Oro-Medonte is a
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
in south-central
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 C ...
, Canada, on the northwestern shores of
Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk' ...
in
Simcoe County
Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...
.
The two neighbouring townships of Oro and Medonte were merged in 1994, under a restructuring of Simcoe County. It is divided into lines based on the
concession system implemented by the British colonial government in the mid-18th century. Currently there are 15 lines that are now streets and highway exits off
Highway 11.
Communities
The township comprises the communities of Barrillia Park, Bass Lake Park, Baywood Park, Big Cedar Estates, Carley, Carthew Bay, Cedarmont Beach, Coulson, Craighurst, Creighton, Crown Hill, Eady, East Oro, Edgar, Eight Mile Point, Fair Valley, Fergus Hill Estate, Knox Corners, Forest Home, Foxmead, Guthrie, Hawkestone, Hawkestone Beach, Hobart, Horseshoe Valley, Jarratt, Lakeview, Martinville, Mitchell Square, Moons Beach, Moonstone, Mount St. Louis, Oro Beach, Oro Lea Beach, Oro Park, Oro Station, Palm Beach, Parkside Beach, Prices Corners, Roberta Park, Rugby, Shanty Bay, Simcoeside, Sugar Bush, Vasey, Waddington Beach and Warminster. As well as the great “Lake Prestige”. Lake prestige is a beautiful 2.3 acre pond known for its beautiful ecosystem and crawfish boils.
History
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
had long established encampments and trails on the bank of Hawkestone Creek, Ridge Road, Mount St. Louis, and throughout the Township of Oro-Medonte.
The Huron village of Cahiagué (near Hawkestone) was the capital village of the Ahrendarrhonon (Rock) nation. In 1615,
Samuel de Champlain estimated the village to comprise 200 houses.
The War of 1812 drew attention to the militarily strategic region between Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay. To provide supplies to the excellent harbour at Penetanguishene, a road of about 35 km was surveyed c. 1813 between the two bodies of water. That road did not actually become a functional road for about 30 years after it was surveyed. In the meantime, townships were created and surveyed on both sides of the Penetanguishene Rd c. 1820. Oro Township was one of those townships. Although there is no documentation about the origin of the name "Oro" it is assumed it came from the Spanish word for gold.
After the War of 1812, Sir Peregrine Maitland, then Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, offered Black veterans grants of land in what was to become the Township of Oro. This was in the area between Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe and Penetanguishene Bay on Lake Huron's Georgian Bay.
In the 1830s Richard Hodges established a landing for settlers, mainly from the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, who after arriving by lake steamer, on
Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk' ...
, followed these trails to their settlement in search of independence and land ownership.
Craighurst started as a small community on the
Penetanguishene Road
Penetanguishene , sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual (French and English) community has a populati ...
in the 1830s. Its post office was established in the 1850s, at its peak in the late 19th century, Craighurst had four hotels, three churches, and a school house.
A thriving community of a tavern, hotel, store and the first post office was located near the lake east of the creek at Hodges' Landing. The first postmaster was Charles Bell. Two dams and three mills sawed logs and ground grains. It is thought that the first mill was established by John Williamson who subsequently built the large brick house on the North-East corner of the Ridge Road and Line No. 11 South. In 1856 a new wharf was constructed and the name was changed from Hodges' Landing to Hawkestone.
The establishment of Shanty Bay was strongly influenced by the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...
. Many African-American refugees first settled near the water in shanties (small homes), contributing toward the name of the village.
Lucius Richard O'Brien (1832–1899), the noted oil and watercolour landscape painter was from Shanty Bay. His father founded the village. Shanty Bay also has one of Canada's oldest surviving churches,
St. Thomas Anglican Church, built between 1838 and 1841 and dedicated in 1842.
In 1866–67 a
drill-shed was erected in East Oro by the Oro Company, 35th
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
the
Simcoe Foresters. At this time when the
Fenian raids were alarming the country, eight company drill-sheds were built in
Simcoe County
Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...
, the county paying $390 and the government $250 for each. The company was manned by pioneer men of Oro. Local Wm.E. O'Brien of Shanty Bay became
Lieutenant Colonel of the Battalion in 1882. This East Oro drill-shed served Oro Company until the start of the 20th century and was dismantled around 1918.
