A town is a type of a human settlement . Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities , though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
85-673: Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario , Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario , across the river from New York , United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of Ontario and is the only town in Canada that has a lord mayor . It had a population of 19,088 as of the 2021 Canadian census . Niagara-on-the-Lake
170-408: A Millionenstadt , a city with anywhere between one and five million inhabitants (such as Cologne , Munich , Hamburg and Berlin ). Also, a city with more than five million inhabitants is often referred to as a Megastadt (commonly translated as megacity ). Historically, many settlements became a Stadt by being awarded a Stadtrecht in medieval times. In modern German language use,
255-537: A further 17 towns , which have merged with a municipal parish ( vallasisene linn ). In Finland, there is no distinction between a town and a city as the word kaupunki is used for both bigger and smaller settlements, which are bigger than villages and boroughs; although when talking about the word town , the word pikkukaupunki is used ( pikku means 'little' or 'small'). There are over one hundred municipal towns in Finland. From an administrative standpoint,
340-568: A humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb bordering on Dfa ) using the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm but also borders an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb ) using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm, having four seasons, with warm summers, cold winters, and cool to mild autumns and springs. Snowfall is moderate, averaging around 3 feet (92 cm) per year, one of the lowest yearly snowfall totals received in all of Ontario. A long shoreline along Lake Ontario results in more moderate temperatures than neighbouring cities, as well as seasonal lag . In
425-597: A designation which was approved in 2003. The historic centre had been designated as a provincial Heritage Conservation District under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1986. Although it did not make the final list, the historic district was considered for nomination as a World Heritage Site . The town has other National Historic Sites of Canada within its boundaries: the Battlefield of Fort George and nearby Fort George, Butler's Barracks, Fort Drummond , Fort Mississauga ,
510-463: A fence or a hedge. In English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the sense of the space which these fences enclosed, and through which a track must run. In England, a town was a small community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger fortifications, and built a palisade or stockade instead. In the Netherlands, this space was a garden, more specifically those of
595-556: A higher degree of services . (There are a few exceptions, when towns of fewer than 50,000 people gained the status: Érd , Hódmezővásárhely , Salgótarján and Szekszárd ) As of middle 2013, there are only 23 such towns in Hungary. The 2011 Census of India defines towns of two types: statutory town and census town . Statutory town is defined as all places with a municipality , corporation , cantonment board or notified town area committee. Census towns are defined as places that satisfy
680-590: A higher tier of local government, larger towns and cities may have the status of a kreisfreie Stadt , combining both the powers of a municipality and a district. Designations in different states are as diverse as e.g. in Australian States and Territories, and differ from state to state. In some German states, the words Markt ('market'), Marktflecken (both used in southern Germany) or Flecken ('spot'; northern Germany e.g. in Lower Saxony ) designate
765-426: A municipality must have at least 3,000 inhabitants to have the right to request the town title. Market towns usually have between 500 and 4,000 inhabitants, with median and average both around 1,000. In Denmark, in many contexts no distinction is made between "city", "town" and "village"; all three translate as by . In more specific use, for small villages and hamlets the word landsby (meaning 'country town')
850-515: A partial lot to the Town Council of Niagara for "uses of Common Schools and Grammar Schools in the Town of Niagara forever." It has also been described as being on the military grounds, and historic photos show cadets or other soldiers lined up outside. One of its early principals was Janet Carnochan in 1872. The school house served elementary grades and had four classrooms, two on each floor. In 1882,
935-579: A repertory company featuring the works of George Bernard Shaw , his contemporaries, or plays about his era (1856–1950), running from April to December. The festival operates four theatres in the centre of town: the Festival, The Jackie Maxwell Studio, The Royal George, and the Court House Theatre. The Festival produces over 750 performances annually, featuring its lauded repertory ensemble and employs over 520 artists, artisans and artsworkers locally. Along
