Dunchurch is a compact rural community in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, located in the municipality of Whitestone in

Parry Sound District Parry Sound District is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its boundaries are District of Muskoka to the south, the Sudbury District to the north-northwest, the French River and Lake Nipissing in the north, Nipissing Distri ...

History

The community was first settled in late summer 1870 when Arthur Millin, arriving on The Great North Road (that had begun construction in 1867) from

Parry Sound Parry Sound is a sound or bay of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. It is highly irregularly shaped with many deep bays and islands. Killbear Provincial Park is located on the large peninsula that separates the sound from Georgian B ...

, claimed a homestead plot. In 1873, the community was given the name ''Newcombe''. The first log schoolhouse, which doubled as a union church (a church available to multiple denominations), was erected in 1875 on land in the centre of the community. To avoid confusion with similarly named places in the province, in 1877 postmaster George Kelcey renamed the community after his

birthplace The place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a cou ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England. Organizing for the founding of a Presbyterian church was first recorded in 1889, and a church building completed in 1897 as Knox Presbyterian Church. The building serves as Knox United Church. The first public lending library opened in Dunchurch in 1973 in part of a portable classroom.

Geography

The community is on

Whitestone Lake Whitestone may refer to: Places * Whitestone, Alaska, an unincorporated community * Whitestone, Devon, a village in the United Kingdom * Whitestone, Ontario, a township in Canada and a community within the township * Whitestone, Queens, a neighb ...

, which eventually flows to

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

as part of the

Magnetawan River The Magnetawan River is a long river in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada. The river flows 175 km from its source of Magnetawan Lake inside Algonquin Provincial Park to empty into Georgian Bay at the community of Britt on Byng Inlet. ...

system. Two narrows in the community, Dunchurch Narrows and Dunchurch Second Narrows — with a small basin in between —, separate the North Reach of Whitestone Lake from the Middle Reach.

Climate

The

Meteorological Service of Canada The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC; french: Service météorologique du Canada – SMC) is a division of Environment and Climate Change Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological information and weather forecasts and warnings ...

had a measurement station (site ID: 6112133) at Dunchurch operating from 1973 to 2014.

Government

The offices of the Municipality of Whitestone are in Dunchurch. They were built for the then Township of Hagerman in 1997. The building also houses a branch of the Whitestone Fire department. Adjacent is the Whitestone and Area Nursing Station, managed by West Parry Sound Health Centre, where healthcare services are provided by a

nurse practitioner A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, formulate and prescribe m ...

. The community is the site of one of two waste management facilities in Whitestone.

Transportation

Dunchurch is on

Ontario Highway 124 King's Highway 124, commonly known as Highway 124, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway connects Highway 400 in Parry Sound with Highway 11 in Sundridge, a distance of , including a concur ...

and on

Ontario Highway 520 Secondary Highway 520, commonly referred to as Highway 520, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway is in length, connecting several small communities in Parry Sound District with Highway 124 and H ...

Education

Whitestone Lake Public School (JK–8) is operated by the

Near North District School Board The Near North District School Board (NNDSB; known as English-language Public District School Board No. 4 prior to 1999) administers public education in an area of Ontario that is includes all of Parry Sound District, plus a northerly portion of ...

. The Whitestone Public Library is located in Dunchurch. , the facility is closed for renovation and expansion, which will include the addition of two meeting rooms and a conference room.

External links

Township of Whitestone Website

References

{{authority control Communities in Parry Sound District