Alexandria, ON,
population centre, population 2,906 (2021 census),
2,845 (2016 census). Incorporated as a town in 1903,
Alexandria lost this status in 1998 as the result of
municipal restructuring in Ontario. It is now part
of the new township of North Glengarry (population
10,109). Alexandria is located midway on the
Canadian National Railway line between Montreal and
Ottawa.
Father Alexander Macdonell, later bishop of Upper
Canada, began Alexandria (first known as Priest's
Mills) as a mill site a few years after the War of
1812. In 1890, it became the seat of the Roman
Catholic diocese of Alexandria (later relocated to
Cornwall). Around that time it showed much promise
in carriage manufacturing.
After economic setbacks in the Great Depression and
earlier, since the Second World War has regained a
considerable degree of prosperity with a
concentration on textiles, footwear, milk processing
and trucking. It continues its early role as a
merchandising and service centre for the surrounding
farm community. About half of Alexandria’s residents
have French as their mother tongue, according to the
2016 census, but both English and French are spoken.
St. Finnan's Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace and the
Monastery of the Precious Blood are of architectural
interest.
Glengarry, Ontario
Highland Games Documentary 1963
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