The
Toronto, Simcoe and Muskoka Junction Railway was built through the area in 1871. Its route was roughly parallel to the lakeshore, passing through Shanty Bay, Oro Station, and Hawkestone. An extensive station complex evolved at Hawkestone, with a freight shed,
stockyards and a massive water tower to supply the requirements of the
steam locomotives
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
. The railway was incorporated as a company in 1869 as an extension connecting the
Northern Railway of Canada
The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a p ...
to the Muskoka region and
Lake Muskoka
Lake Muskoka is located between Port Carling and Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. The lake is surrounded by many cottages. The lake is primarily within the boundary of the Township of Muskoka Lakes, the southeast corner is within the boundary of t ...
, and eventually reached
Gravenhurst in 1875. However, financial problems led to increasing integration and eventual merger under the Northern Railway of Canada, which itself went through numerous mergers, becoming part of the
Grand Trunk and, later, the
Canadian National Railways. In the Canadian National (CN) system, the line through Oro was a part of the
Newmarket Subdivision
The CN Newmarket Subdivision is a rail line in Ontario operated by Canadian National Railway (CNR). The original route runs northward from just west of Union Station, Toronto, Union Station in downtown Toronto, ending just south of North Bay, Onta ...
. The section of the line through the township was abandoned in 1996.
A branch of the
Canadian Pacific Railway was built through Craighurst in the early 20th century, opening from Bolton to Craighurst in November 1906, when a station was opened. On July 19, 1907, the track was extended to Bala and by June 1908, the line was completed to
Sudbury. This is now the
MacTier Subdivision, a part of the railway's main line between the east and west.
Edgar was the site of a
cold war radar station from 1952 to 1964.
In 1959 the
Ukrainian National Federation (UNF) purchased the "Pugsley Farm" property located on the East half of Lot 23 and Lot 24 in Hawkestone. The were developed into a large recreation area and children's camp where members of the UNF and their families have spent their summers on the shores of Lake Simcoe. A portion of the property was subdivided into 100 lots of and sold to members of the UNF who built summer homes and cottages adjacent to the UNF. The entire property was named "Sokil", which is the Ukrainian word for "Hawk" in reference to the village of Hawkestone where the community was established. Today the private subdivision is maintained by the UNF, which manages the non-municipal water system, roads and other related issues as well as the recreation area and children's camp, where three children's summer camps run throughout the summer, along with weekend overnight camping area, seasonal cabin rentals and a seasonal trailer park. The property also hosts the St. John the Baptist
Ukrainian Catholic chapel where services are conducted each Sunday throughout the summer season.
Black history
![Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Oro_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_1.jpg)
In 1819, a landmark decision was made in Fort York (now Toronto) to grant land to Black militiamen of
Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men on an equal basis as it would be granted to Whites. The land designated for Black settlement was in Oro Township. Within a few years all Blacks of any origin could acquire land in Oro Township on an equal basis as any other settler.
There was a military strategy behind the decision. Settlers would provide support for the fort at Penetanguishene by providing food and other local supplies, and, if the war with the U.S. again broke out, the trained militiamen could be armed to defend the region.
Although for years folklore suggested that the Oro Black Settlement was populated by escaped slaves coming to Oro via the underground railroad (UGRR), documentation suggests all Black settlers were freemen. Further, the 1819 settlement preceded by about a decade what is commonly consider the beginning of the UGRR.
The blocks of land on the Penetanguishene Road, were at the time being granted to settlers of European origin. In that one or more Blacks had already established successful farms further east, a road called Wilberforce Street was surveyed parallel to that road. The name of the road was in honour of the British parliamentarian who worked so hard to abolish slavery. The Blacks were settled along this new road.
The Oro Black Settlement grew to about 90 families, then diminished as the settlers found steady income elsewhere (mainly on railway trains and ships on the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
). The last Oro Black retired to Barrie in the 1940s, and when he died, he was buried in the cemetery beside the Oro African Church.
The Oro Methodist Episcopal African Church was built out of logs by the Oro Black Settlers and was finished in 1849. It is likely the oldest log African Church still standing in North America. In 2003, it was designated a Canadian national historic site, mainly due to the link the Oro settlers had to the War of 1812. The church had fallen into disrepair, but since the summer of 2015 work has begun on restoring it.
Local government
The township council is composed of a mayor and six councillors who each represent one of six wards. The members of the council from the elections of October 24, 2022 are:
Mayor: Randy Greenlaw
Councillors:
* Ward 1: Lori Hutcheson
* Ward 2: John Bard
* Ward 3: David Clark
* Ward 4: Peter Lavoie
* Ward 5: Richard Schell
* Ward 6: Robert Young
The mayor also represents the Township at meetings of
Simcoe County
Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...
Council.
The Battle of Burl's Creek
The Battle of Burl's Creek
is the title given to the current protest and legal battle between
Stan Dunford,
Republic Live, The Municipal Government of Oro-Medonte,
SaveOro and The West Oro Ratepayers Association (WORA).
