Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of

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 ...

. It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has several hundred year-round residents and is a service centre for thousands of other seasonal residents in the area.

Attractions and venues

Besides the town, which maintains much of its older architecture, there are several tourist and cultural sites: *Muskoka Lakes Museum *Muskoka Lakes Association Antique Boat Show (every other year) *Muskoka Lakes Library *Port Carling Memorial Community Hall *CrossFit Muskoka Fitness Community

Geography and transportation

Port Carling is located on the Indian River and owes its importance to its key position on the water routes of the area. A set of locks joins

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

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 ...

, so much boat and ship traffic in the township passes through, hence its nickname ''Hub of the Lakes''. The community is directly located on the two-lane Muskoka Road 118, and improvements to Highway 69 now link it to the controlled-access

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

Highway 400 and the sometimes divided Highway 11. This has greatly facilitated its increasing role as a tourist destination from the Toronto area.

History and economy

The

Ojibway The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

settled in the area in the 1850s. They called their settlement Obajewanung or Obogawanung, while Europeans called it Indian Gardens. Before white settlers moved into the newly surveyed Medora Township starting in the 1860s, the Ojibway moved to

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 ...

but continued to summer in Port Carling. In 1869, Benjamin Hardcastle Johnston established a post office here and called it Port Carling.

John Carling Sir John Carling, (January 23, 1828 – November 6, 1911) was a Canadian politician and prominent businessman who was associated with the Carling Brewery in London, Ontario. The Carling family and its descendants later resided in Ottawa, Mo ...

, the Ontario Minister of Public Works, was a booster of the locks between the lakes which were completed in 1871. This led to an economic boom fuelled by tourism and logging, resulting in the building of four resorts, two sawmills and three Protestant churches of the 1870s. The Orange Order was active in the area, and few Catholics settled here. The Port Carling Boat Works Ltd. traces its origins to an enterprise started in 1868 by William J. Johnston. It captured a niche market after his relatives developed the disappearing propeller boat and operated the company under that name for a while. Port Carling became independent of Medora Township and was incorporated as a village in 1896 (a status it would keep until 1971). As it grew, the locks were widened in 1903 to permit steamship traffic and in 1922 smaller pleasure boat locks were installed. The Port Carling Volunteer Fire Department began in 1912 and got its biggest workout in 1931 when a series of fires ravaged the boat works and much of the downtown.

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 ...

has been Port Carling's most prominent government official outside the community. The part-Ojibway man was a diplomat and

lieutenant governor of Ontario The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province bu ...

. He wrote ''Out of Muskoka'', a personal reminiscence of his upbringing and some of the less savoury aspects of local history.

Notable people

Will White William Henry "Whoop-La" White (October 11, 1854 – August 31, 1911) was an American baseball pitcher and manager from 1875 to 1889. He played all or parts of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in the National ...

, born in Caton, Major League Baseball pitcher, brother of Baseball Hall of fame player

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

References

External links

Muskoka Lakes Township
municipal government site {{authority control Communities in the District Municipality of Muskoka