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#17328447268471020-601: A skate park. Once a year, on the Victoria Day weekend in May, the community holds its "Virgil Stampede." The festival includes rides, attractions and its annual soccer start-up tournament. Virgil's educational institutions are St. Michael's Elementary School and Crossroads Public School, which opened in September 2011, amalgamating the now-closed Virgil and Colonel John Butler Public Schools. The town's only secondary school, Niagara District,
1105-484: A social and technical infrastructure, as well as a population of no fewer than 3500 people. For resort settlements the requirements are lower with the population needing to be no fewer than 1000 people but infrastructure requirements remain. The legal definition of a town in Canada varies by province or territory , as each has jurisdiction over defining and legislating towns, cities and other types of municipal organization within its own boundaries. The province of Quebec
1190-408: A town such as Parun , the capital of Nuristan Province , whose population is less 20,000 people. In Albania and Kosovo qytezë means 'town', which is very similar to the word for city ( qytet ), although there is no official use of the term for any settlement. In Albanian qytezë means 'small city' or 'new city', while in ancient times it referred to a small residential center within
1275-563: A town-like residential community between Gemeinde and Stadt with special importance to its outer conurbation area. Historically those had Marktrecht (market right) but not full town privileges; see Market town . The legal denomination of a specific settlement may differ from its common designation (e.g. Samtgemeinde – a legal term in Lower Saxony for a group of villages [ Dorf , pl. Dörfer ] with common local government created by combining municipalities [ Gemeinde , pl. Gemeinden ]). In ordinary speech, Greeks use
1360-690: Is Stadt , as it is the case in many other languages that do not differentiate between these concepts. The word for a 'village', as a smaller settlement, is Dorf . However, the International Statistics Conference of 1887 defined different sizes of Stadt , based on their population size, as follows: Landstadt ('country town'; under 5,000), Kleinstadt ('small town'; 5,000 to 20,000), Mittelstadt ('middle town'; between 20,000 and 100,000) and Großstadt ("large town"; 100,000 to 1,000,000). The term Großstadt may be translated as 'city'. In addition, Germans may speak of
1445-467: Is a de facto statutory city. All the Czech municipalities with more than 40,000 inhabitants are cities. Town and market town are above all ceremonious honorary degrees, referring to population, history and regional significance of a municipality. As the statistics of Czech municipalities shows, towns usually have between 1,000 and 35,000 inhabitants, with median around 4,000 and average around 6,500. Nowadays
1530-419: Is a large military reserve. About half a mile up the river are the ruins of Fort George, where the remains of General Brock were originally interred; they were removed. A new town-hall and court-house are intended to be erected by the town. There is a fire brigade with two engines and a hook and ladder company. Churches and chapels total five. Two newspapers are published weekly ... Steamboats run daily, as long as
1615-547: Is an alternative name for "city" or "village" (especially a small city or large village; and occasionally even hamlets ). Sometimes, the word town is short for township . In general, today towns can be differentiated from townships, villages, or hamlets on the basis of their economic character, in that most of a town's population will tend to derive their living from manufacturing industry, commerce , and public services rather than primary sector industries such as agriculture or related activities. A place's population size
1700-422: Is commonly referred to as a city or as a town, no distinction and no objective legal criteria exist to make such a distinction under law. Ontario allows municipalities to select whichever administrative term they like with no legal distinction existing between towns, townships, cities, and villages. Instead all municipalities, with the exception of Toronto and Ottawa, fall into one of three legal categories under
1785-520: Is difficult to call the remaining provincial capitals "large towns" as, in general, they are less developed and have shrinking population, some with as few as 30,000 inhabitants. In Bulgaria the Council of Ministers defines what constitutes a settlement, while the President of Bulgaria grants each settlement its title. In 2005 the requirement that villages that wish to classify themselves as town must have
