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56-512: The Ontario Southland Railway, Inc. is an independently held short line operator. The company was founded in 1992 to purchase 27 kilometres (17 mi) of track between Tillsonburg and Ingersoll, Ontario from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). In 2009, a second line was added, as 51 kilometres (32 mi) of CPR track from Woodstock to St. Thomas, Ontario were integrated into the system. In 2015, Ontario Southland began leasing

112-576: A sawmill , planing mill , gristmill , spinning mill, pottery and a tannery . Many of these new establishments were either owned, started, or financed by George Tillson. In 1872 the village was incorporated as the Town of Tillsonburg, with Edwin Delevan Tillson elected as its first mayor. The Town of Tillsonburg reached a population of 2,000 in 1885, experienced its first church dedication, and had its first telephone installation established. Electric power

168-589: A whipsaw , one above and another in a saw pit below. The earliest known mechanical mill is the Hierapolis sawmill , a Roman water-powered stone mill at Hierapolis , Asia Minor dating back to the 3rd century AD. Other water-powered mills followed and by the 11th century they were widespread in Spain and North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, and in the next few centuries, spread across Europe. The circular motion of

224-570: A change of 17.3% from its 2016 population of 15,872 . With a land area of 22.2 km (8.6 sq mi), it had a population density of 838.5/km (2,171.7/sq mi) in 2021. Though not directly on the route, Highway 401 passes close to the town, and is connected to it by Highway 19 , at exit 218. Greyhound no longer has weekly bus service to and from Tillsonburg. T:GO Transit provides weekday local and out-of-town bus service to Woodstock, Ingersoll, and other neighbouring communities. The Town of Tillsonburg rail service had been served by

280-533: A downtown mall. The controversial Tillsonburg Town Centre Mall opened in 1980, where the former Town Hall once stood. The mall, a joint effort of the town and Trottier Investments, was built primarily to meet competition from out-of-town malls and keep more of the shopping dollar in town. In 1983, two important buildings - Annandale House (built by the founding Tillson family) and the Hale Street railway station became public buildings. The former would be restored as

336-421: A house museum, while the latter became The Station Arts Centre. A residential development geared for seniors, named Hickory Hills, began selling homes in 1986. The development significantly added to the town's population and increased the pool of volunteers for local non-profit agencies. In 1991, a food bank was established for the community's needy and continues to be operated on a volunteer basis. Throughout

392-690: A hub for regional operations of the Ontario Provincial Police including Oxford County Division Headquarters and also the Southwestern Ontario Forensics laboratory which opened in April 2008. In January 2006 the National Post listed Tillsonburg as number 75 on the top 100 places to visit in Canada. Annandale House was designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 1997. Tillsonburg

448-415: A term used in many mechanical applications). Generally, only the saw was powered, and the logs had to be loaded and moved by hand. An early improvement was the development of a movable carriage, also water powered, to move the log steadily through the saw blade. A type of sawmill without a crank is known from Germany called "knock and drop" or simply "drop" -mills. In these drop sawmills, the frame carrying

504-458: Is home to several branch plants of major US and internationally based automotive suppliers including Autoneum Canada Ltd, THK-TRW, Marwood Metal Fabrication Ltd and a new site for Armtec. There are many service-related industries including Future Transfer Co. Inc, Inovata Foods, E & E McLaughlin, J/E Bearing Ltd., Fleetwood Metal Products, and MIL-SIM-FX International Inc. The town has a very active and developing downtown core area which includes

560-545: Is home to three barn quilts. One is on the north end of town on the side of a furniture store, shaped as a barn. Another one is on the grounds of Station Arts in front of the caboose and the third quilt is on the original Pea & Barley Mill, built in 1878 by E.D. Tillson, son of the town's founder and opened in 2009 as the Mill Tales Inn beside the Otter Creek featuring a restaurant and inn. These barn quilts make up part of

616-461: Is in Phase 8 will have approximately 300 homes when completed. The Tillsonburg Community Centre was refurbished in 2004 with renovations and enlargement of the main ice surface to NHL size. The project's scope of work included keeping the whale-back roof as a key architectural feature as well as to increase seating and provide for new recreation and health club facilities. Residential development includes

