A city in southern
Ontario,
Canada, of 143000 people. It is located 50
km east of downtown
Toronto on the shore of
Lake Ontario. Since
1974, it has been the dominant population and economic centre of the regional municipality of
Durham. First settled in
1750 by the
French as a
trading post, it grew to become a
village in
1850, a
town in
1879 and a
city in
1924.
It is bordered on the west by the town of Whitby, on the north by the township of Scugog, and on the east by the municipality of Clarington.
The primary industry of the region is General Motors Canada, founded by the McLaughlin family. Consequently, a large part of the heritage and cultural settings of Oshawa are named after the McLaughlins.
There is an art gallery, founded in 1967, called the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, which holds more than 3000 Canadian art pieces.
Parkwood Estate is a plot of land which once belonged to one Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, and has 1920s-1930s architecture and beautiful gardens.
The city is decorated with a great many murals, and there are four museums in town. There is a famous horse-breeding operation, the Windfields Farm located in the north part of the city.
The Oshawa Transit Commission runs the buses which service 95% of the city.
I was born in Oshawa General Hospital, and lived in Oshawa until age three.