Vankleek Hill is a village of about 2,100 eccentric and interesting people, roughly one hour’s drive from Montreal, Cornwall and Ottawa… so that pretty much makes us the centre of the largest concentration of Canadians anywhere in the world, which is perfect because we throw a lot of annual festivals, so they all have something to do.

The first business in Vankleek Hill was an Inn run by Cecilia Jaycox, the wife of Simeon VanKleeck himself, and to this day Vankleek Hill is mostly about liquor, food and beds.

Cecilia and Simeon were Dutch ‘United Empire Loyalists’ who sided with the British during the American Revolutionary War in 1776… which didn’t turn out that great for the British, so Simeon left New York with his wife and son, and moved north. By 1797 Simeon, Cecilia and Simeon jr. had started a homestead on the land which inevitably became Vankleek Hill.

Cecilia’s Inn served people travelling up and down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, or by land between Montreal and Ottawa. As a result Vankleek Hill has always been a crossroads village, and quickly became the agricultural and trades centre for the region.

The Vankleek Hill region has been my home for almost half of my life — I spent the other half living in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Guelph and Stratford. My first job as a reporter was in Vankleek Hill with the local weekly broadsheet, The Review [link to their homepage].

Not too long ago, a friend left his car on a side street in Vankleek Hill while he went camping for two nights… he forgot to lock the doors and left the drivers-side window halfway down. When he got back his car was still in the same spot, all of his CDs were still there, but it had rained so someone had rolled up his window. Welcome to Vankleek Hill.

EDIT: …a little while ago, some documentarians decided to look at six Ontario communities to see how they were managing with the forces of change [link]. The documentary was looking into how small Ontario towns were surviving the “social, cultural, and industrial changes” that are a constant struggle for villages and small cities. In addition to Vankleek Hill, the other communities were Smiths Falls, Stratford, Napanee, Cobalt, and North Buxton. Five of the six had been experiencing massive challenges for decades, and some of which had come close to closure.

But one of the communities stuck out for not being like all the rest. The Documentary makers, I believe, had an expectation that Vankleek Hill would fit neatly into their narrative. But, soon after arriving here, they quickly discovered that Vankleek Hill, despite the changes to the Outside World, including a Global Pandemic, had been the same upbeat and thriving community for over 150-years.

…like, except for a Craft Brewery opening up in 2006 [link], and a housing development that was completed in the early 1970’s (that we still call ‘the new development’), this village hasn’t Boomed or Busted since Canada became a country.

I love this Documentary, just because it shows how little has changed here, even if 3/4 of it no longer applies… the Brewery sold out and is basically closed, The Review is under new management, the New New Housing Development has stalled. And the biggest complaint in the whole show, was the possibility of the New New Housing Development creating a traffic jam on Higginson and Stanley Street, that would basically mean an extra two minutes getting to school in the morning.

…anyway. You should watch it. A few of my friends are in it. The Vankleek Hill episode is 50-minutes long, but you get the general gist of it in the first five minutes.