St. Clements

A Wellesley Township village anchored by its historic parish church, St. Clements is buggy country: maple lanes and quiet that's earned. The village sits in open farm country, where Lobsinger Line meets Herrgott Road. Lobsinger Line is the main street, with a grocery store, a pharmacy, a post office, hair salons, and places for pizza and Chinese take-out. The restored St. Clements Hotel from the 1860s is now inSeason Home+Garden, a shop of home and garden goods from more than 40 Canadian makers. Off the main street, the residential streets are lined with mature trees, and the farm fields begin at the edge of the village. The arena, the Lions park and the ball diamonds are all within the village, and the library branch is on Lobsinger Line. Uptown Waterloo is about 20 minutes east along Lobsinger Line.

St. Clements was settled by German Catholic families from Alsace-Lorraine in the early 1840s. Michael Spiehlmacker settled here in 1840, and the Region's heritage tour names Adolphus Schickler as the founder. The village was known for a time as St. Alphonsus and took the name St. Clement in 1852. A post office opened in 1853, and the present brick church was finished in 1858.

The 2021 census counted about 460 homes in St. Clements. Nearly nine in ten are single detached houses, and the rest are mostly apartments in low buildings and duplexes. About a quarter of the homes were built in 1960 or earlier, and about three in ten between 1961 and 1980. Most of the rest were built between 1981 and 2000. Few homes have been built since 2000.

St. Clements is about 15 km by road from Uptown Waterloo, a drive of about 20 minutes. The route is Lobsinger Line east through Heidelberg, then Conestoga Parkway (Highway 85) and King Street North. Lobsinger Line is also the road west to Crosshill and the Township offices. Highway 401 is reached through Kitchener. Grand River Transit does not yet serve the township. The Region has consulted on a route along Lobsinger Line through St. Clements, Heidelberg and Wellesley Village.

St. Clements Lions Park, at 27 Peter Street, has a playground and a covered patio with picnic tables, across the street from the ball diamonds. The Donny Dietrich Memorial Playground on Park Street has a playground and a soccer field. The St. Clements Arena has ice from September to March and floor sports in spring and summer. The Region of Waterloo Library's St. Clements branch is at 3605 Lobsinger Line. Daily errands are close to home: St. Clements Food Town, the pharmacy and the take-out restaurants are in the plaza at 3650 Lobsinger Line, and the post office is at 3539 Lobsinger Line. Heidelberg is a few minutes east, and Wellesley Village is about 10 km south-west.

• Linwood Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public elementary school for most of the village, in Linwood.
• St. Jacobs Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public elementary school for the southern end of the village, in St. Jacobs.
• Elmira District Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for the village, in Elmira.
• St. Clement Catholic Elementary School — JK to Grade 8. The Catholic elementary school in the village.
• St. David Catholic Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The Catholic secondary school that St. Clement students go on to, in Waterloo.