Hagersville, Ontario

Hagersville, Ontario Canada is a community in Haldimand County, Ontario which gained international notoriety in 1990 for a gigantic uncontrolled tire fire which spewed toxic smoke for seventeen days. The fire itself actually occurred in Townsend, a neighbouring community, but media labelled it as Hagersville due to Townsend's relatively unknown status in the area.

Hagersville is also home to Hewitts Dairy. Hagersville is also the birthplace of Canadian drummer Neil Peart, of Rush fame.cite web| title = Official web site: Neil Peart| url=http://www.neilpeart.net/| accessdate = 2007-12-10]

Hagersville is home to the Hagersville Hawks, a junior hockey team that plays in the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

The following information about Hagersville was written by Margaret Clause, based on the book "Down Memory Lane" - A Glimpse of Hagersville's Past, by Don Brown.

Upon the construction of Higwhay 6, known formerly as the Plank Road, a small village popped up around 1855 when Charles and David Hager bought most of the land in the center of the area. David Almas owned the land on the east side of the road, while John Porter owned the land in the west end.

The building of the Canada Southern Railroad in 1870, and of the Hamilton and Lake Erie Railway three years later helped to make Hagersville a prosperous village in 1879.

Close by the rail crossing was The Junction Hotel later becoming The Lawson Hotel after a change in ownership. It was known as the Hagersville Inn, but has recently been bought again. Perhaps it was best known as Murph's Place when Ron Murphy, retired NHL player took ownership. Today it is known as The Old Lawson House. In 1852, Charles Hager built a frame hotel at the corner of the Plank Road and Indian Line. Hagersville’s first post office was in this hotel and Joseph Seymour suggested the community be called Hagersville to honour the Hager brothers.

References

External links

* [http://www.buethe.onlinehome.de/hagersvl.jpgHagersville Tire Fire]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-70-566-2895-10/on_this_day/disasters_tragedies/hagersville CBC Archives: The Hagersville Tire Fire]
* [http://hagersvillelegion.com/branchhistory.htm The Royal Canadian Legion, #164 Hagersville]
* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid%5B%5D=3859 Ron Murphy Stats]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Murphy Ron Murphy]