 after it had stood for 58 years and 30 days.
The Napanee Curling Club was established in 1957 and numerous teams have captured Zone and District titles. Napanee was selected to host the 2010 Ontario Tankard, the annual men's curling championship that sends its winner to the Canadian championship. The event was held February 1–7 at the Strathcona Paper Centre. Glenn Howard, representing Coldwater and District Curling Club, completed a perfect week by defeating Bryan Cochrane of the Rideau Curling Club 5-3 in the final, to capture his fifth straight title.
Napanee District Secondary School is the home of the Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks field teams in various sports including hockey, football, basketball, rugby, gymnastics, volleyball, swimming and track. The Golden Hawks compete against high schools teams in the "Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association". In 2008, the Napanee girls rugby team and the boys junior and senior squads all won league championships. In 2009, the girls gymnastics team earned the bronze medal for their overall result at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association's provincial gymnastics championship meet held in Windsor, Ontario.

Shopping

Downtown Napanee

The downtown area of Napanee has experienced a recent revival and the gorgeous historical buildings are taking on a whole new life. Downtown Napanee is home to a number of boutiques such as October's Clothing, Starlet, April's Image, A Touch of Class, Sand n' Sea and Deadleaf Distinguished Gentleman. There have been multiple revitalization projects like The Waterfront River Pub and Terrace, a complete reworking of an abandoned limestone brewery right on the Napanee river. There is also Len's Bakery and the New York Cafe that have been open in Napanee for decades. In addition, there are some newer restaurants: Santorini Mediterranean Grill, Ellena's, Gibson's Restaurant, The Loaf N' Ale, Seasons Fine Foods & Cookery School, Sushi Nori, and a gourmet coffee shop, Coffee Cravings. Wallace's, the oldest continuously operating drug store, is located on the corner of Dundas and John Streets. It has been in the same location under the same name since it was established in 1854.
Napanee is also the home of "La Pizzeria", made famous by Avril Lavigne's declaration to Rolling Stone Magazine that her "favorite pizza" was served there.
There is a bi-weekly Hometown Market with locally made and homegrown items that runs in Market Square in the summer months.

Uptown

can be found at the corner of Industrial Boulevard and Centre Street North, in the uptown core. The store features a 200-foot mural by Pierre Hardy. The community also includes a Walmart, a Canadian Tire, and a Home Hardware. A No Frills grocery store is located in the Napanee Mall, and there is a Metro grocery store,, down the road from the Napanee Mall. Uptown is also home to several big name restaurants, including Wendy's, McDonald's, Tim Horton's, Dairy Queen, Harvey's, Swiss Chalet, and A&W. There are also several local restaurants uptown including Spud's Restaurant and Catering, Brenda's Pizza Factory, Paul's Pizzeria and the Itty Bitty Diner and other locally owned stores including Wendalyn's Fashions and Nailology.
A Flying J gas station and truck stop is located off Highway 401 on Highway 41.

Media

Napanee is home to the oldest independently owned newspaper in Canada, The Napanee Beaver. It is distributed weekly along with the "Napanee Guide" on Thursdays.
In 2007, a new radio station, CKYM, opened in Napanee on 88.7 FM. The station broadcasts adult contemporary music, sharing a transmitting antenna with Deseronto's CJOH-TV-6. 88.7 MyFM has provided OHL Kingston Frontenacs Hockey coverage since 2009. Napanee from is also served by radio and television stations from Belleville and the larger Kingston market.
A 100% volunteer-run community radio station, Island Radio CJAI 92.1 FM, serves Napanee from nearby Loyalist Township.

Live theatre

Greater Napanee is home to Lennox Community Theatre which operates from The Village Theatre in the village of Selby. The theatre seats 80 and mounts five productions annually from September through June. A historical collection of programs stored at the theatre shows that Avril Lavigne performed on stage there as a child in productions of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Godspell.