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#17328447268471870-467: Is home to many shops, restaurants, wineries, and a growing number of breweries. Historic Old Town is a popular shopping and dining destination. In 2014, Niagara-on-the-Lake also opened an open-air outlet mall, the Outlet Collection at Niagara , which is Canada's largest open-air outlet mall. Films that have used Niagara-on-the-Lake as a filming location include: Niagara-on-the-Lake can be reached by
1955-585: Is home to the oldest Catholic church, the second-oldest Anglican church in Ontario, and the oldest surviving golf course in North America. Today, Niagara-on-the-Lake draws tourists with its colonial-style buildings, the Shaw Festival , Fort George, wineries, an outlet mall on the highway, and its proximity to Niagara Falls . The Niagara Region has the second-highest percentage of seniors in Ontario. Before
2040-508: Is important in the history of Canada : it served as the first capital of the province of Upper Canada , the predecessor of Ontario. It was called Newark from 1792 to 1797. During the War of 1812 , the town, the two former villages of St. David's and Queenston , and Fort George were the sites of numerous battles following the American invasion of Upper Canada, and the town was razed. Niagara-on-the-Lake
2125-589: Is located at 16001 Niagara River Parkway, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Niagara-on-the-Lake has a junior men's hockey team, Niagara Predators in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League . The current team was first registered as Toronto Predators from 2013 to 2020 and relocated after the cancelled 2020-2021 season to NOTL to playoff in the Meridian Credit Union arena located in Virgil. The team replaced
2210-703: Is no record of a mayor using it until Jerry Mussen in the early 1920s, and even afterward the title was used only irregularly until the Regional Municipality of Niagara Act of 1969 legislated that "The mayor of the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake shall be known as the Lord Mayor." The town's current lord mayor is Gary Zalepa, as of the 2022 municipal election. Previous lord mayors have included Betty Disero , Patrick Darte, Dave Eke, Gary Burroughs, Art Viola, Mike Dietsch , Stan Ignatczyk, Jim Marino, Wilbert Dick, Jake Froese and Fred Goring. Niagara-on-the-Lake experiences
2295-550: Is not a reliable determinant of urban character. In many areas of the world, e.g. in India at least until recent times, a large village might contain several times as many people as a small town. In the United Kingdom, there are historical cities that are far smaller than the larger towns. The modern phenomenon of extensive suburban growth, satellite urban development, and migration of city dwellers to villages has further complicated
2380-420: Is partitioned into 2098 municipalities ( German : Gemeinden ) of fundamentally equal rank. Larger municipalities are designated as market towns ( German : Marktgemeinden ) or cities ( Städte ), but these distinctions are purely symbolic and do not confer additional legal responsibilities. There is a number of smaller communities that are labelled cities because they used to be regional population centers in
2465-464: Is unique in that it makes no distinction under law between towns and cities. There is no intermediate level in French between village and ville ( municipality is an administrative term usually applied to a legal, not geographical entity), so both are combined under the single legal status of ville . While an informal preference may exist among English speakers as to whether any individual ville
2550-488: Is used, while the Danish equivalent of English city is storby (meaning 'large town'). For formal purposes, urban areas having at least 200 inhabitants are considered by . Historically some towns held various privileges, the most important of which was the right to hold market. They were administered separately from the rural areas in both fiscal, military and legal matters. Such towns are known as købstad (roughly
2635-484: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Niagara-on-the-Lake had a population of 19,088 living in 7,857 of its 8,578 total private dwellings, a change of 9% from its 2016 population of 17,511 . With a land area of 131.35 km (50.71 sq mi), it had a population density of 145.3/km (376.4/sq mi) in 2021. In addition to the primary town site of Niagara-on-the-Lake (the Old Town),
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2720-555: The German word Zaun , the Dutch word tuin , and the Old Norse tún . The original Proto-Germanic word, * tūnan , is thought to be an early borrowing from Proto-Celtic * dūnom (cf. Old Irish dún , Welsh din ). The original sense of the word in both Germanic and Celtic was that of a fortress or an enclosure. Cognates of town in many modern Germanic languages designate
