Blair, Cambridge

Blair is a small historic village tucked into the valley on the west side of the Grand River, surrounded by farmland and woods. Old Mill Road winds down past century homes to the Blair Sheave Tower, a wooden tower built in 1876 to carry water power to the village gristmill. On a quiet morning, all you hear is the creek and the birds. The Blair Trail and the Grand Trunk Trail lead walkers and cyclists along the river. Blair joined Galt, Preston and Hespeler to form Cambridge in 1973 and has kept its country feel.

The 2021 census counts Blair together with Preston Heights, and the two had about 1,950 homes. Nearly half are single detached houses. Row houses make up about one in five, apartment buildings under five storeys about one in six and taller apartment buildings about one in eleven. About a third of the homes were built between 1961 and 1980, about one in five between 1981 and 1990 and about one in five between 2016 and 2021.

Grand River Transit's 57 Blair and 61 Preston routes and the 203 Maple Grove route serve the area. Stage 2 ION, which the Region has approved and is now designing, plans a Preston station about 2.3 km from the village. Blair Road leads east to Galt, and Fountain Street leads north to Highway 401 (exit 275). The Blair Trail and the Grand Trunk Trail run along the river.

Sheave Tower Park, on Old Mill Road, covers about 1.6 hectares around the Blair Sheave Tower, which the Cambridge branch of the Architectural Conservancy Ontario owns and cares for. The Blair Trail has a lookout and trailheads, and the Record Heritage trailhead and the Grand Trunk Trail add more walking routes. The Preston branch of the Cambridge Public Library is about 2.5 km away, and Riverside Park about 3.5 km.

• Preston Public School — JK to Grade 6. The public school for Blair, on Westminster Drive North in Preston.
• William G. Davis Public School — Grades 7 and 8. The middle school for Blair.
• Preston High School — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school.
• St. Joseph Catholic School — JK to Grade 8. The nearest Catholic elementary school, about 1.6 km away.
• St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The nearest Catholic secondary school, about 7.0 km away.