Essex is a town with a population of 19,600 in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, whose municipal borders extend to Lake Erie. Essex is also the name of the largest community within the municipality. The present mayor is Ron McDermott. It is also the county seat for Essex County.
The town comprises the communities of Ambassador Beach, Barretville, Belcreft Beach, Colchester, Edgars, Essex Centre, Gesto, Harrow, Klie's Beach, Leslies Corner, Levergood Beach, Lypps Beach, Marshfield, McGregor, New Canaan, Oxley, Paquette Corners, Seymour Beach and Vereker.
| Census | Population |
|---|---|
| 1901 | 1,391 |
| 1911 | 1,353 |
| 1921 | 1,588 |
| 1931 | 1,954 |
| 1941 | 1,935 |
| 1951 | 2,741 |
| 1961 | 3,428 |
| 1971 | 4,002 |
| 1981 | 6,295 |
| 1991 | 6,759 |
| 2001 | 20,085 |
| 2006 | 20,032 |
| 2011 | 19,600 |
According to the Canada 2011 Census:
The town of Essex is the proud home of the winningest Junior C franchise in the province, the Essex 73's. The club has won a League Record 16 Great Lake Titles along with a Ontario Record 6 Provincial Titles. The club played 36 seasons in the historic Essex Memorial Arena, and now currently plays in the new Essex Centre Sports Complex. Essex has two minor hockey associations: The Essex Minor Hockey Association based in Essex Centre and the Harrow-Colchester South Minor Hockey Association based in Harrow. The town is now the proud home of Sun County Triple A.
The Essex Ravens football club play in the Ontario Varsity Football League and play their games at Raider Field at Essex District High School. They are the reigning Varsity Division Champions, having defeated the Cumberland Panthers 39-32 in the 2010 championship game.
The Essex Energizers are a competitive jump rope team based in the Town of Essex. The Essex Energizers compete at the provincial, national and international levels in the sport of jump rope. Members of the team earned a bronze medal in the 2004 World Championships in Brisbane, Australia. The Essex Energizers are consistently one of Canada's top teams and in addition to competitions they have demonstrated at venues such as Disney World, NFL halftime shows, NBA halftime shows and Parliament Hill.
Essex has two major annual festivals. The Essex Fun Fest runs in the second week of July and the Harrow Fair occurs each labour day weekend. The Harrow Fair is the oldest community fair in Ontario.
Two public secondary schools of the Greater Essex County District School Board are situated in Essex. Essex District High School serves Essex Centre, Colchester North and areas of Tecumseh, Lakeshore, and Kingsville. Harrow District High School serves Harrow Centre and Colchester South. Public school students from certain areas of Essex may attend General Amherst High School in Amherstburg or Kingsville District High School in Kingsville. While there is no separate secondary school within the boundaries of Essex, students in the town may attend the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board's St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School in LaSalle or Cardinal Carter Catholic High School in Leamington.
Elementary schools of the Greater Essex County District School Board include Essex Public School, Colchester North Public School, and Harrow Senior Public School. Separate elementary schools of the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board include Holy Name Catholic Elementary School and St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School.
Essex is known regionwide for its large crow population. It is speculated that the town was founded adjacent to a massive crow rookery that, despite efforts to destroy or relocate the nesting ground, thrives to this day. Strangely, the crows boundaries seem tightly closed around the town; though the birds will occasionally venture into surrounding areas.