Burl's Creek Event Grounds
Burl's Creek Event Grounds is a large-scale outdoor music venue in Oro-Medonte township, north of Barrie, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the south side of Highway 11 on Oro-Medonte's 8th Line, between Barrie and Orillia. It most notably hol ...
is a grounds located on the south side of
Highway 11 on Oro-Medonte's 8th Line. It was established in 1994 by Don Hanney, a local businessman, as an event grounds to host small country events such as agricultural fairs, farmers' markets and Highland games.
Burl's Creek has also hosted events like the
Barrie Auto Flea Market. In 2015 Burl's Creek Event Grounds was sold to Dunford, as well as many other adjacent lots totaling 560 acres.
Dunford started to develop the land to make way for a much larger event park.
Several residents of Oro-Medonte have communicated their concerns with the Township Council and have joined together under the organization of SaveOro. In the spring of 2015 the township council passed temporary bylaws that would allow Burl's Creek Event Grounds to use the 560-acre site for camping and parking, but the bylaw was rescinded by council but not before SaveOro had filed a court application.
According to Deputy Mayor Ralph Hough, "there was a process in the planning act that we missed so it was never legal".
The venue was scheduled to use the 560 acres for two concerts in the summer of 2015:
Wayhome Music Festival featuring
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
and
Boots and Hearts Music Festival
The Boots and Hearts Music Festival is a multi-day country music and camping festival produced by Republic Live Inc. and owned by Stan and Eva Dunford. The festival is held annually at the Burl's Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, Cana ...
. The temporary bylaw was rescinded and so the concerts remained on the original 94 acres. As of July 26, 2015, the current struggle was continuing between all of the parties.
Recreation
![Mt St-Louis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Mt_St-Louis.JPG)
In September 1996, the last
Canadian National
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN ...
train passed through the township. In 1998, the land used for the railway was acquired by city council for a shared-use recreational trail stretching from
Barrie
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...
to
Orillia
Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of ...
. Sections are used in the winter season by the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.
Bass Lake Provincial Park and the
Copeland Forest Resources Management Area are located within the township. Three major ski resorts,
Mount St. Louis Moonstone,
Horseshoe Resort, and
Hardwood Ski and Bike
Hardwood Ski and Bike is located in Oro-Medonte Township in Ontario’s Lake Country region about one hour north of Toronto, Ontario. The facility is a family oriented cross country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking and outdoor recreation area. ...
, are also located within Oro-Medonte.
Transportation
Roads
Highway 400,
Highway 11 and
Highway 12 pass through Oro-Medonte.
Penetanguishene Road
Penetanguishene , sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual (French and English) community has a populati ...
, a historic colonization road and a former part of
Highway 93
Route 93 or Highway 93 can refer to:
International
* European route E93
Australia
- Victoria
Canada
* Alberta Highway 93
* British Columbia Highway 93
* Newfoundland and Labrador Route 93
* Ontario Highway 93
China
* G93 Chengyu Ring Expr ...
, defines most of Oro-Medonte's boundary with the neighbouring township of
Springwater.
Railways
The
Toronto, Simcoe and Muskoka Junction Railway (TS&MJ) was formed in 1869. Its line headed northeast from a junction at
Allandale (now part of Barrie), curving around the tip of Lake Simcoe and passing through the townships which would eventually become Oro-Medonte on its way to Orillia,
Washago
Severn is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, located between Lake Couchiching, and the Severn River (both are part of the Trent–Severn Waterway) in Simcoe County.
Communities
The township comprises the communities of Amigo Beach, Ar ...
, and ultimately
Gravenhurst. Construction began in 1870, and in 1871 the company was leased to the
Northern Railway of Canada
The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a p ...
and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary thereafter.
Service began along the line later that year, with the first known railway station in the township being located at Hawkestone. A basic wooden station building was constructed in 1871, with more outbuildings constructed later.
The Northern Railway of Canada would engage in a number of upgrades to the line throughout the early 1870s, such as the extension from Washago to Gravenhurst, as well as conversion of the line from
Provincial gauge
Indian gauge is a broad track gauge of , used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART in San Francisco, United States.
In North America, it is called Indian Gauge, Provincial, Portland, or Texas gauge. ...
to the
standard gauge.
In 1875, the line was incorporated into the
Northern Railway of Canada
The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a p ...
and became its Muskoka Branch.
The Northern Railway of Canada was purchased in 1888 by the
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...
