Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.

[7] The success of the Vanstone Mill, fueled by the machinery of the Crown's land grant program, led to the rapid expansion of the Bowmanville settlement in the early years of the 19th century.

The town soon developed a balanced economy; all the while gradually establishing itself as a moderate player in shipping, rail transport, metal works and common minor business (including tanneries, liveries, stables and everyday mercantile commodity exchange).

With local economic stability and accessible, abundant land available for the construction of housing, the town soon sported several new churches, each designated to house both Free and Auld Kirk, Anglican and Nonconformist congregations, including the Bible Christian Church, later to be a major stream of Canadian Methodism.

In the 19th century, in 1857, the Ontario Bank was founded in Bowmanville, with local resident John Simpson as its first president.

The Ontario bank eventually opened local branches including locations in Whitby, Oshawa, and Port Hope.

[8] The historic Ontario Bank building at the intersection of King and Temperance was demolished in 1971 [9] In 1884, Scottish immigrant John McKay opened the Cream of Barley Mill next to Soper Creek to manufacture a cereal of his own creation.

[12][13] Local business organized and modernized in the 20th century, with the Dominion Organ and Piano factory, Specialty Paper Company, the Bowmanville Foundry, and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (1910) all providing steady work for Bowmanville's ever-growing working populations.

Formal education evolved in-step with Ryersonian philosophies of the day, and the advent of the Central Public School (1889) and the Bowmanville High School (1890), (both designed by Whitby architect A.A. Post) were the finishing touches to the town that was a model of then-Ontario Premier Oliver Mowat's philosophy of education, expansion and innovation for the citizens of the province.

(2003); and Holy Family Catholic Elementary School (2007), all accommodating gradual population increases and building developments in specific demographic areas of the town.

Many excellently maintained specimens of Italianate, Gothic Revival, Colonial Brick and Queen Anne architecture remain in Bowmanville's older central neighborhoods.

Much of Bowmanville's residential and commercial architectural heritage was either lost or threatened by demolition and modern development from 1950 to 1980, but a 25-year renaissance in appreciation and awareness (led largely by local historians and LACAC members) helped to preserve the precious remnants of days gone by.

Among the German officers transferred from England to Bowmanville was Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer, who was the top U-boat ace of World War II.

Flower and vegetable gardens were planted, sports fields, tennis courts and a swimming pool were built.

James Taylor had asked German senior officer Georg Friemel to supply 100 prisoners to volunteer to be shackled as part of the ongoing international dispute.

Taylor ordered the guards to find 100 officers to be shackled by force, and Horst Elfe, Kretschmer and others barricaded themselves in the mess hall, arming themselves with sticks, iron bars and other makeshift weapons.

Approximately 100 Canadian soldiers requisitioned from another base arrived, and together stormed the mess hall using only baseball bats, so the two sides remained evenly matched.

After several hours of brawling, the Canadians brought high pressure water hoses and soaked the cabin thoroughly until the prisoners agreed to come out peacefully.

During later incidents in the battle which spanned several days, Volkmar König was wounded by gunfire and another bayoneted, and a Canadian soldier suffered a skull fracture from a thrown jar of jam.

[citation needed] Bowmanville is surrounded by rural areas on three sides, and Lake Ontario to the south.

Farmland formerly covered central Bowmanville until the population increased, thus establishing a nascent downtown core by the early 19th century.

[15] Unlike many other locations on similar latitudes on the eastern half of the North American continent the winters are relatively mild, with cold extremes being moderated by the proximity to Lake Ontario.

Starting in the 19th century, Bowmanville has served as the home of many diverse manufacturers[17] including the historic Bowmanville Foundry, the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police regional office, Goodyear conveyor belt factory (recently sold).

[19] An outlet mall was planned to be built in Bowmanville near the Highway 401/Waverley Road interchange, but the company abandoned the project shortly thereafter due to "cost prohibitive complexities".

[20] On June 10, 2019 it was announced that Ontario Power Generation would have its corporate headquarters relocated next to the Darlington Energy Complex.

[21] The Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway) which hosts both minor grand prix races and major racing events by CASCAR, the SCCA, NASCAR, and the United SportsCar Championship annually is located about 25 kilometres north of Bowmanville.

In their inaugural season back as a Junior C club, the Eagles won the Central Ontario League Championship.

In the Provincial round of the playoffs the Eagles went up against the Campbellford Rebels of the Empire Jr C league where they lost out in seven games.

They have never had a losing season to date and have won 4 Founders Cup championships as the best Canadian Jr B lacrosse team in the Country.

[26] Public elementary and secondary education in Bowmanville is operated by the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.