Ramara is a lower-tier

township 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, Canad ...

municipality in

Simcoe County Simcoe County is a county and census division located in the central region of Ontario, Canada. The county is located north of the Greater Toronto Area, and forms the north western edge of the Golden Horseshoe. The county seat is located in Mi ...

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. Ramara was formed in 1994 through the amalgamation of the townships of Rama and Mara. The municipality stretches along the northeastern shore of

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 ...

from Gamebridge to Orillia, and along the entire eastern shore of

Lake Couchiching Lake Couchiching ( ; from the Anishinaabe language, Ojibwe ''gojijiing'' meaning "inlet") is a medium-sized lake in Central Ontario, Canada, separated from Lake Simcoe by a narrow channel. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching are popular spots for fishin ...

from Orillia to Washago. Farming, tourism and aggregate are the primary industries, and are supported by a wide variety of local enterprises. The area is perhaps best known for its proximity to

Casino Rama Casino Rama is a large casino, hotel, and entertainment complex located in the town of Rama, Ontario, on the Indian reserve, reserve land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation. It is jointly owned by the Chippewas of Rama First Nation and the Ont ...

, which is actually located on the neighbouring

First Nations reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." R ...

Chippewas of Mnjikaning First Nation Chippewas of Rama First Nation, also known as Chippewas of Mnjikaning and Chippewas of Rama Mnjikaning First Nation (, also alternatively Rama Anishinaabek), is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) First Nation located in the province of Ontario in Canada ...

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Communities

The township comprises the communities of Atherley, Bayshore Village, Bayview Beach, Bonnie Beach, Brechin, Brechin Beach, Brechin Point, Concord Point, Cooper's Falls, Fawkham, Floral Park, Fountain Beach, Gamebridge, Gamebridge Beach, Geneva Park, Glenrest Beach, Grays Bay, Hopkins Bay, Joyland Beach, Lagoon City, Lakeview Beach, Little Falls, Longford Mills, Mara Beach, Mariposa Beach, McDonald Beach, Millington (ghost town), Murphy Beach, New Gamebridge Beach, Oaklawn Beach, O'Connell, Orkney Point, Orkney Beach, Paradise Point, Point of Mara Beach, Prophet Beach, Ramona, Rathburn, Riverside Beach, Sandy Beach, Sandy Pine Beach, Southview Cove, Talbot, Tanglewood Beach, Udney, Uptergrove, and Val Harbour. Brechin is one of the township's largest communities. It is known for its several local businesses such as a new Tim Hortons and a Statue Store. The town has all the necessities of a small town, such as a Foodland,

LCBO The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO, ) is a Crown agency (Ontario), Crown agency that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Provinces of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislative Asse ...

, Legion, both a Shell and a nearby Esso, as well as schools and churches. The town is also a central meeting location for the area's youth where they partake in numerous recreational activity involving the town's proximity to the lake. The Township of Ramara owns and operates the Ramara Centre, located at 5482 Highway 12, between Atherley and Uptergrove. The Township of Ramara also owns community centres in Longford, Udney and Brechin that are operated by Community Centre Boards of Management which are composed of volunteers. There are three fire halls in the Township. Fire Hall #1 is located at 3290 County Road 47, Brechin at the corner of County Rd. 47 & Hwy. 12. Fire Hall #2 is located at 85 Patricia Drive, Atherley at the corner of Patricia Drive & Balsam Rd. Fire Hall #3 is located at 7305 Simcoe County Rd. 169, Washago at County Rd #169 & Switch Road. The Ontario Lumberjack Championships were held at the Brechin Ball Park on the second Saturday in June in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Canadian rock band, Floral Park, takes its name from the Floral Park community in which one of the band's members grew up.

Goffatt Island

Located off from Sandy Beach, Goffatt Island is a privately owned 11.10 acres island in

History

The former townships of Rama and Mara were first named in 1820. The origins of the names are unclear, as both may be either Spanish words (''rama'' for "branch" and ''mara'' for "sea") or

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

references (''rama'' for

Ramah Ramah may refer to: In ancient Israel * Ramathaim-Zophim, the birthplace of Samuel * Ramoth-Gilead, a Levite city of refuge * Ramah in Benjamin, mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah and also in the Gospel of Matthew * Baalath-Beer, also known as Ramot ...