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672-590: Is much like those of hundreds of years ago: a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end. The Hierapolis sawmill , a water-powered stone sawmill at Hierapolis , Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey , then part of the Roman Empire ), dating to the second half of the 3rd century, is the earliest known sawmill. It also incorporates a crank and connecting rod mechanism. Water-powered stone sawmills working with cranks and connecting rods, but without gear train , are archaeologically attested for

728-526: Is the small portable sawmill for personal or even professional use. Many different models have emerged with different designs and functions. They are especially suitable for producing limited volumes of boards, or specialty milling such as oversized timber. Portable sawmills have gained popularity for the convenience of bringing the sawmill to the logs and milling lumber in remote locations. Some remote communities that have experienced natural disasters have used portable sawmills to rebuild their communities out of

784-507: The Christian saint Gregory of Nyssa from Anatolia around 370–390 AD, demonstrating a diversified use of water-power in many parts of the Roman Empire . Sawmills later became widespread in medieval Europe , as one was sketched by Villard de Honnecourt in c. 1225–1235. They are claimed to have been introduced to Madeira following its discovery in c. 1420 and spread widely in Europe in

840-687: The Pee Dee River from as far as the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina . A restoration project for Sturgeon's Mill in Northern California is underway, restoring one of the last steam-powered lumber mills still using its original equipment. In the twentieth century the introduction of electricity and high technology furthered this process, and now most sawmills are massive and expensive facilities in which most aspects of

896-464: The Pee Dee River from the Appalachian Mountains . In the 20th century the introduction of electricity and high technology furthered this process, and now most sawmills are massive and expensive facilities in which most aspects of the work are computerized. Besides the sawn timber, use is made of all the by-products including sawdust , bark , woodchips , and wood pellets , creating a diverse offering of forest products . A sawmill's basic operation

952-622: The St. Thomas & Eastern Railway , a division of Trillium Railway , which ran in most cases parallel to Highway 3 in the south end of the town on the former Canadian National Railway Cayuga subdivision, previously the Great Western Railway 's Canada Air Line . Service on the STER was daily, Monday to Friday, but ceased operation in 2013. However, GIO Rail resumed service on January 4, 2022. The Ontario Southland Railway also serves Tillsonburg using

1008-636: The sawfiler . Sawfilers were highly skilled in metalworking. Their main job was to set and sharpen teeth. The craft also involved learning how to hammer a saw, whereby a saw is deformed with a hammer and anvil to counteract the forces of heat and cutting. Modern circular saw blades have replaceable teeth, but still need to be hammered. The introduction of steam power in the 19th century created many new possibilities for mills. Availability of railroad transportation for logs and lumber encouraged building of rail mills away from navigable water. Steam powered sawmills could be far more mechanized. Scrap lumber from

1064-399: The 16th century. Prior to the invention of the sawmill, boards were rived (split) and planed, or more often sawn by two men with a whipsaw , using saddleblocks to hold the log, and a saw pit for the pitman who worked below. Sawing was slow, and required strong and hearty men. The topsawer had to be the stronger of the two because the saw was pulled in turn by each man, and the lower had

1120-627: The 6th century at the Byzantine cities Gerasa (in Asia Minor) and Ephesus (in Syria ). The earliest literary reference to a working sawmill comes from a Roman poet, Ausonius , who wrote a topographical poem about the river Moselle in Germany in the late 4th century AD. At one point in the poem, he describes the shrieking sound of a watermill cutting marble . Marble sawmills also seem to be indicated by

1176-746: The Barn Quilt Trail in Southwest Ontario. Another attraction is the Station Arts Centre, a multi-use facility which was created from two historic train stations that were joined together by a central gallery. It has been home to artistic, cultural and technical groups since its founding in 1983. It is also home to the Saturday morning Tillsonburg Farmers' Market which operates from May to November. A number of organizations across Tillsonburg collaborate in putting together events such as Turtlefest,

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1232-640: The CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. The facility experiences an approximate daily influx and outflow of 100 multis. In November 2015, OSR and Canadian National (CN) Railways made a joint announcement regarding the transfer of operations on CN's disused Cayuga subdivision. The responsibility of managing the St. Thomas–Tillsonburg segment (and extending to Delhi, Ontario) was handed over to OSR. However, this transition would commence after essential track maintenance