(GTR), which in turn undertook improvements such as building a
stockyard
Stockyard or Stockyards may refer to:
Places
* Stockyard, Queensland, Australia, locality in the Shire of Livingstone
*Stockyard Landing, original name of Arabi, Louisiana
*Stockyards, California, former town
*Stockyards, nickname for the northw ...
at Shanty Bay, followed by a passenger station and stable in 1898. At Hawkestone, the Grand Trunk renovated the existing station in 1900 as well as constructing a large stockyard in 1905. In 1917, not long before the Grand Trunk's amalgamation into
Canadian National Railways (CN Rail), one of its trains derailed in front of Hawkestone station.
Soon after, the line came under Canadian National ownership and formed a component of its
Newmarket Subdivision
The CN Newmarket Subdivision is a rail line in Ontario operated by Canadian National Railway (CNR). The original route runs northward from just west of Union Station, Toronto, Union Station in downtown Toronto, ending just south of North Bay, Onta ...
.
The
Great Depression saw a slump in rail traffic, and by the mid-1930s, the new owners of the line, CN Rail, had begun to strip back service. The station agent at Hawkestone was removed and replaced with a caretaker in 1936.
In 1963–64, CN made a number of abrupt cuts to service, cancelling all service to Shanty Bay and Oro Station, and putting the station building at Hawkestone up for sale. Hawkestone still appeared intermittently on CN train timetables for the next few years, but disappeared for the last time in 1968. The station building was demolished around 1969.
Canada's
Board of Transport Commissioners
The Canadian Transport Commission (CTC) was Canada's first fully converged, multi-modal regulator.
The body was created by Canada's Parliament on September 19, 1967, to assume the responsibilities of two bodies: the Board of Transport Commissioner ...
had contacted the Township of Oro in 1964 asking if it objected to the removal of Oro's station, but no reply from the township is on file, and the station was demolished in 1966.
Carthew also disappeared from timetables in 1973.
Despite the elimination of passenger service in the township, CN passenger and freight trains continued to travel along the line on their way to Orillia. This would continue with the consolidation of passenger services under
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
. In 1995, CN successfully applied to the
Canadian Transport Commission
The Canadian Transport Commission (CTC) was Canada's first fully converged, multi-modal regulator.
The body was created by Canada's Parliament on September 19, 1967, to assume the responsibilities of two bodies: the Board of Transport Commissioner ...
to abandon the line. The last passenger train to travel the line was Via Rail No. 1 in 1996, the ''
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
'', headed west to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. By the end of the year, the line north of Barrie was abandoned, along with Via Rail service to Barrie and Orillia, and the route of the ''
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
'' was shifted to the east shore of Lake Simcoe, to follow the CN
Bala Subdivision
The Canadian National Railway (CN) Bala Subdivision is a major railway line in Ontario, Canada. It runs between the provincial capital of Toronto in Southern Ontario and Capreol, Ontario, Capreol in Northern Ontario, where the line continues as t ...
through Washago. This ended over 125 years of railway operations and history in the township. Today, the former
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
of the rail line has been converted into the
Oro-Medonte Rail Trail, a recreational
multi-use trail
A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...
.
Bus
Starting in August 2019, public transit service returned to Oro-Medonte when
Simcoe County LINX
Simcoe County LINX (or simply LINX) is a public transport service managed by Simcoe County and operated by First Student Canada, which is responsible for inter-community regional bus service throughout Simcoe County, connecting rural towns and t ...
Route 3 began operations, connecting
Barrie
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...
to
Orillia
Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of ...
along Highway 11, with a single stop in the township at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro Station.
Ontario Northland
The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), or simply Ontario Northland, is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for providing transportation services for passengers and goods in northern Ontario. It reports to ...
intercity motor coaches also travel along the Highway 11 corridor, but travel express through the township and make no stops.
Air
The
Lake Simcoe Regional Airport
Lake Simcoe Regional Airport , formerly the Oro Barrie Orillia Regional Airport, is a registered aerodrome that operates as a regional airport located near Highway 11 in the township of Oro-Medonte, Ontario, Canada. The airport is operated by ...
is located in the township near the community of Guthrie.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada, Oro-Medonte had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Climate
Notable residents
*
Jennifer Jones (curler)
Jennifer Judith Jones OM (born July 7, 1974) is a Canadian curler. She was the Olympic champion in curling as skip of the Canadian team at the 2014 Sochi Games. Jones is the first female skip to go through the Games undefeated. The only male ...
, Olympic Gold Medallist
See also
*
List of townships in Ontario
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario
Municipalities in Simcoe County
Township municipalities in Ontario