, the biblical town of

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

in ancient

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and ''mara'' for Marah, named in the biblical

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

as the place where

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

sweetened the bitter waters for the Israelites.) As both styles of place naming were popular in Ontario at the time, it is not clear which one

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Sir

Peregrine Maitland General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British army officer and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the C ...

had in mind. Being British, the names likely originated from the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

, an ancient Sanskrit text.

(Ramachandra), is a major deity of Hinduism. He is the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu. Mara is a Sanskrit word meaning "death" or any personification thereof. The townships were originally part of York County, but were transferred to Ontario County when they were first incorporated as an amalgamated municipality in 1852. They were later reincorporated as separate municipalities in 1869. A portion of Rama Township was allocated to form what became the Mnjikaning First Nation 32

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

of the

. Many Indigenous people were living on the narrow strip of land that separates lakes Simcoe and Couchiching between Atherley and

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

. These lands were surrendered by

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

in 1836. After that time, the local Indian Agent began purchasing lands in Rama Township and the Indigenous people were resettled there. The main settlement on the reserve is also known as

and is the site of

. North of Rama, the community of Longford Mills was established in 1868. In 1867 American lumberman

Henry W. Sage Henry Williams Sage (January 31, 1814 – September 18, 1897) was a wealthy New York State businessman, philanthropist, and early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University.Murray Edward PoolA story historical of Cornell University with biograp ...

had purchased blocks of land in Rama Township after buying timber berths in Oakley Township in Muskoka District. Sage had considered relocating his mill from Bell Ewart to a point between the Black River and Lake Couchiching, or possibly at Wasdell Falls. This area lacked

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, so the sawn lumber would have to be

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

d to the Northern Railway at Bell Ewart. Instead, Sage came up with the idea of a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

to float logs from the Black River to supply the mills of Lake Simcoe. The Rama Timber Transport Company was formed in 1868. Not only did it allow the logs of Muskoka and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

reach the mills of Lake Simcoe, but helped establish the community of Longford Mills. Ontario County was dissolved upon the formation of the

Regional Municipality of Durham The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, it forms the east end of the Greater Toronto A ...

in 1974, and both townships were transferred to Simcoe County. As part of the municipal restructuring of Simcoe County, Mara and Rama Townships were reamalgamated to form Ramara in 1994.

Climate

Transportation

Rail

Washago station, located in the neighbouring township of

Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

, is served by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's weekly ''

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

'' transcontinental service between Toronto and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. The station was also formerly a stop on the

Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency (Ontario), provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming ...

's ''

Northlander The ''Northlander'' was a passenger train operated by the provincially-owned Ontario Northland Railway in southern and northeastern Ontario, Canada. In 2012, rail service was discontinued and replaced with express bus service. Rail service will ...

'' service. The gingerbread style Atherley Junction station was built by the

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 ...

in what is now Ramara in 1897, but it was destroyed by a fire in 1931. It was likely rebuilt after 1931 by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

, and now the structure is now located at

Couchiching Beach Park Couchiching is a word derived from the Ojibwe term gojijiing meaning "inlet" that may refer to many things including the following: *Couchiching First Nation *Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs *Couchiching Terriers *Lake Couchiching Lake C ...

Orillia, Ontario Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a sin ...

Bus

There is bus service from Toronto to Washago operated by

Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services is an intercity bus service operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency of the government of Ontario, Canada. Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services operates passenger and par ...

. As well, there is extensive charter bus service to

Car

Ontario Highway 12 King's Highway 12, commonly referred to as Highway 12 and historically known as the Whitby and Sturgeon Bay Road, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway connects the eastern end of the Greater Toron ...

(

Trans Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

) is a main connecting road between

Ontario Highway 169 King's Highway 169, commonly referred to as Highway 169, was a Provincial highways in Ontario, provincially maintained highway in the Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The highway connected Ontario Highway 12, Highway 12 at Brechin, Ontario, B ...

and Rama Road (Simcoe County Road 44).

Air

The closest airport is Lake Simcoe Regional Airport located between

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is par ...

and Orillia, and the closest major airport is Toronto Pearson Airport, via Highway 12 and Highway 400.

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 ...

, Ramara 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.

References

External links

* {{Simcoe County Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Simcoe County Township municipalities in Ontario