Petersburg

A Wilmot crossroads with a landmark country inn and railway-era roots, Petersburg keeps its history close, ten minutes from the city. It is a small village of older homes and tall trees on Notre Dame Drive, just west of Kitchener. At its centre stands the Blue Moon, built around 1855 as the Reindeer Hotel, beside a Lutheran church and its cemetery. Behind the village, the Petersburg Regional Forest stretches away to the north, where about 30 km of trails wind through pine and hardwood forest. South of Highway 7/8, the Petersburg Crown Lands woodlot has more trails for walking and cross-country skiing. On summer evenings the lit ball diamond at the community park shines over the village.

Petersburg was settled in the 1830s and is named after Peter Wilker, a settler from Hesse-Darmstadt in Germany. In 1856 it became a station on the Grand Trunk Railway. The Reindeer Hotel, built around 1855 for travellers, is now the Blue Moon.

The 2021 census counted about 150 homes in Petersburg. About nine in ten are single detached houses. About a third were built in 1960 or earlier, and about a third between 1961 and 1980. The rest were built after 1980.

Petersburg is about 19 km by road from Kitchener City Hall, a drive of about 20 minutes, by Highway 7/8 and the Conestoga Parkway. Highway 401 is reached by the Conestoga Parkway. Grand River Transit's Route 77 serves Petersburg on its way between New Hamburg, Baden and The Boardwalk station in Kitchener-Waterloo. The Petersburg Regional Forest trails, maintained by the Waterloo Cycling Club, and the Petersburg Crown Lands trails are both close by.

Petersburg Community Park, at 1338 Notre Dame Drive, has a picnic shelter, a playground, two softball diamonds, one of them lit, a basketball court and washrooms. The Petersburg Regional Forest, at 1974 Snyder's Road East, is known for its mountain-biking and hiking trails, the Hydrocut. The Petersburg Crown Lands, on Queen Street, have more than 4 km of trails. Baden, with its library branch and shops, is about 5 km west, and the stores of west Kitchener are a few minutes east.

• Sir Adam Beck Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public elementary school for Petersburg, in Baden.
• Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for Petersburg, 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.