Merrickville-Wolford

Merrickville-Wolford, Ont, incorporated as a village in 1998, population 2850 (2011c), 2867 (2006c). The Village of Merrickville-Wolford is located on the Rideau River, 55 km southwest of Ottawa. The village of Merrickville and the township of Wolford amalgamated during the municipal restructuring which occurred in Ontario during the late 1990s. Merrickville was founded by the LOYALIST William Mirick, a millwright, to utilize the local falls for gristmills and sawmills. It was incorporated in 1860 as a Mirickville, but in 1862 its current spelling was in use. It became a major lock point on the RIDEAU CANAL. The township of Wolford was first surveyed in 1795 and families began to arrive soon after to farm along the river.

Merrickville remains one of the best preserved 19th-century Ontario villages, with over 100 historic buildings, including one of 4 blockhouses (1826-32) built to defend the canal, the Mirick sawmill and tavern, and the house in which Colonel John BY lived. Harry F. McLean, railway contractor and eccentric philanthropist, was a longtime resident. The local economy is based primarily on tourism in Merrickville and dairy farming in rural Wolford.