page_title: Hespeler, Ontario
section_title: Downtown
hierarchical_section_title: Hespeler, Ontario / Downtown
caption_attribution_description: The new Hespeler Library in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada was built by constructing a glass cube around the historic Carnegie library.
context_page_description: Hespeler is a neighbourhood and former town within Cambridge, Ontario, located along the Speed River in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In 1973, Hespeler, Preston, Galt, and the hamlet of Blair were amalgamated in 1973 to form the City of Cambridge. The first mayor of Cambridge was Claudette Millar.
  No population data is available for the former Hespeler since the census reports cover only the full area of Cambridge. However, the combined population of the census tracts that cover what is now Hespeler was 26,391 as of the 2016 Canada Census.
  The neighborhood of Hespeler is located in the most northeasterly section of Cambridge. Even in the early days it had an industrial base, primarily activity from woolen and textile mills.
context_section_description: Queen Street is the downtown core of Hespeler, on which many local businesses and dining establishments are situated.
  The Old Town & Fire Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Hespeler. It originally functioned as a Town Hall when Hespeler operated as an independent municipality. It still functions as a fire hall and is also the home of the Company of Neighbours, a heritage organization founded collectively by local citizens with university professors C. Kenneth Banks and J. Marshall Mangan. The organization grew out of the a research project entitled: The Company of Neighbours: Revitalizing Community Through Action Research
  The Hespeler Library was originally an early twentieth century Carnegie library. In the early 2000s, it was determined that an expansion was needed. Rather than constructing another structure onto the preexisting building, a glass enclosure was built around the existing library.
  The Hespeler Train Station, formerly located on Guelph Avenue, was used for passenger trains in the early 1900s to 1950s. Queen Elizabeth passed through the station in the 1950s. It was destroyed following an act of arson on October 31, 2003.
  The former post office, built 1928, is now the home of the Fashion History Museum
caption: The Hespeler Library was retrofitted by installing a glass enclosure around the historic Carnegie building.
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