2805-564: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario by Wayne Gates . It is the only municipality in Canada whose elected leader is designated as lord mayor, a title most common in the United Kingdom . Popular legend suggests Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn bestowed the title on the mayor of Niagara during a visit to the town in the early 19th century, in recognition of the town's history as the first capital of Upper Canada; however, there
2890-592: The Niagara-on-the-Lake Nationals , which joined as a Junior A team in 2018-2019 sponsored by the local bar Bricks and Barley. The Nationals left the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League but announced that the team would fold after their first season due to poor attendance, but returned to play the following season. The Predators play at the 500 seat Meridian Credit Union Arena across from Centennial Sports Park. Built in 2003-2005
2975-496: The Queen Elizabeth Way , a highway that stretches to Fort Erie to the south, Hamilton to the west and curves around Lake Ontario to Toronto. Public transportation is served by Niagara-on-the-Lake Transit . Niagara-on-the-Lake has a long history of recreational boating. There are 2 boat clubs located there. Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club is located at 10 Melville Street, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Smuggler's Cove Boat Club
3060-686: The Welland Canal . It is home to the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus of Niagara College and a large outdoor shopping mall. Virgil, just southwest of the Old Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, is the area most visited by tourists. The community has a large Mennonite community, who settled in the area from Russia in the early to mid-20th century. Virgil has a large sports park, serving as the centre of Niagara-on-the-Lake's bustling hockey, softball, lacrosse and soccer leagues, two arenas, three baseball diamonds and
3145-484: The 1950s, to accommodate exponential population increase. The first new towns included Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong . In the late 1960s and the 1970s, another stage of new town developments was launched. Nine new towns have been developed so far. Land use is carefully planned and development provides plenty of room for public housing projects. Rail transport is usually available at a later stage. The first towns are Sha Tin , Tsuen Wan , Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O . Tuen Mun
3230-533: The 21st century, merged most κοινότητες with the nearest δήμοι , dividing the whole country into 325 self-governing δήμοι . The former municipalities survive as administrative subdivisions ( δημοτικά διαμερίσματα , δημοτικές ενότητες ). Cyprus, including the Turkish-occupied areas, is also divided into 39 δήμοι (in principle, with at least 5,000 inhabitants, though there are exceptions) and 576 κοινότητες . Hong Kong started developing new towns in
3315-561: The Americans built their own fortifications there. The British retook the fort in December 1813 but abandoned it in 1815. The tiny portion of the fort that still remains has been fully restored. Fort Mississauga was built starting in 1813 but was not completed until after the war in 1816. During the war, the settlement of Niagara was razed and burnt to the ground by American soldiers as they withdrew to Fort Niagara. (Afterwards, on December 19, 1813,
3400-777: The Anglo-Saxon settlement period. In Old English and Early and Middle Scots , the words ton , toun , etc. could refer to diverse kinds of settlements from agricultural estates and holdings, partly picking up the Norse sense (as in the Scots word fermtoun ) at one end of the scale, to fortified municipalities. Other common Anglo-Saxon suffixes included ham 'home', stede 'stead', and burh 'bury, borough, burgh'. In toponymic terminology, names of individual towns and cities are called astyonyms or astionyms (from Ancient Greek ἄστυ 'town, city', and ὄνομα 'name'). In some cases, town
3485-454: The British captured Fort Niagara.) The citizens rebuilt Niagara after the war, with the residential quarter around Queen Street and toward King Street, where the new court house was rebuilt out of range of Fort Niagara's cannons. The Smith's Canadian Gazetteer of 1846 describes "Niagara (formerly called Newark)" as follows: It has been a place of considerable trade. On the east side of the town
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3570-475: The British settlers came, the point where Fort Mississauga is situated was inhabited by at least three Native American tribes: the Neutral (15th century); Seneca (late 17th century); and Mississauga (18th century). The settlement was founded in 1781 as Butlersburg in honour of Colonel John Butler , the commander of Butler's Rangers . It was later renamed West Niagara to distinguish it from Fort Niagara . It
