PEMBROKE, ONTARIO

'Pembroke' (2006 population 13,930; CA population 23,195) is a city at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley in eastern Ontario, Canada. Pembroke is the seat of Renfrew County.

Contents

History

Economy

Demographics

Pembroke media

Radio

Television

Print

Trivia

Murals

See also

External links

History

The first European settler in the area was Peter White, a veteran of the Royal Navy. He homesteaded at what is now Pembroke in 1828, and other settlers followed, attracted by the lumbering operations that were growing in the area.
A number of smaller settlements in the area were grouped together as a police village and renamed Pembroke in 1856. The town was named after Sidney Herbert, First Admiralty Secretary from 1841 to 1845 and son of the Earl of Pembroke.
Pembroke was incorporated as a town in 1878 and as a city in 1971. It was named seat for Renfrew County in 1866, the same year the County Courthouse was constructed.

Economy

Historically, forestry has formed the backbone of the local economy and remains important today. Local timber products include lumber, plywood, veneer, poles and fibreboard. Other local manufacturing operations produce electrical appliances and office furniture. CFB Petawawa in nearby Petawawa and the Chalk River Laboratories of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in Chalk River are also regional employers.
Pembroke is a service centre for the area and is the largest commercial centre between North Bay and Ottawa. The economy benefits from tourism, aided partly by Pembroke's location on the Trans-Canada Highway. Local attractions include a series of murals in the downtown area depicting the history of the city, from steam and logging to nuclear energy. Local museums include the Champlain Trail Museum, a collection of historical buildings and artifacts, and the Pembroke Hydro Museum, commemorating local hydro-electric development.

Demographics

Pembroke media

Most broadcast media transmitting in the Pembroke area are rebroadcasters of stations from Ottawa, Arnprior or Toronto. CHVR-FM is the only broadcast station directly based in the Pembroke area itself. Pembroke also remains CHRO-TV's official city of license, although the station currently operates out of studios in Ottawa.

Radio

★ FM 92.5 - CBCD, CBC Radio One

★ FM 96.7 - CHVR ("Star 96"), country music

★ FM 99.7 - CKQB-1 ("The Bear"), active rock

★ FM 100.7 - CHRI-2, Christian

★ FM 104.9 - CIMY ("My FM"), adult contemporary

Television

★ Channel 3: CBOT-6, CBC

★ Channel 5: CHRO, A-Channel

★ Channel 17: CHLF-13, TFO

★ Channel 29: CICE-16, TVOntario

★ Channel 47: CJOH-47, CTV

★ Channel 12: Cogeco, TV Cogeco

Print

The city's main daily newspaper is the ''Pembroke Daily Observer''. Thete is also a twice-weekly community newspaper called ''The Daily News''.

Trivia

★ Pembroke is the birthplace of comedian Tom Green, although Green's family subsequently moved to Ottawa.

★ Paul Joseph James Martin also known as Paul Martin, Sr., noted lawyer, politician and father of former Prime Minister Paul Martin was raised in Pembroke.

★ Pembroke hosts one of the campuses of Ottawa-based Algonquin College.

★ Pembroke is the site of Canada's first electric street light.

★ The city is home to the annual "Old Time Fiddling and Step Dancing Festival" that happens Labour Day weekend at Riverside Park. There are often up to 1400 RVs parked there for the week preceding the event. Award-winning fiddler/step dancer April Verch is a Pembroke native.

★ Pembroke is host to the annual "Silver Stick Minor League Hockey Tournament". Silver Stick brings in several hundred children and youth on weekends in November and early December for regional qualifying games.

★ Pembroke's Public Library was designed by architect Francis Sullivan, a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Murals

Pembroke has many murals depicting local history and culture.

See also

★ Pembroke Airport

External links

★ City of Pembroke official website