Newcastle is a community in the municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. The community inherits the former name of the present-day municipality which it belongs to. Newcastle is located about 80 km east of Toronto, and about 18 km east of Oshawa and Bowmanville on Highway 401. It is also the southern terminus of Highway 35 and Highway 115. It has been named one of the best small towns in Ontario, by Comfort Life, a website for retirement living in Canada.
History
Newcastle was incorporated as a town in 1856. It remained a small community until the 1990s, when new residential development began and the population quickly swelled. Newcastle had a jail in the late 1800s. Maps of Newcastle from those years have not been discovered. Many have tried to find the location of this jail, but it is believed that it was either demolished or destroyed by the elements. There are jail cells in the Newcastle Community Hall. Newcastle is surrounded by farms raising cattle, pigs, apples, grain, and corn. The town has a community hall, donated by the Massey family, one public high school, two public elementary schools, one Catholic elementary school, a post office, churches, a few plazas, several small parks, six restaurants, Tim Hortons, a recreation complex, an ice arena, a new fire hall, two grocery stores, professional offices, hardware stores, a marina on Lake Ontario, and a golf course.
Post office history
The first Post office was opened in Newcastle in 1845 with John Short serving as Postmaster. Since that time, Newcastle has had ten postmasters with Charles Gray being the last. Following Gray's retirement, Canada Post closed the Post Office since it was deemed too small. Most rural route and suburban mail is now handled by the Bowmanville Canada Post.
Notable residents
Joseph E. Atkinson was a Canadian newspaper editor and activist. Under his leadership, the Toronto Star became one of the largest and most influential newspapers in Canada.
Chalk Circle, a 1980s rock band, was formed in the village. They had hits in Canada with songs like "April Fool," "Me, Myself and I," and "Sons and Daughters," a song about the negative effects of free trade with the United States.
Susan Kane Doyle, Author of the Nationally Award Winning book, Cooking Wild Style, and long time cooking editor of Ontario Out of Doors, winner of the Pete McGillen Award also lives in the village.
Louis G. Lalande is a retired pipefitter and community volunteer. In 1999, while manning a booth for the Knights of Columbus' annual charity raffle near a bank at a mall in Oshawa, he foiled a bank robbery by striking the assailant about the head and shoulders with a metal folding chair. The pistol the assailant was brandishing at the time turned out to be a starting pistol, but this was unknown to Lalande and the bank's occupants at the time. Lalande was subsequently awarded the Medal of Bravery, and the Carnegie Medal for Heroism.
Daniel Massey, whose farm implement business eventually formed Massey-Ferguson.
Samuel Wilmot was believed to live here. He had a great influence on the village, and became interested in the salmon in 1860 and built a "fish hatchery" at Newcastle - one of the world's first. Wilmot Creek, a neighboring community, was named after him.
Town of Newcastle (1973–94)
The name "Town of Newcastle" was used from 1973–94 for the municipality now called the Municipality of Clarington. The name was changed in 1994 to alleviate longstanding confusion between the municipality as a whole and the community of the same name. The community was commonly known as "Newcastle Village" to distinguish the two. It was also a confusing fact that Bowmanville had a larger population than "Newcastle Village", and it also housed the former Town of Newcastle's municipal offices, causing some to believe the town should have been called "Bowmanville" instead of "Newcastle" during that period.
Popular attractions
Docville Wild West Park is a mock Wild West town that offers its use to filmmakers and other paid visitors.
The Newcastle Santa Claus Parade held on a Sunday evening each November began in 2005.
Allin's Orchard & Country Market is an Apple farm which has been supplying produce since the early 1900s.
Algoma Orchards has moved from Whitby to Hwy 2,west of Newcastle in 2009. A large packing and storage facility was built and a retail store including a bakery is part of the large complex.
Shoppers Drug Mart store was built on the main south-east corner of the village in 2010-2011. This location housed many businesses over the last 100-150 including groceries, flower shop, furniture, bakery, woman's dress shop, offices and apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The complete building was torn down and a house behind it to create the new complex in summer of 2010. The demolition was wildly unpopular with residents. The new complex houses the pharmacy, cosmetics, grocery items and other drug store items as well as the post office.
Rona hardware store was a tenant on the main south-west corner for many years and moved south to Toronto St. in 2009. They had also opened up a Lumber Center in September 2012. The site on King Street was vacant until July 2011 when a Home Hardware store opened.
A Gift of Art is a not-for-profit art gallery, shop, and teaching/events facility featuring the work of local artists. A Gift of Art displays work from artists in a variety of media, including paintings, pottery, woodcarving, photography, music, and much more.
