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Bala is a compact rural community in the
township municipality A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canada ...
of
Muskoka Lakes The Township of Muskoka Lakes is a municipality of the District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. It has a year-round population of 7,652. The municipal offices are located in Port Carling. History The area now covered by the townshi ...
,
District Municipality of Muskoka The District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka or Muskoka, is a List of regional municipalities in Ontario, Canada, regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It extends from Georgian Bay in the ...
in
Central Ontario Central Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario that lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The population of the region was 1,123,307 in 2016; however, this number does not in ...
, Canada. It is well-known for the Bala Falls, the source of the
Moon River "Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won the 19 ...
, which flows from
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 ...
to the Georgian Bay. It is considered one of the hubs 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 recreational properties such as cottages and summer homes. In the Greater Toronto Area, cottage country traffic r ...
located north of
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 ...
. Thus, its year-round population of several hundred is increased by thousands of seasonal residents and weekend
day-tripper A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...
s during summer months. It is known as the Cranberry Capital of Ontario, as the province's largest cranberry farms, Muskoka Lakes Farm and Winery (formerly Johnston's Cranberry Marsh) and the former Iroquois Cranberry Growers (closed in 2017), are located nearby. It was once the smallest incorporated town in Canada until it was amalgamated into Muskoka Lakes Township.


History

Bala was settled by Thomas Burgess in 1868. Thomas Burgess opened a sawmill and store to serve the area's scattered settlers. Thomas Burgess named it after the town of
Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...
in
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
with which it is officially twinned. Located on the
Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or 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), th ...
, it proved unsuitable for farming, and its fortunes declined as logging became less economically viable. Railway connections helped to re-establish the village as a popular location for summer resorts. In 1914, the town incorporated with Burgess's son as the first mayor, making it the smallest incorporated town in Canada.


Geography

Located at the west end of Lake Muskoka, at the foot of Bala Bay, the prominent geographical feature of the town are the many bare outcroppings of the
Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or 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), th ...
. Carved out of the Shield is Bala Falls, the only outlet for Lake Muskoka. That allows water to empty from the
Muskoka River The Muskoka River is a river in the Muskoka District of Ontario, Canada. The river is the third largest river draining the southern Ontario land mass by average annual flow. It rises in the highlands of Algonquin Park and flows southwest throug ...
watershed into the
Moon River "Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won the 19 ...
and eventually
Georgian Bay The Georgian Bay () 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 its northwest is t ...
; however, the falls were at a low elevation and for many years the water levels of Lake Muskoka were known to fluctuate eight or nine feet every season, between the spring runoffs and the late fall. That led to many navigation problems both for the timber industry and the settlers. In 1873, a control dam was built at the Bala Falls, which still exists in an upgraded form and is known as the North Falls. However, the dam worked too well and led to flooding, which forced the construction soon after of a large flood control dam and channel, known today as the South Falls. A further channel north of the North Falls was created in the 1880s to power a sawmill and later reused as the water intake channel for a hydroelectric station built in 1917. The station, operated by the Bala Electric Light and Power Company to supply electricity as far as MacTier and
Port Carling Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has sever ...
was retired in 1957 but then returned to active use as a small remotely-operated station in the 1990s. It remains in use today. A second station operated between the North and South Falls from 1924 to 1957 but was later demolished because it was uneconomical. A new generating station is being built at the site, a project that caused much local controversy.


Transportation

Bala was well connected and once was connected only to other Muskoka communities via the steamship lines that plied the Muskoka Lakes. The ''Cherokee, Islander'' and '' Segwun'' were frequently seen at the dock below the CPR station, and the ''Ahmic'' was based on the other side of Bala Bay in Torrance. Steamships have been unable to visit Bala since 1964, when the swing bridge at Bala Park Island was sealed shut. A portion of the former steamer dock remains, maintained for many decades by the
MNR MNR may stand for: Transportation * Maine Northern Railway *Metro-North Railroad in New York State *Mid-Norfolk Railway, a heritage railway in Norfolk, England * Manx Northern Railway, a railway on the Isle of Man from 1879 to 1905 * Manor Road r ...
and today by the Township of Muskoka Lakes. In 1907 the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
opened a prominent "summer" station at the harbour, complete with freight elevator (a "winter" station was located a half-mile north). There was also a seasonal
Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...
(later CN) station across the bay on Bala Park Island. In 1927, six CPR train routes each way served Bala, four on a daily basis. With the influx of many American cottagers, Bala even became a Customs Port of Entry. The Bala Weekend trains continued to serve the tourists until 1963, when the station was demolished. The settlement-era Musquosh Road from Gravenhurst arrived in the 1880s and fed further development after the heyday of the railways as the route was eventually upgraded from a rough trail into first the Rama Road, then the provincial Highway 69 (later renumbered to Highway 169, then to Muskoka Road 169). A postwar bypass was created for the highway to avoid the original Musquosh Road bridge and single-lane rail underpass at the South Falls, but that also had the effect of removing traffic from Bala's former main street south of the Falls, severely impacting businesses on that section and concentrating commercial activity along the highway north of the Falls.


