About the Community

 

Ayr, Ontario

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Settled: 1824

 Ayr, Ontario, home of the Centennials, is a community located within the township of North Dumfries in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Southwestern Ontario. Ayr is located south of Kitchener and west of Cambridge.

Originally a group of settlements, Mudge’s Mills in the centre, Jedburgh to the east and Nithvale to the west, that eventually combined into one as they expanded. The name Ayr was first used in 1840 when it was assigned to the post office.

 

 North Dumfries Community Complex 

Location: 2958 Greenfield Road, Ayr, ON N0B 1E0

Features:

    • Arena (1 ice pad)
    • Ealking track
    • Snack bar (open during the ice season)
    • Room and hall rentals
    • Community health centre
    • Recreation and programs
    • Spray pad and playground
    • Soccer fields
    • Outdoor walking trail
    • Community garden

Notable People 

  • Kyle Clifford, ice hockey player, two time Stanley Cup champion
  • Kortney Wilson, country music singer and star of the HGTV Show Masters of Flip along with her husband Dave
  • Will Kidman, musician, best known for role in Canadian rock band Constantines
  • Joseph Kilgour, early twentieth century stage and film actor
  • John Goldie, Scottish-born botanist, founder of the adjacent hamlet Greenfield

TV and movies

  • Sketches of Our Town, a half-hour Canadian documentary series from the mid 80s and early 90s, featured Ayr in one of their episodes.
  • The 2003 movie Cold Creek Manor, starring Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff and Juliette Lewis, was filmed in Ayr.
  • Blood and Guts (film), the 1978 Paul Lynch film had scenes shot inside of an Ayr pub. Lynch also used the town for The Hard Part Begins five years prior.
  • Portions of the film How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days were filmed in downtown Ayr.
  • The Stephen King miniseries 11/22/63, starring James Franco, was filmed in and around Ayr and the Township of North Dumfries
  • Numerous scenes for Murdoch Mysteries Season 9 Episode 6 were shot in Ayr
  • Scenes for Impulse (TV series) were filmed in downtown Ayr

Education

The community of Ayr is served by three publicly funded elementary schools. Built in 1890, Ayr public school was the area’s first school for nearly a century. The school’s current population of 200 ranges from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6, feeding into Cedar Creek Public School. St. Brigid Catholic Elementary School was opened in 1998 to serve the students from kindergarten to Grade 8. The most recent school of the three, Cedar Creek public school first opened its doors in 1999; currently serving 460 students in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8.

As Ayr does not have a high school, most of the community’s students attend school in Cambridge. Graduates of Cedar Creek Public School will go on to attend Southwood Secondary School; while catholic students will attend Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School.