Hilton Beach is a village located in

Algoma District Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793–1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe ...

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, Canada. It is located on the northeastern shore of St. Joseph Island in the North Channel of

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 ...

, approximately 60 kilometres from

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. The village had a population of 198 (up from 171 in 2016) and a land area of 2.52 km² per the

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

History

The area which is now known as Hilton Beach had its origins in the 1850s when a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

was first built. By the 1860s, fourteen families had

settled A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

in the area, including the Trainors, Rousseaus, Gordons, Bishops and Desjardins. John Marks came to St. Joseph Island in the 1860s to settle at Sailors Encampment. He moved to the area that would become Hilton Beach in 1872. Marks first opened a store and a wood dock followed by a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

six years later under the name of Marksville. A school was established in 1877, and in 1881 St. John's

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was erected. J. Archibald built a hotel in 1879, originally called The Ottawa House. It was moved to its current site in 1890. Other businesses included Bowker's General Store, Duncan's General Store, R. Chester's shoemaker shop, and the

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

operated by Dean and Davis. J.C. Cooper was a wagon maker, and T. Steinburg was the

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, who operated out of the white concrete building still standing today on Hilton Road. A.G. Duncan, D. McPhail and John Marks were

justices ''Justice'' (abbreviation: ame ''J.'' and other variations) is an honorific style and title traditionally used to describe a jurist who is currently serving or has served on a supreme court or some equal position. In some countries, a justice ma ...

. The village was called Marksville until June 1, 1921, when it was changed to Hilton Beach. Two years later the village separated from Hilton Township and became St. Joseph Island's first village. Many of the historical buildings in Hilton Beach are still being used today. The community hall, renovated in 1989, was originally built in 1896 and used as a schoolhouse until the 1960s. The old

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, built in 1916, was used as a violin workshop for several years and is now for sale. The Hilton Beach General Store is over 100 years old and is still open for business. The Hilton Beach

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

is unusual in that it never actually housed an inmate. The small building, barely measuring 20' by 20', in fact housed the Hilton Beach Library for several years in the 1920s. The library is now housed in another historical building on Marks Street.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Hilton Beach 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.

Tourism

Hilton Beach has been a popular tourist destination since the early 1900s. Several families from

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and

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have been spending their summers in and around Hilton Beach since the 1910s. The MS Norgoma, a package freighter and passenger ferry, called on Hilton Beach on Wednesdays until 1963. Today, the village attracts visitors primarily from Sault Ste. Marie and southern Ontario, as well as Michigan. The village's location on Lake Huron makes it a very popular boating destination. The Hilton Beach

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

has over 180

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* ...

(approximately one for every resident in the town) and is very popular in the summer. The excellent

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

in the St. Joseph Channel is the main attraction for many seasonal residents and tourists. The marina operates from May through to October. The Hilton Beach Tourist Park, a tent and trailer park, was built in the 1950s. The Park welcomes back dozens of seasonal residents every summer and is a community unto itself during peak season.

Government

The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the village is Robert Hope, and its councillors are John Wells, Julie C. Moore, John Davison and Shirley Bailey Meeks. The village clerk is Peggy Cramp.

References

External links

* {{Algoma District Municipalities in Algoma District Populated places on Lake Huron in Canada Single-tier municipalities in Ontario St. Joseph Island (Ontario) Villages in Ontario