3655-649: The Jamboree. It was the first to be held outside Europe and had the theme "Jamboree of New Horizons." Niagara-on-the-Lake was named the Prettiest Town in Canada in 1996 by Communities in Bloom , a nationwide beautification programme. The town is now a popular tourist destination, located at the northern terminus of the Niagara Parkway , a scenic drive and biking/walking path. Town The word "town" shares an origin with
3740-647: The Minister of Internal Affairs selects candidates from a committee-screened list of applicants, whom the President of Republic usually affirms by issuing a bill of town's rank to them. Since being a town carries extra fiscal support from the government, many relatively small villages try to win the status of városi rang ('town rank') nowadays. Before the fall of communism in 1990, Hungarian villages with fewer than 10,000 residents were not allowed to become towns. Recently some settlements as small as 2,500 souls have received
3825-504: The Municipalities Act: Single-tier (I.e. towns that are located within a region or county but that are considered separate for municipal purposes such as Hamilton ), lower-tier (i.e. municipalities that are part of a region or county such as St. Catharines ), or upper-tier (i.e. regional municipalities such as Niagara ). Accordingly, many larger municipalities continue to use the title of town due to it better reflecting
3910-715: The National Statistics Institute (INE) as an urban entity with a population from 2001 to 5000 or an area with a population from 1001 to 2000 and an established economic activity. In Czechia , a municipality can obtain the title of a city ( Czech : statutární město ), town ( Czech : město ) or market town ( Czech : městys ). The title is granted by law. Statutory cities (in English usually called just "cities"), which are defined by law no. 128/2000 Coll., can define their own self-governing municipal districts. There are 26 such cities, in addition to Prague , which
3995-543: The Niagara Parkway is RiverBrink Art Museum in Queenston . It is home to a collection of over 1,400 artworks and artifacts by Canadian and international artists assembled by Samuel E. Weir. Completed in 1970, the building features Georgian-style architecture, including a mansard roof and gabled windows. It served as Weir's country residence and was converted into an art museum following his death in 1981. Niagara-on-the-Lake
4080-468: The appurtenances of local government (e.g. a police force). In the United States these are referred to as "incorporated towns". In other cases the town lacks its own governance and is said to be "unincorporated". The existence of an unincorporated town may be legally set out by other means, e.g. zoning districts. In the case of some planned communities , the town exists legally in the form of covenants on
4165-469: The beginning of the root word (e.g. nagyváros ) have been normalized to differentiate between cities and towns (towns being smaller, therefore bearing the name kisváros .) In Hungary, a village can gain the status of város ('town'), if it meets a set of diverse conditions for quality of life and development of certain public services and utilities (e.g. having a local secondary school or installing full-area sewage collection pipe network). Every year
4250-522: The capital to York because Newark was very close to the border with the U.S. Newark was renamed Niagara in 1798. Fort George was built just south of the settlement in 1796-1799. During the War of 1812, Niagara was taken in the Battle of Fort George by American forces in May 1813 after a two-day bombardment by cannon from Fort Niagara and the American fleet, followed by a fierce battle. After capturing Fort George,
4335-399: The character of the municipality. For example, Oakville (2021 Population: 213,759) is the largest municipality to use the title of town to reflect its largely suburban character while other municipalities such as Richmond Hill (2021 Population: 202,022) have opted to change their status from "town" to "city" to encourage investment. In Chile , towns (Spanish: pueblos ) are defined by
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#17328447268474420-464: The consolidation of large estates during the Roman Empire , the town became the center of large farms. A distinction was created between rustic and urban settlements: In Afghanistan , a city and a town are both referred to as shār ( Dari : شهر ; Pashto : ښار ). The capital of each of its 34 provinces may include a major city such as Kabul whose population is over five million people or
4505-414: The definition of towns, creating communities urban in their economic and cultural characteristics but lacking other characteristics of urban localities. Some forms of non-rural settlement, such as temporary mining locations, may be clearly non-rural, but have at best a questionable claim to be called a town. Towns often exist as distinct governmental units, with legally defined borders and some or all of
