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Chesley
Chesley
Community
	Motto: Nicest Town Around
	Chesley Location in southern Ontario
	Coordinates: 44°18′N 81°06′W / 44.300°N 81.100°W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Bruce County
Township	Arran-Elderslie
Founded	1858
Established	1865
Incorporated	1879
Government
• Mayor of Arran-Elderslie	Steve Hammell
• MP	Alex Ruff
• MPP	Bill Walker
Elevation	300 m (1,000 ft)
Population
• Total	1,800
• Demonym	Chesleyite
Time zone	UTC– 05:00 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC– 04:00 (EDT)
Area code(s)	226, 519
Website	arran-elderslie.com

Chesley (originally Sconeville) is a community in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada, located within the municipality of Arran–Elderslie.^[1]^[2] The name Sconeville was replaced in 1868 to mark the career of Solomon Chesley, an official in the pre-Confederation Indian Department.^[3] Its town slogan is "The Nicest Town Around."^[4] Chesley is located north of both Walkerton on Bruce Road 19 and Hanover on County Road 10. It is now an example of a typical rural Ontario community.

Chesley originally developed around mills built on the Saugeen River around 1858.^[5] It expanded further when it was connected to the Grand Trunk Railway in 1881. A great fire destroyed most of the original downtown core in 1888, and the destroyed wood buildings were replaced by brick and stone.

From 1877 to 2004, the town had a weekly newspaper called The Chesley Enterprise.^[5]^[6]

The town's major source of employment is commercial manufacturing. From 1886 to 1987, the Krug family operated the Krug Bros. furniture manufacturing business. Currently Crate Designs,^[7] a locally owned furniture manufacturing factory, is the only surviving furniture factory, following the recent downsizing of Durham Furniture (2007).

Chesley is part of the Bluewater District School Board and has a junior kindergarten to grade 8 school called the Chesley District Community School.^[8] In 2014, the original Chesley District High School joined with the Kinghurst Community School to form a junior kindergarten to grade 12 facility. In 2017, the high school section closed and it is now a junior kindergarten to grade 8 facility.^[9]

The town is known for the statue of a giant steer on the north end of town, which is affectionately known as "Big Bruce."

Recently the town has begun to create a network of walking trails that encompasses much of the town's existing infrastructure of walking paths. Known as the heritage trail, it spans a large part of the town, and its waterside parks.

In 2005, Chesley was able to open a Heritage and Woodworking Museum due to an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant.^[10] The museum was housed in the Dawson House on 1st Avenue, formerly the home of town doctors Stewart and Dawson.^[11]^[12] The building had been left to the town for public use in the 1970s; in 2013, Chesley put Dawson House up for sale.^[11]