1288-526: The CAMI plant in Ingersoll, 22 kilometres north of the town, which opened in 1986. The CAMI plant, owned by General Motors of Detroit, Michigan, has been retooled to produce the BrightDrop series of all-electric delivery vans. The area also has a strong agricultural community with cash crops, hog farming, milk production, tobacco, ginseng and various tertiary crops (including watermelons). The town has recently become

1344-754: The Canadian Championships in 1952 and represented Canada in the 1952 Summer Olympics at Helsinki, Finland . CKOT Radio began broadcasting operations in 1955 and the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Marketing Board opened its new auction exchange three years later. Tillsonburg is one of eight municipalities that make up the County of Oxford. The mayor also represents the town as a County Councillor. The county administers social programs, ambulance and paramedic services, planning, water and wastewater services, garbage and landfill operations and

1400-565: The County road system. Tillsonburg is governed by an elected mayor, deputy mayor and five councillors. Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month in the Council Chambers in the Corporate Municipal Office. They oversee staff and set policy for the various operations and services provided by the town. The town also owns and operates: Oxford County now owns and operates: The town has one hospital accredited through

1456-548: The Ontario Ministry of Health. Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital is in the downtown area on Rolph Street. The TDMH serves the town and region. In the Town's Centennial Year (1972), the new $ 1,000,000 Community Recreation Complex was opened by the Governor-General of Canada . The Tillsonburg Museum was also opened in the old community centre on the shores of Lake Lisgar . A new 8,000-square-foot (740 m ) library

1512-583: The Strand Theatre is still intact but the building is again unoccupied after brief stints as businesses. To the relief of many, big screen movies came back in Tillsonburg in 1996 with the opening of Broadway Cinemas. In 1994, the downtown area was significantly enhanced with the construction of the Rotary Club Clock Tower, which incorporated a clock from the town's former Post Office, and a bell from

1568-714: The Tillsonburg Rowing Club and the Lake Lisgar Water Park. Tillsonburg elementary and secondary schools are under the control of two school boards, the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) and the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB). In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Tillsonburg had a population of 18,615 living in 8,229 of its 8,494 total private dwellings,

1624-560: The Tillsonburg Town Centre mall, built in 1980 and has several big box stores. All of the major Canadian banks have branches in the town and there is also a credit union. Tillsonburg is served by three radio stations; the New Country 107.3 (107.3 CJDL FM), Country 1510 (1510 CKOT AM), Easy 101 (101.3 CKOT FM) and two newspapers: The Norfolk & Tillsonburg News, and The Tillsonburg Post. The town has been positively impacted by

1680-522: The Town of Tillsonburg. The airport is 7 km north of the town in Southwest Oxford Township. The airport is home to several aviation-related businesses. The airport has 3 runways, with the primary runway being re-constructed and extended to 5,500 feet, constructed of asphalt. Its terminal building houses a flying school and has a cafe, lounge, patio and viewing area. The airport is used by corporate aircraft including jets. Regular users of

1736-533: The Week of Remembrance and the Tillsonburg Country Christmas Festival. Camping is available north of town at Casey's Park on Highway #19 north of Mount Elgin , which is the home of weekly Country Music Jamborees between Victoria Day and Labour Day, where audience members are encouraged to participate on stage. Lake Lisgar, a small lake in the centre of town, has been rehabilitated and is home for

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1792-433: The advantage of gravity. The topsawyer also had to guide the saw so that the board was of even thickness. This was often done by following a chalkline. Early sawmills simply adapted the whipsaw to mechanical power, generally driven by a water wheel to speed up the process. The circular motion of the wheel was changed to back-and-forth motion of the saw blade by a connecting rod known as a pitman arm (thus introducing

1848-550: The airport also include the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association , Air Ambulance , Canadian Coast Guard , the Ontario Provincial Police and other government agencies. Stompin' Tom Connors and The Cash Brothers have each written and recorded songs entitled "Tillsonburg". Sawmill Before the invention of the sawmill, boards were made in various manual ways, either rived (split) and planed , hewn , or more often hand sawn by two men with

1904-580: The availability of ships transporting cargoes of logs to the sawmill and cargoes of lumber from the sawmill. The next improvement was the use of circular saw blades, perhaps invented in England in the late 18th century, but perhaps in 17th-century Netherlands. Soon thereafter, millers used gangsaws, which added additional blades so that a log would be reduced to boards in one quick step. Circular saw blades were extremely expensive and highly subject to damage by overheating or dirty logs. A new kind of technician arose,