4590-609: The distant past. The city of Rattenberg for example has about 400 inhabitants. The city of Hardegg has about 1200 inhabitants. There are no unincorporated areas. Of the 201 cities in Austria, 15 are statutory cities ( Statutarstädte ). A statutory city is a city that is vested, in addition to its purview as a municipality, with the duties of a district administrative authority . The status does not come with any additional autonomy: district administrative authorities are essentially just service centers that citizens use to interact with
4675-531: The first on the Great Lakes ), Navy Hall, Butler's Barracks, and Queenston Heights . Niagara-on-the-Lake features historical plaques. Critical battles in defence of Upper Canada took place here, and at nearby at Queenston and St. David's, both now part of Niagara-on-the-Lake. In one of these, Laura Secord gained her fame (She is known for having walked 32 km out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack). The town
4760-589: The following criteria: Niagara Public School Niagara Public School , today known as School House Bed and Breakfast , was a public school in Niagara-on-the-Lake , Ontario (then called Newark in the Province of Canada ). The school house is located at 40 Platoff Street in the National Historic District known as Niagara-on-the-Lake or Old Town . The large two-storey brick building
4845-401: The historic district, in 2003, includes buildings built from 1815 to 1859 in a 25 block area having "location close to the Niagara River on Front Street and extending approximately four blocks north to Castlereagh Street". The school is on the southeast corner of a block that is wholly included in the district; adjacent blocks across Platoff and Davy Streets from the school are not included in
4930-421: The historical importance, the existence of central functions (education, retail etc.) and the population density of an urban place might also be taken as characteristics of a Stadt . The modern local government organisation is subject to the laws of each state and refers to a Gemeinde ( municipality ), regardless of its historic title. While most Gemeinden form part of a Landkreis ( district ) on
5015-542: The name of their respective seats, and if they were not municipal seats, they would have the category of village. Bulgarians do not, in general, differentiate between 'city' and 'town'. However, in everyday language and media the terms "large towns" and "small towns" are in use. "Large towns" usually refers to Sofia , Plovdiv , Varna and Burgas , which have population over 200,000. Ruse and Stara Zagora are often included as well due to presence of relatively developed infrastructure and population over 100,000 threshold. It
5100-418: The national government, for example to apply for driver licenses or passports. The national government generally uses the provinces to run these points of contact on its behalf; in the case of statutory cities, the municipality gets to step up. In Brazil, since 1938, it was defined that the seat of the municipalities would pass to the category of city and give it the name and the districts would be designated by
5185-618: The premises a marine railway, large enough for hauling up vessels of the first class. Post Office, post every day. Professions and Trades.—Three physicians and surgeons, nine lawyers, twelve stores, taverns, two chemists and druggists, three booksellers and stationers, two saddlers, four wagon makers, two watchmakers, two tallow-chandlers, marble works, two printers, two cabinet makers, one hatter, four bakers, two livery stables, two tinsmiths, three blacksmiths, six tailors, seven shoemakers, one tobacconist, one bank agency, ... large quantities of apples, peaches, and cider are shipped annually. In 1859,
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#17328447268475270-476: The properties within the town. The United States Census identifies many census-designated places (CDPs) by the names of unincorporated towns which lie within them; however, those CDPs typically include rural and suburban areas and even surrounding villages and other towns. The distinction between a town and a city similarly depends on the approach: a city may strictly be an administrative entity which has been granted that designation by law, but in informal usage,
5355-417: The rank of town (e.g. Visegrád, Zalakaros or Gönc) and meeting the conditions of development is often disregarded to quickly elevate larger villages into towns. As of middle 2013, there are 346 towns in Hungary, encompassing some 69% of the entire population. Towns of more than 50,000 people are able to gain the status of megyei jogú város (town with the rights of a county ), which allows them to maintain
5440-585: The rink has seating and attached to the smaller Centennial Arena built in 1967. Niagara-on-the-Lake also has a Men's soccer team, the Lakers, which plays in the Peninsula Soccer League (PSL). The team was formed in the 2019 season and sponsored by a local bar, Sand Trap. Niagara-on-the-Lake also has a rich history in the sport of lacrosse. The Town of Niagara was the site of the 8th World Scout Jamboree in 1955. Over 11,000 Scouts from 71 countries attended
