Wingham, Ontario – My Top 9 Picks
In the early 1850s, settlers began moving into the townships in the Queen’s Bush north of the Huron Tract. One of these townships, Turnberry, was surveyed by 1853 and a plot for a market town was designated where two branches of the Maitland River met. Among the earliest settlers on the plot was John Cornyn who was operating a hotel here in 1861. A year later a post office named Wingham was established and by 1866 Wingham had become a prominent supply and distributing center for the agricultural and lumbering area. In the 1870s railway expansion stimulated growth and led to Wingham’s incorporation as a village in 1874 with a population of 700. Five years later with a population of 2000, Wingham was incorporated as a town.
Wingham, located in Huron County at the intersection of County Roads 4 & 86, became part of North Huron municipality in 2001 when the former township of East Wawanosh, the village of Blyth, and the town of Wingham were amalgamated. County Road 86 connects to Kitchener-Waterloo to the east. The main thoroughfare is County Road 4, called Josephine Street within Wingham, which connects to London, Ontario to the south.
Wingham has manufacturing businesses and a variety of retail and service businesses. Wescast Industries has three manufacturing facilities producing auto parts. BI-AX International produces plastic film for use in food packaging and industry. Royal Homes is a manufacturer of prefabricated homes. Britespan Building Systems Inc. is a manufacturer of fabric covered steel structure buildings.
