Editing Chatham-Kent (section)

===After slavery ended in the United States===
In 1846, the town of Chatham had a population of about 1,500, with part of the town being called Chatham North. There were four churches, a theatre, a weekly newspaper and a cricket club. The road between London and Amherstburg was open, and transportation by stagecoach was available. A fast boat also provided transportation to Detroit and Buffalo. Chatham had many tradesman, a foundry, two banks, three schools, a tavern and a library where one could read books and newspapers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Wm. H. |date=1846 |title=SMITH'S CANADIAN GAZETTEER – STATISTICAL AND GENERAL INFORMATION RESPECTING ALL PARTS OF THE UPPER PROVINCE, OR CANADA WEST|url=https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit |location=Toronto |publisher=H. & W. ROWSELL |page=[https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit/page/31 31]}}</ref> By 1869, the population was 3,000 in this industrial area with several mills, foundries, and breweries; a great deal of wood was being produced. A steamboat offered transportation to Windsor and Detroit. There was one bank office.<ref>https://archive.org/stream/provinceontario00mcevgoog#page/n116/mode/2up, p. 97</ref>

Between 1906 and 1909, the city was home to the [[Chatham Motor Car Company]],<ref name="Chatham This Week online">{{Cite web|url=http://www.chathamthisweek.com/2008/06/17/car-company-made-35-units|title=Car company made 35 units &#124; Chatham This Week|date=September 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920043854/http://www.chathamthisweek.com/2008/06/17/car-company-made-35-units |archive-date=September 20, 2017 }}</ref> and from 1919 to 1921, Denby Motor Truck Company of Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/wow/plants/seagrave.htm|title=1907|website=projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com}}</ref> It was also where the [[Hyslop and Ronald]] steam [[fire engine]] manufacturer was located; the factory would be taken over by Chatham Motor Car.<ref name="Chatham This Week online"/> In addition, it hosted [[Meat packing industry|meat packer]] [[O'Keefe and Drew]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chathamthisweek.com/2016/10/18/chatham-was-home-to-luxury-car-manufacturer-that-took-on-citys-name|title=Chatham was home to luxury car manufacturer that took on city's name &#124; Chatham This Week}}</ref>

The [[Hawaiian pizza]] is claimed to have been invented in Chatham in 1962 at the Satellite Restaurant by [[Sam Panopoulos]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/the-history-of-hawaiian-pizza/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160407183921/http://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/the-history-of-hawaiian-pizza/| archive-date = 2016-04-07| title = The History of Hawaiian Pizza}}</ref> In the U.S., former [[Ohio]] Governor [[Jim Rhodes]] proposed building a bridge across Lake Erie linking [[Cleveland]] to the southern coast of Kent County.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Cleveland: Gov. Rhodes Pushes Idea of Lake Erie Bridge|date=April 24, 1966|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1966/04/24/archives/cleveland-gov-rhodes-pushes-idea-of-lake-erie-bridge.html|work=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=June 21, 2020}}</ref>

Before 1998, Kent County consisted of the [[township (Canada)|townships]] of [[Camden Township, Kent County, Ontario|Camden]], [[Chatham Township, Ontario|Chatham]], [[Dover Township, Ontario|Dover]], [[Harwich Township, Ontario|Harwich]], [[Howard Township, Ontario|Howard]], [[Orford Township, Ontario|Orford]], [[Raleigh Township, Ontario|Raleigh]], [[Romney Township, Ontario|Romney]], [[Tilbury East Township, Ontario|Tilbury East]] and [[Zone Township, Ontario|Zone]]. In some of Canada's earliest post-Confederation censuses, some residences in Kent County were incorrectly reported as being in [[Bothwell (Canadian electoral district)|Bothwell "County"]], which was a separate [[electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]] comprising parts of Kent and [[Lambton County, Ontario|Lambton]] counties but not a distinct county in its own right.

In 1998, the [[Kent County, Ontario|County of Kent]] and the [[Chatham, Ontario|city of Chatham]] were amalgamated by the Province of Ontario to form the Municipality of Chatham–Kent. Most services were also combined. Since then, bus service has begun to serve all of Chatham-Kent. Starting in 2007, routes were set up to include the former towns of [[Wallaceburg, Ontario|Wallaceburg]] and [[Dresden, Ontario|Dresden]]. Before 1998, each town had their own fire department. It then became the Chatham-Kent Fire Department upon amalgamation. The county also had separate police departments until 1998. The [[Chatham, Ontario|city of Chatham]], as well as the towns of Wallaceburg, Dresden, and [[Tilbury, Ontario|Tilbury]], each had their own departments. The Chatham-Kent Police Service was formed on September 1, 1998. Many residents opposed amalgamation, as 18 city councillors boycotted the official vote, and the final decision to amalgamate was imposed on the County by a provincial commissioner.<ref>Shreve, Ellwood. "20 Years of Amalgamation – How it Happened." [https://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2017/12/29/20-years-of-amalgamation--how-it-happened/wcm/d34db955-3029-0aad-8e6a-926a31dcd610 ''Chatham Daily News''] December 29, 2017 (Retrieved March 1, 2020).</ref><ref>Kushner, Joseph and Siegel, David. "Citizens' Attitudes Toward Municipal Amalgamation in Three Ontario Municipalities." p. 50. [http://www.cjrs-rcsr.org/archives/26-1/siegel.pdf ''Canadian Journal of Regional Science''] Spring 2003 (Retrieved March 1, 2020).</ref> In a study on amalgamations in Ontario from 2003, 48% of respondents in Chatham-Kent felt the value they received as taxpayers became worse after amalgamation, and 64% of respondents still did not think of the community as "the Municipality of Chatham-Kent."<ref>Kushner, Joseph and Siegel, David. "Citizens' Attitudes Toward Municipal Amalgamation in Three Ontario Municipalities." pp. 54, 57. [http://www.cjrs-rcsr.org/archives/26-1/siegel.pdf ''Canadian Journal of Regional Science''] Spring 2003 (Retrieved March 1, 2020).</ref>

Chatham-Kent has many historic festivals throughout the year, such as the [[Battle of Longwoods]] reenactment, which takes place on Labour Day weekend at Fairfield Museum on Longwoods Road. Chatham Kent is also home to many historic buildings which are part of an annual ghost tour offered each year at Halloween. The participants go on a guided walk of downtown while the guide informs them of various ghost stories tied to the local buildings in which they pass. Chatham-Kent was a major part of the [[Underground Railroad]] and as such hosts the [[South Buxton, Ontario|Buxton]] Homecoming each September. This celebrates the area's black culture and the roots laid by early black settlers in the Buxton area.