Elmira

Elmira, Ontario, urban area, population 9931 (2011c), 8872 (2006c). Elmira is located about 17 km northwest of KITCHENER-WATERLOO. Founded on the banks of the Canagagigue River, it was part of the original Six Nations Reserve and a stopping point on the CANADA COMPANY's Guelph-Goderich Road. Its first settlers were English and Irish, then predominantly German from the 1850s. It has been a supply centre for Kitchener's agricultural hinterland. Now part of the Township of Woolwich, Elmira achieved town status in 1923 but disappeared as a legal corporation with the inauguration of Waterloo Regional Government in 1973. Elmira's annual Maple Syrup Festival in April is a popular attraction, drawing visitors from across Ontario. Elmira is also a major service centre for the large Mennonite community in the surrounding countryside.