Dunchurch is a compact rural community in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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 ...

, located in the municipality of Whitestone in

Parry Sound District Parry Sound District is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its boundaries are District of Muskoka to the south, the Sudbury District to the north-northwest, the French River and Lake Nipissing in the north, Nipissing Distri ...

History

The community was first settled in late summer 1870 when Arthur Millin, arriving on The Great North Road (that had begun construction in 1867) from

Parry Sound Parry Sound is a Sound (geography), 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 sou ...

, claimed a homestead plot. In 1873, the community was given the name ''Newcombe''. The first log schoolhouse, which doubled as a union church (a church available to multiple denominations), was erected in 1875 on land in the centre of the community. To avoid confusion with similarly named places in the province, in 1877 postmaster George Kelcey renamed the community after his

birthplace The place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a cou ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England. Organizing for the founding of a Presbyterian church was first recorded in 1889, and a church building completed in 1897 as Knox Presbyterian Church. The building serves as Knox United Church. The first public lending library opened in Dunchurch in 1973 in part of a portable classroom.

Geography

The community is on Whitestone Lake, which eventually flows to

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 ...

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

as part of the

Magnetawan River The Magnetawan River is a long river in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada. The river flows 175 km from its source of Magnetawan Lake inside Algonquin Provincial Park to empty into Georgian Bay at the community of Britt, Ontario, Britt on ...

system. Two narrows in the community, Dunchurch Narrows and Dunchurch Second Narrows — with a small basin in between —, separate the North Reach of Whitestone Lake from the Middle Reach.

Climate

The

Meteorological Service of Canada The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC; ) is a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological information and weather forecasts and warnings of severe weather and other environmental hazards. ...

had a measurement station (site ID: 6112133) at Dunchurch operating from 1973 to 2014.

Government

The offices of the Municipality of Whitestone are in Dunchurch. They were built for the then Township of Hagerman in 1997. The building also houses a branch of the Whitestone Fire department. Adjacent is the Whitestone and Area Nursing Station, managed by West Parry Sound Health Centre, where healthcare services are provided by a

nurse practitioner A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, prescribe medications an ...

. The community is the site of one of two waste management facilities in Whitestone.

Transportation

Dunchurch is on Ontario Highway 124 and on Ontario Highway 520.

Education

Whitestone Lake Public School (JK–8) is operated by the

Near North District School Board The Near North District School Board (NNDSB; known as English-language Public District School Board No. 4 prior to 1999) administers public education in an area of Ontario that is includes all of Parry Sound District, plus a northerly portion o ...

. The Whitestone Public Library is located in Dunchurch. , the facility is closed for renovation and expansion, which will include the addition of two meeting rooms and a conference room.

External links

Township of Whitestone Website

References

{{authority control Communities in Parry Sound District Magnetawan River 1870 establishments in Ontario Populated places established in 1870