Preston, Ontario

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Preston
Neighbourhood
Preston Downtown
Preston Show map of Regional Municipality of Waterloo Preston Show map of Southern Ontario
Coordinates: 43°23′29″N 80°20′55″W / 43.39139°N 80.34861°W / 43.39139; -80.34861
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Regional municipality	Waterloo
City	Cambridge
Settled	1805
Incorporated (town)	1900
Amalgamated (city)	1973
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Forward sortation area	N1R, N1S, N1T, N3C, N3H
Area code(s)	519 and 226
NTS Map	040P08
GNBC Code	FCIKJ

Preston is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario. Prior to 1973 it was an independent town, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the city of Galt, Ontario and the village of Blair formed the new municipality of Cambridge. Parts of the surrounding townships were also included.^[1] No population data is available for the former Preston since the Census reports cover only the full area of Cambridge, though the combined population of the census tracts covering the majority of Preston reported a population of 20,008 as of the 2016 Canada Census.^[2] The first mayor of Cambridge was Claudette Millar.

There was considerable resistance among the local population to this "shotgun marriage" arranged by the provincial government and a healthy sense of rivalry had always governed relations among the three communities. Even today, many residents refer to their area of Cambridge as being Galt or Preston or Hespeler. Each unique centre has its own history that is well documented in the Cambridge City Archives.^[3]

The former Preston is located on the western side of the city at the confluence of the Grand River and Speed River. Downtown Preston is commonly considered to be bounded on the north by the entrance to Riverside Park on King Street, and on the south by the King and Bishop plaza.