Oakville Ontario is a town with a population of over 165,000 situated on Lake Ontario, and positioned halfway between Hamilton and Toronto. Its population grew by 14.1% between the 2001 and 2006 censuses and continues to grow due to its picturesque scenery and close proximity to Toronto. The town's history begins as the home of the Mississauga First Nation, who farmed around the area of Sixteen Mile Creek. In 1793, what is now known as Dundas St. was surveyed as a military road by Lieutenant John Graves Simcoe. At this time many United Empire Loyalists were immigrating to Canada after the American Revolution, thus creating a great demand for land. The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada purchased the land located between Etobicoke Creek and Burlington Bay in 1805 from the Mississaugas, and this purchase is known today as the Mississauga Purchase. In 1806 the land was divided into 200 acre lots and settled by predominantly Scottish, Irish and English immigrants. By 1820 the Mississaugas had sold the remaining lands in the area to the Crown, and a man named William Chisolm would begin to develop the area. Chisolm was the son of an Empire Loyalist who'd moved his family from Nova Scotia to Burlington Bay and whose main business was buying timber. After purchasing 960 acres of land around the Sixteen Mile Creek area in 1827, William began building the first privately owned harbour in Upper Canada. The village was called Oakville and was soon home to warehouses, a gristmill, and a sawmill. In 1834 Oakville was officially declared a port of entry, and a customs house was established, to be run by Robert Kerr after Chisolm's death in 1842. The village became an official town in 1857, and Chisolm's son George King Chisholm was its first mayor. Another point of interesting Oakville history comes between 1820 and 1865 when the Underground Railroad secretly transported thousands of fugitive slaves across the Canadian border from America. Oakville Harbour was where many of the slaves would first see Canada, and during the middle of the 19th century Oakville's churches, schools and businesses were integrated. Oakville continued to grow and became industrialized as several oil companies (including Cities Service Canada and Shell Canada) opened, as well as Ford Motor Company's Canadian Headquarters. 1962 saw the merging of Oakville with villages Sheridan, Bronte, Palermo and the rest of Trafalgar Township and Oakville became the new Town of Oakville. Oakville is a place of rich culture; it's home to the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, the main venue for the Oakville Symphony Orchestra and Oakville Ballet Company. Summertime brings the Oakville Waterfront Festival, the Oakville Downtown Jazz Festival, and many visitors from surrounding areas to enjoy the beautiful scenery and cultural events. Oakville is also a wonderful place to raise a family; many singles live here in the hopes of finding their mate. 25dates.com speed dating events are a great way for Oakville singles to meet potential partners. Held in downtown Toronto as well as Mississauga, participants sign up online for an event of their choice based on their age group. Attendees arrive at a designated lounge or restaurant, where they are handed a "matchcard", a nametag and a pen. Each person meets a member of the opposite sex for three minutes; at the end of each date they mark off on their matchcard "yes" or "no" as to whether they'd like to see that person again. Then next date then begins until they've met all 25. 25dates.com then exchanges the contact information for those who have said "yes" to each other (called a "match"). 25dates.com has been responsible for many marriages and long term relationships.