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Hastings County (named for Francis Rawdon-Hastings) was first organized for electoral purposes in 1792, with its boundaries described as being:
For the initial elections to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, it was united with Northumberland County and most of Lennox County for purposes of returning one member. It was situated within the Mecklenburg District, which was later renamed the "Midland District" in 1792. In 1798, the Parliament of Upper Canada passed legislation to provide, that, at the beginning of 1800:
The territory withdrawn from the County continued to form part of the Midland District. [edit] 19th centuryIn 1821, the newly surveyed townships of Elzevir, Madoc and Marmora were added to the county. While in this time agriculture was the most important industry in Hastings County, by 1822 (when the Marmora Iron Works was approaching its peak production) mining was playing an increasingly more important role in the area's economy. Prominent citizens of Hastings County and Ameliasburgh Township unsuccessfully petitioned the provincial government for district status during 1817, 1818, 1823 and 1825. After Prince Edward County successfully achieved its own government in 1831, Hastings County continued to send petitions throughout the 30s before finally achieving the status of a separate district in March 1837. It was constituted as the District of Victoria in 1839 (which continued until its dissolution in 1850). By 1845, the county was declared to consist of the following geographic townships:
Edward Fidlar became the first warden of Hastings County with their first meeting on January 28, 1850. By this time the Hastings County Council was also interested in education and the building of the railroad. On October 27, 1856, the first railroad train arrived in Belleville and by 1864 around 100 people were employed by the railroad. In August 1866, discovery of gold at Eldorado, near Madoc, caused great excitement throughout Hastings County as people flooded to the area from all over North America. According to Barnes, "gold has been found in twenty-seven locations spread over nine townships." The railroads and of good gravel roads opened these areas to settlement by 1880. In 1889 the Belleville Waterworks was created as a private company, which was then bought by the city of Belleville in 1889. [edit] 20th centuryIn 1911, Hastings County was the first in the province to appoint a reforestation committee, which was instrumental in passing laws around county forests. Postal service began in the area in 1913. By 1927 the original townships had each formed separate governance and many of them had been partitioned due to increase in population and development. The 1927 townships were:
[edit] 21st centuryAt the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a trend toward amalgamating rural and urban administrations. On 1 January 1998:
In 1998, the Village of Tweed was amalgamated with its Township of Hungerford and the contiguous Township of Elzevir & Grimsthorpe to form the Municipality of Tweed. In 1999, the Village of Bancroft merged with Dungannon Township to form the Town of Bancroft. On 1 January 2001, the Municipality of Hastings Highlands was incorporated by amalgamating the contiguous townships of Bangor, Wicklow & McClure, Herschel and Monteagle. Also in 2001, the Village of Marmora amalgamated with the surrounding townships of Marmora and Lake to form the Municipality of Marmora and Lake. |