Services

In 1971, the town was amalgamated with other townships and municipalities to form the Township of Muskoka Lakes; the Chamber of Commerce office is in Bala; other civic functions are located in
Port Carling Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has sever ...
. Bala was the location of the first detachment of
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...
in 1921. A small modern station remains just north of the main part of town (run by the Bracebridge detachment part-time). The
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...
Post Office has been relocated to share space with the police station.


Accommodations

Until changes in transportation and development led to most seasonal visitors staying in private cottages, Bala offered summer lodging at a large number of tourist resorts over the decades. For example, Windsor Park is on the site of the former Windsor Hotel. Located on River Street were Bala Cozy Cabins and Roselawn Lodge. The Bala Bay Inn (formerly the Swastika Inn until a postwar name change) remained as an active hotel until 2016. Built in 1910, it is Muskoka's oldest brick hotel. The original tin ceiling and mahogany staircase still grace the front lobby.


Culture and entertainment

Since 1942, under various management and names, the community and the surrounding area was offered live musical entertainment. In the 1940s and '50s,
Big Band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
s like
Mart Kenney Herbert Martin Kenney C.M. (March 7, 1910 – February 8, 2006) was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader of Mart Kenney and His Western Gentlemen. Musical career Kenney was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Mildred Agnes (Martin) and Herbe ...
,
Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...
,
Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...
,
Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peopl ...
,
Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...
,
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...
,
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
,
Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...
and
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
played at Dunn's Pavilion. Since the 1960s,
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
ians like David Wilcox,
Kim Mitchell Joseph Kim Mitchell (born July 10, 1952) is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the band Max Webster before going on to a solo career. His 1984 single, " Go for Soda", was his only charted song on the US ''Billbo ...
,
The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
,
April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...
,
Burton Cummings Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He is best known for leading the Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career. Cummings has been induc ...
and
Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz guitarist, singer and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...
played at The KEE to Bala. More recently, bands such as
Metric Metric or metrical may refer to: Measuring * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics ...
,
Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...
,
The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, was a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassis ...
, The Sam Roberts Band,
Hinder Hinder is an American Rock music, rock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, formed in 2001 by former lead singer Austin John Winkler, guitarist Joe "Blower" Garvey, drummer Cody Hanson, with bass player Cole Parker being recruited in 2002 during ...
,
Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album ''The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing th ...
,
Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Asphodel–Norwood, Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1 ...
, Sloan,
Tim Hicks Tim Hicks (born August 22, 1979) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. Since releasing his debut single " Get By" in 2012, he has had eighteen top ten hits on the Canada Country chart. His albums include: ' ...
, Hedley and Theory of a Deadman have graced the stage at The KEE to Bala. In the 1980s, Bala and
Port Carling Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has sever ...
were also featured in a skit by The Frantics on ''Boot to the Head''. In the skit, a man on his way to Bala bores his companion to distraction in part by endlessly enumerating the communities' features. Most recently Bala is home to The New Actor's Colony professional Theatre company who perform seasonally in the summer in the local curling rink.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. Sh ...
, author of the ''
Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...
'' books, visited Bala in 1922. The area made a sufficient impression on her that she based the novel '' The Blue Castle'' on the area, her only novel not set in
Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
. Based on the connection to a beloved Canadian author, Bala's Museum, a privately run museum featuring Montgomery, was opened in the 1990s. Bala hosts the Bala Cranberry Festival annually on the weekend after Canadian Thanksgiving, attracting thousands of people to the town.Cranberry fields forever, Annual Bala festival proves the berries aren't just for turkey dinners anymore
Katherine Elphick,
The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...
. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
Bala is home to Muskoka Lakes Winery, the Muskoka region's only winery, which specializes in cranberry and other fruit wines. Once a week in the summer months, students from a nearby water ski school perform aquatic stunts for audiences at a local park. Students form pyramids, jump obstacles, ski barefoot, and occasionally ski while they wear
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...
skis. Bala Bay remains a sailing hotspot in Muskoka due to its excellent and consistent winds. A local sailing club organizes Saturday races.


See also

*
List of unincorporated communities in Ontario The following is a list of unincorporated area, unincorporated and informal communities in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, Canada. These communities are not independent communities, these are usually a part of a towns ...


References


External links

{{authority control Communities in the District Municipality of Muskoka