Beautiful Historical
Almonte
First Nations ... Algonquins of Pikwakanagan (Anishinabe)
Almonte's first European-bred settler was David Shepherd, who in 1818 was given 200 acres by the Crown to build and operate a mill. After his mill burned down, Daniel Shipman, buyer of the patent, rebuilt the mill and the settlement became known as Shipman's Mills by about 1821.
Early settlers were Scottish and Irish. A textile town almost from the start, by 1850 it was the home of seven busy woolen mills of Messrs B & W Rosamond. It was one of the leading centres in Ontario for the manufacture of woollen cloth. The construction of a railway line to Brockville stimulated the economic growth of Almonte. It was an active station of the Brockville & Ottawa Railroad.
The name of Almonte, was incorporated in 1870 as a village of 2,000 persons and could boast thirty stores and forty other businesses. Town status came in 1881 with a population of 2,700.
We have been growing ever since - in 2016 we were 5,039 and counting ...