Walsh, Ontario

Community of Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada

Walsh (formerly known as Charlotteville Centre) is a medium sized hamlet in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada.

Walsh developed as a township central crossroads gathering point on Young's Creek, in the first quarter of the 19th century. A number of service businesses have come and gone over the years, as road quality improved and practical travel distances increased. No commercial business are remaining in the community, although Walsh is home to two elementary schools, two Christian churches, the township community hall that hosts an annual fall fair and the operating headquarters of a major regional transportation company. Walsh is located near streams, valleys, conservation areas, and bays. Along the Turkey Point Road, tobacco kilns can be seen in threesomes. His son, John, took over the business in the mid 1970s and expanded the business and slowly recruited the help of 230 power units and 750 semi trailer trucks delivering goods throughout Quebec, Ontario, and the United States over the decades.

This community is home to two elementary schools: Walsh Public School (within the Grand Erie District School Board) and St. Michael's Catholic Elementary School (administered by the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board). During the peak of local population growth in the mid 19th century, 14 one room and two room schools were functioning within the Township of Charlotteville. Walsh Area Public School was constructed in 1959 on an open field site along the north side of St. John's Road, between the Turkey Point Road and Young's Creek. It opened in March 1960, a four room school that culminated a five year consolidation effort that merged four one and two room elementary schools within five miles of the village: Walsh, Tisdale, Elmwood and McKnight. The guest of honour at the official opening in September 1960 was Education Minister and future Premier John Robarts. Expansion of the public school came in three phases over the next 15 years to achieve its current configuration. It also had its name shortened to Walsh Public School. The children of Walsh Public School were involved in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of Records for reading on January 26, 2009. A relaxation room (dubbed the Snoezelen Room from the Dutch words snufflen to seek out and doezelen to snooze) has been installed on the premises to relax hyperactive children in addition to children on the autistic spectrum who unintentionally disrupt their classes. They often return to their classroom after a few minutes of relaxation in this sensation filled room without having to visit the principal for disciplinary measures. Soft music is constantly played in the room while children with special needs can either touch or hear calming sensations. In September 2013, Walsh Public School started to provide an all day kindergarten program. The Grand Erie Board administers four secondary schools to which Walsh graduates can advance: Simcoe Composite School, Port Dover Composite School, Delhi District Secondary School and Valley Heights Secondary School. St. Michael's Elementary School was launched in the early 1950s, initially in the basement of St. Michael's Catholic Church next door. The current school was opened in January 1961 as a two room school and subsequently has been expanded to the present structure. Graduates can advance preferentially to Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Simcoe. A local bursary; known as the Charlotteville Bursary has been traditionally awarded for secondary school graduates from the Walsh area as an incentive to attend either the college or university of their choice.

Walsh is located near these major communities: Simcoe , Delhi , Port Dover , Tillsonburg , Brantford and Woodstock
Mount Forest is located to the north of this community. It is an unincorporated community located on the junction of Ontario Highways 6 and 89 in the township of Wellington North.

The first Christian community established in Walsh was the Charlotteville Methodist Church, constructed in 1856 and located 1.3 kilometres to the south. That community thrived through the 1925 merger that created the United Church of Canada and beyond but suffered badly from declining membership during the Great Depression and it ceased operation in the early 1940s. After being vacant for nearly 20 years, the building was demolished in 1962. A commemorative monument remains, in the northeast corner of the cemetery. Two churches in the area continue to provide the spiritual and religious needs of the local residents: Walsh Baptist Church and St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church. Walsh Baptist Church was established in 1876 and has served a thriving community of worshippers since that time. During the first few decades of the 20th century, a close collaboration developed with the Charlotteville Methodist Church. St. Michael's Catholic Church was established in 1947. This creek would eventually provide water to nearby Vitorria in addition to Greens Corners, Port Ryerse, Normandale, Turkey Point, St. Williams and Port Rowan.

With the escalation of gasoline consumption after the Great Depression, the number of low volume rural gasoline retailers peaked in the late 1950s. Gas prices reached 5.5 cents a litre by 1959 due to the low fuel taxes and surplus of oil from the Middle East during that era. At that time, Walsh had three such businesses. Colwell, General Merchant, described more fully below, was located on the northwest corner of the main intersection and sold Supertest products. Facing them, across the road, on the northeast corner was another general store, Earle's Grocery, that sold Reliance products. Ironically, Supertest and Reliance were of the same corporate ownership but operated as separate companies. Half a block to the south of Earle's was the village's only full scope service station, Engell's Walsh Garage that sold Texaco products. At Walsh Station located five kilometers to the south, Cherwaty's Service sold Fina products

Unfortunately, the local gasoline retailers have all gone out of business. Supertest was an all Canadian company that operated until being bought out by BP Canada in the 1970s (which was bought out by Petro Canada in 1983). Natural gas production is found throughout the Walsh area; this production spreads as fast east as Vittoria and as far west as Jericho and Silver Hill. More than of petroleum and mineral leases are within the boundaries of Walsh along with the nearby communities of Walsingham and Houghton. Approximately 85 businesses and residences are served by this company through a special agreement with Union Gas. In 2001, Haldimand Norfolk was dissolved into two separate single tier counties. Walsh became part of the newly formed County of Norfolk.

An annual fair held in the hamlet called the Donnybrook Fair attracts kids and adults from the area in the middle of September. It has been held since 1857, with the fair growing in size and quality every year. Children who attend school within the immediate vicinity are allowed to enter any artwork that they produced themselves in addition to their own crafts and agriculture related artifacts. They are typically between the ages of 5 and 13. Homeschooled children may also enter the contests. In the 2011 edition of the Donnybrook Fair, these local students have managed to win $1346 in tax free cash. This monetary award encourages children to save up for higher education opportunities. The short term effects of the award system encourages children to work on their innovative spirit and improve their work ethics. Although the winner of the Donnybrook Fair demolition derby is no longer assured a spot in the Norfolk County Fair version of the event, the prize money keeps increasing and the event is done over a traditional dirt track. Fundraising for the Donnybrook Fair involves a Victoria Day brunch, an annual spring barbecue, and numerous raffles. The winter of 1975 was the only unusually mild winter in the region from 1897 to 1977. From the late 1990s onwards, winters became more mild due to changes in climate brought on by global warming. Walsh traditionally belongs to the humid continental climate zone, even with the recent mild winters and warmer dry summers. As in all communities, towns and cities throughout the world, global warming due to human industrial activity has drastically altered the climate of Walsh over the decades. The warmest summers that Walsh has witnessed occurred in 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 (with the exception of the month of July), 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Should the sea levels rise by , Walsh is not located close enough to salt water to be affected directly by flooding. However, it would suffer indirectly from droughts due to the displacement of available freshwater resources and would have to rely on desalinated salt water piped in from hundreds of miles away. Many major cities near salt water already pipe in their water from freshwater sources hundreds of miles away like Los Angeles; which is located in the middle of a desert.