5525-557: The same meaning as borough albeit deriving from a different etymology) and they retain the exclusive right to the title even after the last vestiges of their privileges vanished through the reform of the local administration carried through in 1970. In Estonia , there is no distinction between a town and a city as the word linn is used for both bigger and smaller settlements, which are bigger than villages and boroughs. There are 30 municipal towns ( omavalitsuslik linn ) in Estonia and
5610-476: The school began serving both Roman Catholic and Protestant students. The school was used until 1948, after which it was converted into a four unit apartment building. In 2002 a long renovation began, and in 2005 it was converted into a bed and breakfast named the Allison House Inn , renamed BranCliff Inn in 2012, and School House Bed and Breakfast in 2020. The National Historic Site designation of
5695-730: The site of the Mississauga Point Lighthouse , the Niagara Apothecary (the oldest apothecary in Canada), the Niagara District Court House , Queenston Heights , Queenston-Chippawa Hydro-electric Plant, Willowbank and Vrooman's Battery. The Gate House, built after 1849, was the site of the former Wilson's Hotel and the inaugural meeting of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1797. John "Irish John Wilson (1744-~1798)
5780-430: The smallest level of local authorities are all called communes . They can have anywhere from a handful to millions of inhabitants, and France has 36,000 of them. The French term for town is bourg but French laws generally do not distinguish between towns and cities which are all commonly called villes . However, some laws do treat these authorities differently based on the population and different rules apply to
5865-421: The term is also used to denote an urban locality of a particular size or importance: whereas a medieval city may have possessed as few as 10,000 inhabitants, today some consider an urban place of fewer than 100,000 as a town, even though there are many officially designated cities that are much smaller than that. 193 countries have been involved in a common effort to agree on a common statistical definition of
5950-607: The three big cities Paris , Lyon and Marseille . For historical reasons, six communes in the Meuse département exist as independent administrative entities despite having no inhabitants at all. For statistical purposes, the national statistical institute ( INSEE ) operates a distinction between urban areas with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants and bigger communes, the latter being called villes . Smaller settlements are usually called villages . Germans do not, in general, differentiate between 'city' and 'town'. The German word for both
6035-455: The three categories: cities, towns and rural areas. Australian geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor proposed a classification of towns based on their age and pattern of land use . He identified five types of towns: Through different periods of recorded history, many towns have grown into sizeable settlements, with the development of properties, centres of culture, and specialized economies. Çatalhöyük , currently an archaeological site,
6120-522: The town also includes the settlements of Colemans, Homer, McNab, Mississauga Beach, Queenston , St. Davids, and Virgil. In June 2024, the museum for the town received funding from Library and Archives Canada to document oral histories about the Mennonite community in Virgil. Glendale is located near the junction of the Queen Elizabeth Way QEW , Highway 405 , and Highway 55 , and adjacent to
6205-493: The town built its first public school, Niagara Public School . The town's present name of Niagara-on-the-Lake was adopted around 1880 as a postal address to distinguish the town from Niagara Falls . The name was officially adopted in 1970 when the Town of Niagara and the Township of Niagara merged. Most of the former military sites, such as Fort George, Navy Hall, and Butler's Barracks , have been restored. Fort George's restoration
6290-675: The walls of a castle. In Australia, most rural and regional centres of population can be called towns; many small towns have populations of less than 200. The smallest may be described as townships. In addition, some local government entities are officially styled as towns in Queensland , South Australia , Western Australia and the Northern Territory , and formerly also (till the 1990s) in Victoria . The Austrian legal system does not distinguish between villages, towns, and cities. The country