1960-626: The demolished Town Hall. Soon, it became a community tradition (sponsored by the Rotary Club) for local residents to gather at the Clock Tower to ring in the New Year with fireworks, hot apple cider and the dropping of a ball. Further development of residential senior's focused development began in 2001 with the Baldwin Place subdivision located on the western periphery of the town. This development which

2016-582: The development of steam power in the 19th century, a much greater degree of mechanisation was possible. Scrap lumber from the mill provided a source of fuel for firing the boiler. The arrival of railroads meant that logs could be transported to mills rather than mills being built beside navigable waterways. By 1900, the largest sawmill in the world was operated by the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company in Georgetown, South Carolina, using logs floated down

2072-618: The early 1990s, volunteers were also busy on the Lake Lisgar Renaissance Project, which sought to revitalize the lake, and make the park around the lake more attractive with the construction of a gazebo, water fountain and walkways into the lake. In that period two major entertainment outlets closed: the Skylark Drive-In and the Strand movie theatre, victims of the video store arrival. The original angled marquee architecture of

2128-469: The establishment of this small community, originally called Dereham Forge. The settlement was on the Big Otter Creek . In 1836 the village was renamed Tillsonburg in honour of its founder. It was also in this year that the main street, Broadway, was laid out to its full 100-foot (30 m) width. Because the village was predominantly a logging and wood product centre, the street was built to accommodate

2184-937: The ex-CPR Port Burwell Subdivision between Ingersoll and Tillsonburg , Ontario. Customers served include Future Transfer, Cedar Crest Wood Products, Kissner Group, Johnson Controls, International Beams, and Wellmaster. Traffic destined for Growmark, Inc. in Delhi, Ontario, as well as Cargill and Norfolk Co-Op in Courtland, Ontario is also handled. On 14 December 2009, the OSR began leasing the St. Thomas Subdivision from CPR consisting of 54.1 kilometres (33.6 mi) of track from Woodstock to St. Thomas , Ontario. Customers served include Ontario Refrigerated Services, Auto Warehousing Company, Agrium, Belmont Farm Supply, Sylvite, Messenger Freight Services, and Factor Gas Liquids. Interchange with CN at St. Thomas and with CP at Woodstock. OSR performs switching at

2240-545: The ex-Canadian National Cayuga Subdivision between St. Thomas and Delhi, Ontario , which had been abandoned by its former shortline operator the St. Thomas and Eastern Railway in 2013. OSR also operated the Guelph Junction Railway until 28 August 2020 when operations were transferred to the Goderich–Exeter Railway . OSR's Tillsonburg Division operates on the remaining 28.3 kilometres (17.6 mi) of

2296-495: The fallen trees. Technology has changed sawmill operations significantly in recent years, emphasizing increasing profits through waste minimization and increased energy efficiency as well as improving operator safety. The once-ubiquitous rusty, steel conical sawdust burners have for the most part vanished, as the sawdust and other mill waste is now processed into particleboard and related products, or used to heat wood-drying kilns . Co-generation facilities will produce power for

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2352-411: The forest, where a temporary shelter was built, and the logs were skidded to the nearby mill by horse or ox teams, often when there was some snow to provide lubrication. As mills grew larger, they were usually established in more permanent facilities on a river, and the logs were floated down to them by log drivers . Sawmills built on navigable rivers, lakes, or estuaries were called cargo mills because of

2408-470: The former CPR Port Burwell subdivision running from nearby Ingersoll, parallel to Highway 19 north of town, and then into the north-east end of town. The OSR interchanges with the STER at the south end of town. Passenger train services are provided by Via Rail stations in nearby Ingersoll or Woodstock . The town is served by the Tillsonburg Municipal Airport , owned and operated by

2464-441: The growth of a frontier community. The Dutch windmill owner Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest invented in 1594 the wind-powered sawmill, which made the conversion of log timber into planks 30 times faster than before. His wind-powered sawmill used a crankshaft to convert a windmill 's circular motion into a back-and-forward motion powering the saw, and was granted a patent for the technique. Early mills had been taken to

2520-454: The junction of Highway 19 . Prior to European settlement, the present site of Tillsonburg was home to Indigenous tribes. The Tillsonburg Village Site, a 14th century Iroquoian village, was excavated in 2001 and 2008, in the northwest corner of the town, and contained 15 longhouses. The area was settled in 1825 by George Tillson and other immigrants from Enfield, Massachusetts . A forge and sawmill were erected and roads built which led to

