FORT ERIE, ONTARIO

'Fort Erie' (2006 population 29,925) is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly across the river from Buffalo, New York.
Modern settlement of the area was established when a British military fort, Fort Erie, was constructed in 1764. During the American Revolution it was used as a supply depot for British troops. When the War of 1812 started, the troops stationed at Fort Erie were caught off guard due to the fort being in the middle of rebuilding. The Americans held it for a time, fending off two British attacks. Later they destroyed Fort Erie and returned to Buffalo in the winter of 1814. The ruins remained until they were rebuilt through a depression era "work program" project, as a tourist attraction in 1939.
The current "Dolls House Museum", located on the Niagara River near downtown Fort Erie (Bridgeburg Station), was a supposed hiding place on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves in the 1800s.
On August 7, 1927 the Peace Bridge was opened between the Town of Fort Erie and the City of Buffalo, New York.
The town's beaches on Lake Erie (most notably Crystal Beach and Bay Beach), are considered the best in the area and draw many weekend recreationists from the Toronto and Buffalo areas. While summers are enjoyable, winters can occasionally be fierce, with many snow storms, whiteouts and winds whipping off Lake Erie.
Fort Erie Race Track has hosted live thoroughbred racing since 1897. Widely regarded as one of North America's most picturesque tracks, it has been home to the second jewel in Canada's Triple Crown of Racing since 1959.
Fort Erie is one of the fastest growing communities in Niagara, and has experienced a high level of residential and commercial development in the past few years. Garrison Road (Provincial Highway #3) is the town's major "tourist commercial" corridor, stretching for nearly 5 kilometers east to west through Greater Fort Erie. Fort Erie is also home to a number of other thriving commercial core areas (Bridgeburg, Ridgeway, Stevensville and Crystal Beach) as a result of the 1970 amalgamation of these former municipalities with Fort Erie proper.

Contents

Transportation

Demographics

Racial Profile

Religious Groups

Communities

External links

Transportation

Public transit is provided by Fort Erie Transit, which operates 2 buses in the town.
Fort Erie has been the Niagara-bound terminus of the Queen Elizabeth Way since the 1950s. Highway 3 cuts through the town east to west, and is a regional road between Rosehill Road and Central Avenue. Highway 3C (today's Dominion Road) existed until 1970, when it was downloaded to the newly-formed Regional Municipality of Niagara to become Niagara Road 1.

Demographics

The recently released 2006 Census of Canada indicates a current population of 29,925 for Fort Erie. This is a 6.3% increase over the last Census (2001), and makes Fort Erie the fastest growing municipality in the St. Catharines-Niagara CMA (Census Metropolitan Area).

Racial Profile

According to the 2001 census, the population is 28,143, broken down as follows: 92.8% White, 3.2% Aboriginal, 1.4% Chinese, 0.9% Black, and a very small percentage of Asian, Arab, and Hispanic populations.

Religious Groups

★ 47.3% Protestant

★ 29.8% Roman Catholic

★ 3.4% other Christian

★ 0.3% Buddhist

★ 17.7% non-religious

Communities

★ Amigari Downs

★ Bay Beach

★ Black Creek

★ Bridgeburg/North End

★ Buffalo Heights

★ Crescent Park

★ Crystal Beach

★ Douglastown

★ Edgewood Park

★ Erie Beach

★ '''Fort Erie'''

★ Garrison Village

★ Mulgrave

★ Oakhill Forest

★ Point Abino

★ Ridgemount

★ Ridgeway

★ Ridgewood

★ Rose Hill Estates

★ Snyder

★ Stevensville

★ Thunder Bay

★ Walden

★ Wavercrest

★ Waverly Beach

External links

★ Municipality of the Town of Fort Erie

★ Directory for Town of Fort Erie

★ Niagara Peninsula communities Web site

★ Nathan's Fort Erie