Simcoe, Ontario

Simcoe is an unincorporated community and former town in Southwestern Ontario, Canada located near Lake Erie. It is the county seat and largest community of Norfolk County. Simcoe is located at the junction of Highway 3, at Highway 24, due south of Brantford, and accessible to Hamilton by nearby Highway 6.

History

Simcoe was founded in 1795 by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe was incorporated as the Corporation of the Town of Simcoe in 1878 and had its own town council and mayor until December 31, 2000. In 2001, the town and all other municipalities within the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk were dissolved and the region was divided into two single tier municipalities with city-status but called counties. Simcoe now forms Ward 5 of Norfolk County.

As a part of Haldimand-Norfolk County during the 20th century, passed their first tree conservation by-law in 1947. This law was recently revised in 2000 as a part of Norfolk County's Forestry Act. Around 350 applications for tree cutting permits are sent to Norfolk council per year. For every 100 acres of undeveloped land in Norfolk County, more than 25 of those acres are considered to be forested. Most of these forests can be found within 10 miles or 16 kilometres of downtown Simcoe and are open for exploration except during periods of heavy snow.