2576-536: The mill provided a ready fuel source for firing the boiler. Efficiency was increased, but the capital cost of a new mill increased dramatically as well. In addition, the use of steam or gasoline-powered traction engines also allowed the entire sawmill to be mobile. By 1900, the largest sawmill in the world was operated by the Atlantic Lumber Company in Georgetown , South Carolina, using logs floated down

2632-478: The operation and may also feed superfluous energy onto the grid. While the bark may be ground for landscaping barkdust , it may also be burned for heat. Sawdust may make particle board or be pressed into wood pellets for pellet stoves. The larger pieces of wood that will not make lumber are chipped into wood chips and provide a source of supply for paper mills. Wood by-products of the mills will also make oriented strand board (OSB) paneling for building construction,

2688-415: The re-urbanization of the former railway lands on Bridge Street East which is the site of Tillson Landing condominium, the first such highrise construction in more than a decade. Tillsonburg serves a regional tri-county area of 65,000 people at the convergence of Oxford, Elgin and Norfolk counties. The industrial base has become quite diverse during the decline of the once prominent tobacco industry. The area

2744-600: The saw blade is knocked upwards by cams as the shaft turns. These cams are let into the shaft on which the waterwheel sits. When the frame carrying the saw blade is in the topmost position it drops by its own weight, making a loud knocking noise, and in so doing it cuts the trunk. A small mill such as this would be the center of many rural communities in wood-exporting regions such as the Baltic countries and Canada . The output of such mills would be quite low, perhaps only 500 boards per day. They would also generally only operate during

2800-496: The turning of three-team logging wagons. This width is now unique to Ontario and has become a benefit toward handling the pressures of modern-day traffic by providing angled parking. The extension of Broadway north was called Plank Line and is now known as Highway 19. The mid-19th century proved to be the first step in the industrialization of this municipality. A water system was devised to not only supply pure water for domestic use, but also to provide water power to such industries as

2856-465: The wheel was converted to a reciprocating motion at the saw blade. Generally, only the saw was powered, and the logs had to be loaded and moved by hand. An early improvement was the development of a movable carriage, also water powered, to move the log steadily through the saw blade. By the time of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, the circular saw blade had been invented, and with

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2912-581: The winter, the peak logging season. In the United States , the sawmill was introduced soon after the colonisation of Virginia by recruiting skilled men from Hamburg . Later the metal parts were obtained from the Netherlands, where the technology was far ahead of that in England , where the sawmill remained largely unknown until the late 18th century. The arrival of a sawmill was a large and stimulative step in

2968-440: The work is computerized . The cost of a new facility with 4,700-cubic-metre-per-day (2-million- board-foot -per- day ) capacity is up to CAN$ 120,000,000. A modern operation will produce between 240,000 to 1,650,000 cubic metres (100 to 700 million board feet) annually. Small gasoline-powered sawmills run by local entrepreneurs served many communities in the early twentieth century, and specialty markets still today. A trend

3024-625: Was carried out, aiming to facilitate the transportation needs of a newly established windmill turbine factory situated east of Tillsonburg. Other customers served include two grain elevators in Courtland, Ontario , an ethanol plant in Aylmer, Ontario and a fertilizer plant in Delhi. Tillsonburg Tillsonburg is a town in Oxford County , Ontario , Canada with a population of 18,615 located about 50 kilometres southeast of London , on Highway 3 at

3080-477: Was completed in 1975, and a second indoor skating rink was built in 1977, funded completely by donations from industry, commerce, service clubs, citizens and the Wintario lottery. In 1979, the hospital built a $ 7,000,000 addition for offices, improved x-ray and emergency departments, and an expanded Intensive Care Unit . A fire hall was constructed in 1979, replacing the old building which was demolished to make way for

3136-507: Was first used in 1912 and automobiles began to appear on the market. In 1915, a public library was built with funds provided by the Carnegie Foundation , and the town's Memorial Hospital opened in 1925. In the 1920s, major enterprises included milk production, manufacture of shoes, tractors, textiles and an increased production of tobacco. The Tillsonburg Livingstons basketball team (representative of Tillsonburg's largest industry) won

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