Hawkesbury, Ont, Town, pop 10 314 (2001c), 10 162 (1996c), 9713 (1991c), 9710 (1986c), area 9.45 km2, inc 1896, located on the OTTAWA R, 95 km E of Ottawa. Founded in 1798, the town was eventually named for Charles Jenkinson, Baron Hawkesbury. Thomas Mears built the first gristmills and sawmills, and the Union, the Ottawa R's first steamer. Demand for timber during the Napoleonic Wars created a boom.
Timber and pulp-and-paper industries have been supplanted by textiles, synthetic fibres, metal extrusions, steel, glass and plastics. Hawkesbury has also become the business and service centre of the county of Prescott-Russell. The Grenville Canal on the Québec side of the Ottawa R opposite Hawkesbury is an important link in the river's transportation system. The only interprovincial bridge between Ottawa and Montréal is located here. Part of Hawkesbury was submerged by a Hydro-Québec dam built 1950-62.