6375-548: The wealthy, which had a high fence or a wall around them (like the garden of the palace of Het Loo in Apeldoorn , which was the model for the privy garden of William III and Mary II at Hampton Court ). In Old Norse tún means a (grassy) place between farmhouses, and the word is still used with a similar meaning in modern Norwegian. Old English tūn became a common place-name suffix in England and southeastern Scotland during
6460-451: The weather will allow of it, from Toronto ... The Niagara Harbour and Dock Company were incorporated in the year 1830 ... the vessels turned out by the Company [include] the steamboat "London," which commenced running in the spring of 1845, the fastest boat on the upper lakes ... The Company usually employ about 150 hands; and, when particularly busy, have employed as many as 350. There is also on
6545-617: The word χωριό ('village') to refer to smaller settlements and the word πόλη or πολιτεία ('city') to refer to larger ones. Careful speakers may also use the word κωμόπολη to refer to towns with a population of 2,000–9,999. In Greek administrative law there used to be a distinction between δήμοι , i.e. municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants or considered important for some other geographical (county seats), historical or ecclesiastical (bishops' seats) reason, and κοινότητες, referring to smaller self-governing units, mostly villages. A sweeping reform, carried out in two stages early in
6630-502: Was a British military base and haven for pro-British loyalists fleeing the United States during the volatile aftermath of the American Revolution . Renamed Newark by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1792, it was the first capital of Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario). The Upper Canada legislature first met at Navy Hall on September 17, 1792, and met there four more times until June 1796. In 1797, Simcoe moved
6715-632: Was a sergeant with the Butler's Rangers and Loyalist from New Jersey. The stone foundation of the Gate House is the remains of the hotel after 1849 fire. His son John Wilson Jr. built the nearby Wilson-Guy House. Niagara-on-the-Lake is within the federal electoral district of Niagara Falls , currently represented in the House of Commons of Canada by Tony Baldinelli , and the provincial electoral district of provincial electoral district of Niagara Falls , represented in
6800-524: Was both as a stop on the Underground Railroad for those travelling further into Upper Canada and as a refuge in its own right. Its stock of regency and classical revival buildings, considered the best in the country from the post-War of 1812 period, led the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada to recommend the town's historic district be designated a National Historic Site of Canada ,
6885-481: Was built in 1859 as a public school, serving the town's children until 1948 when the new Parliament Oak School was built nearby. The construction of the school was a result of The Great Swap , the first and largest surrender of a portion of the military reserve around Fort Mississauga since its boundaries were created in 1796. The portion of land was sold to the Honourable James Crooks, who in 1854 sold
6970-545: Was closed by the District School Board of Niagara in 2010. The Old Town also had an elementary school on King Street: Parliament Oak Public School. It was on the site of the signing of the Act Against Slavery of 1793, by the first legislative session of the parliament of Upper Canada. The school was closed on June 25, 2015. The town is home to the Shaw Festival , Canada's second largest producing theatre and
7055-498: Was considered to be the oldest inhabited town, or proto-city , that existed from around 7500 BC. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site , it remains a depopulated town with a complex of ruins. In Roman times , a villa was a rural settlement formed by a main residential building and another series of secondary buildings. It constituted the center from which an agricultural holding was administered. Subsequently, it lost its agricultural functions and reduced its activity to residential. With
7140-591: Was done as a "Make Work Project," guided by plans from the Royal Engineers during the Great Depression of the 1930s, an early example of historic preservation. Fort George National Historic Site is a focal point in a collection of War of 1812 sites, which, collectively, are managed by Parks Canada under the name Niagara National Historic Sites. That administrative name includes several national historic sites: Fort Mississauga , Mississauga Point Lighthouse (1804,
7225-534: Was intended to be self-reliant, but was not successful and turned into a bedroom community like the other new towns. More recent developments are Tin Shui Wai and North Lantau (Tung Chung-Tai Ho) . In Hungary there is no official distinction between a city and a town (the word for both in Hungarian is város ). Nevertheless, the expressions formed by adding the adjectives kis ('small') and nagy ('large') to
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