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== History == Leamington was incorporated as a village in 1874, but by 1869, the European-Canadian settlement already had a population of 350.<ref>{{cite web | title = Leamington's History | date = September 10, 2018 | publisher = Municipality of Leamington | url = https://www.leamington.ca/en/discover/history.aspx | access-date = March 6, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory|date=1869|publisher=Robertson & Cook|location=Toronto|page=[https://archive.org/details/provinceontario00mcevgoog/page/n303 261]|isbn=9780665094125 |url=https://archive.org/details/provinceontario00mcevgoog|quote=ontario gazetteer leamington.}}</ref> The community was named after [[Royal Leamington Spa]] in [[England]], after having originally been called "Gainesville" or "Gainesborough"<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bradt|first1=Earline Hines|title=COG Local History - "The Tomato Capital of Canada", Leamington, Ontario|url=http://ancestralnotes.ebradt.org/2009/04/cog-local-history-tomato-capital-of.html|website=Ancestral Notes|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607084124/http://ancestralnotes.ebradt.org/2009/04/cog-local-history-tomato-capital-of.html|archive-date=June 7, 2013|date=April 22, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> for local mill owner William Gaines, and before that, Wilkinson Corners.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leamington|url=http://www.ruralroutes.com/896.html|website=Ontario Rural Routes|publisher=Rural Routes Ontario|access-date=November 26, 2018}}</ref> It has had a post office since June 1854.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hamilton|first=William|title=The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names|url=https://archive.org/details/macmillanbookofc0000hami|url-access=registration|publisher=Macmillan|year=1978|isbn=0-7715-9754-1|location=Toronto|pages=[https://archive.org/details/macmillanbookofc0000hami/page/155 155]}}</ref> It was a crossroads hamlet with about 300 residents and was first known for its lumber products rather than tomatoes. There was extensive lumbering in western Ontario, as across the river in [[Michigan]] and also upper Michigan. There were several docks, and fish were plentiful in [[Lake Erie]], so much so that [[sturgeon]] could be speared from the shore and fish was the cheapest food available. Leamington was a "[[sundown town]]," a place where Black people would face violence or harassment if they were in public after dark.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mayor of Leamington, Ontario, says sexual harassment from migrant workers a 'cancer' on the town|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/mayor-of-leamington-ontario-says-sexual-harassment-from-migrant-workers-a-cancer-on-the-town|access-date=August 17, 2020|website=National Post|language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The story of Ontario's last segregated Black school|url=https://www.tvo.org/article/the-story-of-ontarios-last-segregated-black-school|access-date=August 17, 2020|website=TVO.org|language=en}}</ref> In 1930, a group of Black parishioners on a visit to Seacliff Park were ordered to leave Leamington by several town administrators.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Racial Segregation of Black People in Canada {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/racial-segregation-of-black-people-in-canada|access-date=August 17, 2020|website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}}</ref> [[David Suzuki]] attests that he was told, upon arrival in Leamington in 1946, that βno colored person has ever stayed here beyond sunset.β<ref>{{Cite book|last=Suzuki|first=David|title=David Suzuki: The autobiography.|publisher=Greystone Books|year=2006|isbn=1553652819|location=Vancouver, BC|pages=23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Bunkhouse Drama: An Examination of Control and Agency among Migrant Farm Workers in Ontario, Canada|url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/69455|date=2015|language=en|first=Joseph Adam|last=Perry}}</ref> Leamington was also one of the few Canadian municipalities included in the [[The Negro Motorist Green Book|''Negro Motorist Green Book'']], the American publication listing safe businesses for travelling black people.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1959|title=Negro Travelers' Green Book: 1959 - NYPL Digital Collections|url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/89ed7cc0-8486-0132-e7b6-58d385a7bbd0/book#page/77/mode/2up|access-date=August 17, 2020|website=digitalcollections.nypl.org}}</ref> On 1 January 1999, the town was amalgamated with the surrounding Township of Mersea to form an expanded Town of Leamington. Similar municipal restructuring took place throughout Essex County. In the early hours of [[Tornado outbreak of June 5β6, 2010|June 6, 2010]], an [[Fujita scale|F1]] tornado ripped through portions of southern Essex County, stretching from Harrow, through Kingsville, to southern Leamington before dissipating near [[Point Pelee National Park]], creating considerable damage, but no loss of life or any direct injuries.<ref name=cbcjune>{{cite web |title=Leamington tornado damage in the millions |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/leamington-tornado-damage-in-the-millions-1.910894 |access-date=October 31, 2019 |work=[[CBC News]] |date=June 7, 2010}}</ref> The tornado passed through Leamington, damaging various important landmarks and facilities in town, including the marina.<ref name=cbcjune/>
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