New Dundee

A millpond village with a beloved century-old general store at its heart, New Dundee is small-town Wilmot at its most picturesque. The village sits on the shore of Alder Lake, the old mill pond on Alder Creek, in the farmland south of Kitchener. On Queen Street, the New Dundee Emporium, a Victorian block built in 1887, stands among older homes and small shops near the water. The band shell at New Dundee Community Park hosts summer events, and the village's ball diamonds, tennis courts and outdoor rink are well used through the seasons. Around the village, the greens of the Dundee Country Club roll down toward the creek. In summer the lake reflects the trees along its banks, and in winter the outdoor rink glows under the lights.

John Millar, who came from Dundee in Scotland, dammed Alder Creek in 1826, built the first sawmill and general store, and named the settlement after his home town. A post office opened in 1852, and the Millars had a village plan drawn up in the 1850s. Gottlieb Bettschen built the Jubilee Block, now the Emporium, in 1887. The village creamery opened in 1904 and grew into its largest business before it closed in 1998.

The 2021 census counted about 440 homes in New Dundee. Nearly nine in ten are single detached houses, and the rest are mostly apartments in low buildings and semi-detached houses. About a third of the homes were built in 1960 or earlier, and about three in ten between 1961 and 1980. About three in ten were built between 1981 and 2000, and about one in ten since 2001.

New Dundee is about 15 km by road from Kitchener City Hall, a drive of about 25 minutes, by Bridge Street, Fischer-Hallman Road and Westmount Road. Highway 401 at Homer Watson Boulevard is about 13 km away, by New Dundee Road. Grand River Transit does not serve the village; the nearest stops are in south-west Kitchener.

New Dundee Community Park, at 1370 Bridge Street, has a band shell, a picnic shelter, a scrub diamond, tennis courts, a basketball court, a playground and an outdoor rink in winter. Doug Fischer Memorial Park, at 1028 Queen Street, has two softball diamonds, a picnic shelter and a playground. The Region of Waterloo Library's New Dundee branch is at 1176 Queen Street. Small businesses line the shore of Alder Lake, and the Dundee Country Club's golf course is beside the village.

• New Dundee Public School — JK to Grade 6. The public elementary school for the village, on Bridge Street.
• Sir Adam Beck Public School — Grades 7 and 8. The middle school, in Baden.
• Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for the village, in Baden.
• Baden Public School — JK to Grade 8. The township's public French immersion school, from Grade 2, in Baden.
• Holy Family Catholic Elementary School — JK to Grade 8. Wilmot's Catholic elementary school, in New Hamburg.
• Resurrection Catholic Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The Catholic secondary school that Holy Family students go on to, in Kitchener.