The Township of Muskoka Lakes is a municipality of the
District Municipality of Muskoka,
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 ...
, Canada. It has a year-round population of 6,588.
[
The municipal offices are located in ]Port Carling
Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of Ontario.
It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has several hundred year-round residents and is a service centre for ...
.
History
The area now covered by the 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, Ca ...
was opened for settlement and organized in 1870 into the following geographic (and sometime municipal) townships of Watt, Cardwell, Humphrey, Christie, Medora and Wood.
In 1971, the current municipal structure took hold when Cardwell Township, Watt Township, Medora and Wood Townships, Bala, Port Carling
Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of Ontario.
It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has several hundred year-round residents and is a service centre for ...
, Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
and part of Monck Township were merged.
Government
Muskoka is governed by an elected Town Council consisting of a Mayor, District Councillors and Councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
s representing each of the town's three wards. In addition, three Regional Councillors each represent a ward each. The Mayor and Councillors sit on the Muskoka County Council.
The members of the elected council as of the 2018 municipal election are:
Mayor: Phil Harding
District councillors:
* Ward 1: Ruth-Ellen Nishikawa
* Ward 2: Allen Edwards
* Ward 3: Frank Jaglowitz
Township councillors:
* Ward 1: Donelda Hayes
* Ward 1: Glenn Zavitz
* Ward 2: Susan Mazan
* Ward 2: Gordon Roberts
* Ward 3: Barb Bridgeman
* Ward 3: Peter Kelley
Geography
The township is located on Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
and thus is marked with outcrops of igneous rock and evergreen trees. Although inland from both 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 ...
's 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 ...
and 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'' ...
, the township contains the Muskoka Lakes consisting of 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 ...
, Lake Rosseau
Lake Rosseau is located in Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The south end of the lake is in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, and the north end is in Seguin Township. The lake is surrounded by many cottages, some dating back to the late 1 ...
and Lake Joseph
Lake Joseph is located in Seguin Township, Ontario. The lake is surrounded by many cottages. Lake Joseph is connected to Lake Rosseau through the narrows at Port Sandfield and the Joseph River.
Lake Front Resident Advocacy Group
There are man ...
, amongst many other smaller lakes.
Protected areas in Muskoka Lakes include Hardy Lake Provincial Park
Hardy may refer to:
People
* Hardy (surname)
* Hardy (given name)
* Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica
* Mount Hardy, Enderby Land
* Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island
* Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands
Australia
* Hardy, Sou ...
and Torrance Barrens
The Torrance Barrens (officially Torrance Barrens Conservation Reserve) is a conservation area and dark-sky preserve in the District Municipality of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Central Ontario, Canada. The reserve consists of Crown land#Canada, ...
Conservation Area.
Communities
The township contains the communities of Bala, Bala Park, Bardsville, Barlochan, Beaumaris
Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from th ...
, Baysville, Bear Cave, Beatrice, Bent River, Brackenrig, Cedar Village, Dee Bank, Dixon's Corners, Dudley, Duffy, Echo Beach, Ferndale, Foot's Bay, Glen Orchard, Gregory, Gull Rock, Hekkla, Inverness Lodge, Juddhaven, Mendora, Milford Bay, Minett, Morinus, Mortimers Point, Park Beach, Port Carling
Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of Ontario.
It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has several hundred year-round residents and is a service centre for ...
, Port Keewaydin, Port Sandfield, Raymond, Redwood, Roderick, Rossclair, Rosseau Falls, Rostrevor, Shannon Hall, Sunset Beach, Thorel House, Tomelin Bluffs, Torrance, Ufford, Ullswater, Valley Green Beach, Walkers Point, Willow Beach, Whiteside, Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
, Woodington, Woodward Station and Ziska.
Climate
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
, Muskoka Lakes 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.
Economy
Timber was initially the greatest economic attraction for the region. The soil is poor and rocky and consequently is not especially suited to agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
.
As the resource industries dried up, the area soon embraced tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
as its economic base because of its proximity to Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
and the rest of Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
. For many Ontarians, this is the centre of cottage country
Cottage country is a common name in Ontario, New Brunswick, and other regions of Canada for areas that are popular locations for recreation, recreational properties such as cottages and summer homes. Cottage country is often socially, culturally, ...
.
The Muskoka Lakes Township Public Libraries offers research, literature, and cultural resources to local residents. The libraries consist of the Norma and Miller Alloway Muskoka Lakes Library main branch in the town of Port Carling
Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of Ontario.
It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has several hundred year-round residents and is a service centre for ...
, and three small branches housed in the community centres of Bala, Milford Bay, and Walker's Point.
Notable people
*James Bartleman
James Karl Bartleman (born 24 December 1939) is a former Canadian diplomat and author who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2002 to 2007.
Bartleman grew up in the Muskoka town of Port Carling, and he is a member of the ...
, politician and diplomat
* Viola R. MacMillan, prospector and miner
*John Wilson McConnell
John Wilson McConnell (July 1, 1877 – November 6, 1963) was a Canadian sugar refiner, newspaper publisher, humanitarian and philanthropist in Quebec, Canada.
Early life
J.W. McConnell was born to a farming family in the Muskoka region of Ont ...
, sugar refiner, newspaper publisher, humanitarian and philanthropist
See also
*List of townships in Ontario
This is a list of townships in the Canadian province of Ontario. Townships are listed by census division.
Northern Ontario Northeastern Ontario Algoma District
Historical/Geographic Townships
*Abbott
*Aberdeen Additional
*Abigo
*Abotossaway
* ...
References
* Tatley, Richard. Steamboating in Muskoka. Bracebridge, Ontario : Muskoka Litho, 1972.
External links
*
{{Authority control
Township municipalities in Ontario
Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario
Municipalities in the District Municipality of Muskoka