Johnstown, Ontario

For the Johnstown in Hastings County, see Quinte West.

Johnstown with the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge in the background.

Johnstown is a community in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, in eastern Ontario, Canada, part of the township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal. It is located at the Canadian terminus of the Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge and at the southern terminus of Highway 416 and Highway 16.

History

In 1673, the French settlers, along with the allied Natives, built a storehouse in modern-day Johnstown. It was situated on the shores of Old Breeches River, now called Johnstown Creek. The storehouse was used to hold supplies headed upriver to fur trading posts such as Fort Frontenac (Now, Kingston). It was in use until 1758.

Fort de Lévis was a French fort which was located on Chimney Island (Formerly known as Isle Royale), in the St. Lawrence River just off of the shores of Johnstown. It was built in 1760 in preparation for a British attack, as an attempt to block their advance down river. The original design, created by Francis de Gaston, Chevalier de Levis intended for the fort to be built with stone walls, have 200 guns, and house 2,500 troops. In contrast, the fort was small and made of wood, with five cannons and about 200 soldiers. In the same year it was built, the fort was captured by the British in the Battle of the Thousand Islands.

In 1789, the town site was surveyed, and laid out with a plot of 1 square mile (2.6 km²). The lots were colonized by settlers from Scotland and Ireland, and by many Loyalists, including Sir John Johnson. A sawmill and gristmill were constructed. In 1793, Johnstown was made the administrative seat of the Eastern District, leading to the construction of a courthouse and gaol. The court of quarter sessions (the district's government) alternated its meeting location between Johnstown and Cornwall.

Between 1792 and 1795, John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, resided in Johnstown. In 1808, the courts were moved to Elizabethtown (now known as Brockville). No longer district seat and having a shallow harbour, Johnstown failed to develop further.

Modern day

In 2006, it was announced that Canadian ethanol producer GreenField Ethanol had plans to build a new high capacity ethanol production plant in Johnstown's industrial park. Construction commenced in 2007, and operations at the plant began in December 2008. By early 2009, the plant had reached full production levels. The plant can produce 200 million litres of ethanol per year, making it the largest ethanol plant operated by GreenField.

Churches

Prior to any churches being constructed in Johnstown the home of a local man named John McIlmoyl and the old gaol house were used to house meetings for the Anglican and Methodist congregations, who were serviced by a travelling minister. Johnstown eventually became home to two churches, built over 100 years apart; a Methodist church and a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.

The Methodist church was constructed in 1879 through volunteer efforts and donated money and supplies. The church is a small, red brick church located along the St. Lawrence River near the international bridge. The church was built with a drive shed that also served as the church hall. In 1925, the church became the Johnstown United Church after a church union. In 1962, the church was moved closer to the river when Highway 2 was widened. At this time, the church also received new brickwork and a basement to serve as the new church hall. The drive shed was given to a local farmer to house cattle. The church saw more renovations in the 1980s when an extension was added, the roof was replaced and a wheelchair ramp was built.

In 1990, a Kingdom Hall was built for the local Jehovah’s Witnesses in Johnstown after the congregation outgrew their church in Prescott. The building was built to accommodate 180 people, and was in a more central location to most of its congregation. The building was constructed mostly through volunteer efforts, and was completed in only three days.

Cemeteries

Johnstown is home to two cemeteries, both of which are amongst the oldest in the township. The first cemetery is North Channel Cemetery, located along Highway 2 outside of the village. This cemetery contains mostly members of the McIlmoyl family. The cemetery is also known as the Old Burying Ground or East Commons Cemetery. The oldest recorded and marked grave is that of Jerusha Plumley who died on April 12, 1801 at age 61. This grave is considered to be one of the oldest marked graves in the entire township. The entire cemetery was transcribed in both 1978 and 1983 and is maintained by the township. Burials no longer take place here.

The second graveyard is called Johnstown Cemetery, sometimes referred to as the Commons Cemetery. This cemetery is located along Queen Street, within the original townsite of Johnstown. One of the earliest stones in the cemetery belongs to a Thomas Dunlop, who died in 1808 at the age of 62. It was transcribed in 1983 and is maintained by the township. Johnstown Cemetery is non-denominational, and is still in use as of the late 1990s.

Port of Johnstown

On 10 December 2013, it was announced that the Port of Prescott, owned and operated by the Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal, was to become known as the Port of Johnstown, to better reflect its geographical situation. Its $35 million expansion, funded by municipal, provincial and federal governments, was planned to end with intermodal wharf of 465ft and 7.7ha of storage area. The official grand opening was held on 26 June 2015.

Port of Johnstown

Marine cargo had jumped 13 per cent in 2014 to 759,000 tonnes, a record amount since the Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal purchased the site for $10 from the federal government in October of 2000. Total revenues of $6.6 million were about the same as the previous year, but revenue from marine services jumped $100,000 as the number of vessels jumped to 39 from 31 a year earlier. In 2014, the port had 25 full-time and 11 seasonal staff.

About 10 of 39 vessels carried road salt to replenish local supplies that dwindled during the winter of 2013. A record 527,678 tonnes of salt was unloaded in 2014 but a more encouraging figure may have been the 50,000 tonnes of aggregate shipped by vessel out of the port. For the first time since 2011, grain was offloaded by vessel at the port in 2014. Grain services continue to dominate port activity, accounting for 75 per cent of business revenues in 2014 when 634,717 tonnes of corn, soybean, wheat and other grains were processed through the facility.

On September 1st, 2015, the Port of Johnstown and the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge made headlines after Prime Minister Stephen Harper posted a video to his Facebook page standing in front of the port and bridge. The video was supposed to be a congratulatory video about the shipbuilding industry in the Halifax harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, however upon its release, locals of Halifax noticed inconsistencies with the scenery compared to that of the Halifax harbour and began to question where the video was actually shot. By the 5th of September, viewers had determined the video was actually shot in Johnstown, Ontario based on the quick shot of the port in the background, which was unmistakably the Port of Johnstown. Viewers then accused Harper of trying to pass off the scenery as the Halifax harbour due to the undeniable similarities between the Ogdensburg-Prescott bridge and the A. Murray MacKay Bridge in the Halifax harbour.