Musselman Lake, Ontario
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Musselman's Lake is a community settled adjacent to a
kettle lake A kettle (also known as a kettle hole, kettlehole, or pothole) is a depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating ...
of the same name in the town of
Whitchurch–Stouffville Whitchurch-Stouffville ( 2021 population 49,864) is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately north of downtown Toronto, and north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is in area, and located in the ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. It is located about 6 km north-northwest of urban
Stouffville Stouffville () is the primary urban area within the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville in York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is situated within the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The urban area is centred at the inte ...
, and is part of the
Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...
. It is accessible from Highway 48, which links
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
to Beaverton, and from Highway 404, a limited-access
400-Series Highway 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the ...
west of Musselman's Lake via Aurora Road or
Bloomington Road King's Highway 47, commonly referred to as Highway 47 and locally as Stouffville Road, Toronto Street and Brock Street, was a Ontario Provincial Highway Network, provincially maintained highway in the Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The mos ...
.
Ontario Highway 407 King's Highway 407, commonly referred to as Highway 407 and colloquially as the "four-oh-seven", is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Comprising a tolled privatel ...
is located about south on Ninth Line in Markham. The main roads in the community are Ninth Line on the west side of the lake, and Lakeshore Road on the east. The area around the lake is dotted with a number of smaller kettle lakes, including Island Lake, Shadow Lake, Staley Lake and Windsor Lake. The area around Musselman's Lake feeds a small tributary to the
East Holland River The East Holland River is a river in Ontario, Canada that is part of the Holland River watershed that empties into Cook's Bay in Lake Simcoe. The headwaters of the East Holland River rise in the Oak Ridges Moraine. The river runs generally north f ...
, which flows to the west.


Environment

Musselman's Lake is on the ecologically sensitive
Oak Ridges Moraine The Oak Ridges Moraine is an Ecology, ecologically important Geology, geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon, Ontario, Caledon and Rice Lake (Ontario ...
; the land drains into both the
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
and
Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within 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 ''Ouentir ...
watersheds.
Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
trees dominate much of the area, with farmland toward the north-east. Creeks and streams are also characteristic of the area.
Sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
and
gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
is widespread to the south and east of Musselman's Lake. The mining industry began in the 1950s and continues through the present. Lee Sand & Gravel has been in operations since the 1950s and owned by Crupi Group since 1987. Lafarge has operations next to Lee on the east side along York-Durham Townline. Residential areas are concentrated around Musselman's Lake and Windsor Lake, and on a few other large lots. The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville forecasts the population of Musselman's Lake to decline slightly between 2012 and 2031. The lake has a surface area of , with a maximum depth of approximately . It is landlocked and fed by springs and
surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow or terrestrial runoff) is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to ''channel runoff'' (or ''stream flow''). It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other ...
. In 2009, the ''Musselman's Lake Subwatershed Assessment and Stewardship Opportunities Report'' recognized that the water quality of the lake was "impaired" and "degraded," and had declined since 1989 when a similar study had been done. A variety of fish have been found in the lake including: *
Northern Pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...
*
Large Mouth Bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico. It is known by a va ...
*
Rock Bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (bi ...
* Sunfish (
Centrarchidae Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes or centrarchids, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Centrarchiformes, native only to North America. There are eight universally included genera within the centrarchid famil ...
) *
Crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...
* suckers *
Channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...
*
Perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...
(
Yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...
)


History

The area was first settled 1807 by Peter and Jacob Musselman (not related to settler of
Floradale, Ontario Floradale is an unincorporated rural community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is part of the township of Woolwich in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The community is located 5 kilometres (3 miles) to the north of the town of Elmira, O ...
), who were
Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
from
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. The Musselman established as steam saw mill on the west side of the lake on land later acquired by William Osborn. The Glen Baker Hotel and Hall provided local entertainment until 1928 and again until 1970s. In the 1950s and 1960s housing developments were built around Musselman's Lake. Over the years, the community has been referred to both as Musselman's Lake and as Musselman Lake. In 2012, the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville officially declared the name of the community as "Musselman's Lake." On June 17, 2017, the five acre Coultice Park was officially opened on land which was formerly a part of the Wagon Wheel Ranch and donated to the Town by the Coultice family.Duncan Fletcher,

" ''Stouffview Review'', June 19, 2017.


Privately owned waterfront

Virtually all of the water front in the community of Musselman's Lake is private residential property. Cedar Beach Park is a small park and beach on the northside at Cedarvale Boulevard and Ninth Line is privately run and require admission. Docks along the lake are all private with Cedar Beach Park open to the paying public but not for daily visitors. Use of the lake and its shorelines is regulated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in conjunction with the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority; the Ministry of Natural Resources governs fishing regulations, town by-laws regulate the use of power boats on the lake, and laws are enforced by the York Regional Police Marine Unit. While the resources of all levels of government are used for the regulation, protection and preservation of the lake, the entire perimeter of the lake is currently in a few private hands, and homeowners and business alone benefit from exclusive access rights to one of
Whitchurch-Stouffville Whitchurch-Stouffville (2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 49,864) is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately north of downtown Toronto, and north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is in area, ...
's most significant natural and recreational assets.


Nearest communities

Musselman's Lake is situated near the eastern boundary of the town of
Whitchurch–Stouffville Whitchurch-Stouffville ( 2021 population 49,864) is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately north of downtown Toronto, and north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is in area, and located in the ...
. Neighbouring communities within Whitchurch–Stouffville include
Ballantrae Ballantrae is a community in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Topography The name probably comes from the Scottish Gaelic , meaning the 'town by the beach'.. The beach consists of shingle and sand and offers views of Ailsa Craig, the Isl ...
to the north-east and Bloomington to the south. Goodwood, a community of the town of
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
, lies to the east.


Campgrounds

Two private campgrounds are located north of the lake: * Cedar Beach Trailer Park - operates Cedar Beach Park * Shadow Lake Campgrounds - (former McKewon Lake on the land owned by Robert McKewon) frequently used by Scouts Canada troops


References


External links


Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
{{coord, 44, 1, 51, N, 79, 16, 23, W, display=title, type:city_region:CA Communities in Whitchurch-Stouffville Kettle lakes in Canada