User:Hollomis/List of Ontario colonization roads

Bell's Line

Bell's Line was an early survey line somewhat north of the Peterson Road. From east to west it "ran [between the present townships of Bangor and Jones, Wicklow and Lyell, McClure and Sabine, Bruton and Clyde, Harburn and Eyre, Guilford and Havelock, Stanhope and Sherborne, Hindon and Ridout, Oakley and McLean, Draper and Macaulay" (Florence Murray, p. lxiii).

The Muskoka Road

It was meant to run from Lake Couchiching to the grand falls of at Muskoka intersecting Bell's Line. Later continued a further 24 miles to the present location of Huntsville (ibid. p. lxx.)

Runs from the foot of Lake Couchiching northward through Morrison, Muskoka, Draper, Macauley and Stephenson ... ending in the vicinity of Fairy and Vernon lakes. (ibid. p. 194)

Plaque south of Gravenhurst. In a picnic area on the west side of Highway 11 10 km south of the intersection of Highway 11 and Road 169 in Gravenhurst south of the Kilworth/Kahshe Lake exit just south of the Kahshe River bridge. Coordinates: N 44 49.853 W 79 19.276

During the 1850's and 1860's the government attempted to open up the districts lying north of the settled townships by means of "Colonization Roads". Free land was offered to persons who would settle along the route, clear a stated acreage and help maintain the road. In 1858 construction began on a road from Washago to the interior of Muskoka. R.J. Oliver was appointed the government land agent at the Severn Bridge and directed the progress of the settlement. The road was completed to the site of Bracebridge by 1861 and the adjacent bushland formed into the townships of Morrison, Muskoka, Draper and Macaulay.

Plaque - The Founding of Bracebridge

In 1862 the Muskoka Road, a colonization route built to open this region for settlement, was completed to the first falls on the north branch of the Muskoka River. A settlement, including a tavern, a lumber mill and a store, soon developed and two years later a post office named Bracebridge was opened. When regular steamship service began on Lake Muskoka in 1866, Bracebridge became the northern terminus and prospered as the distribution centre for the region. A court-house and a registry office for the district were built and by 1871 the village contained four large hotels, several mills and numerous stores. A developing tourist trade further encouraged the growth of the community and in 1875 Bracebridge was incorporated as a Village with over 750 inhabitants.

The Parry Sound Road

The original road started at the 9th milepost on The Muskoka Road north from the Falls of Muskoka, and follows the west boundary line of Stephenson and proceeding in a northwesterly direction. (Ibid. p. lxxii, Plate XII.)

From older version of page:

Current road designations are: Horseshoe Lake Road, Highway 141, Raymond Road, Manitoba Street. Route follows Highway 400/Highway 69, Highway 141, Muskoka District Road 35, Muskoka District Road 4. Starts at Bracebridge, ends at Parry Sound, serving Parry Sound, Horseshoe Lake, Rosseau and Bracebridge.

The Bobcaygeon Road

"...projected to run north from Bobcaygeon along the easterly boundary of Verulam, Somerville, Lutterworth, Anson, Hindon, Ridout and Franklin townships" [i.e. to the Oxtongue River]. Originally, it was expected to reach Lake Nipissing, meeting the projected Ottawa and Opeongo road. (ibid. p. lxxii-lxxiii.)

Plaque in Dorset:

This colonization road was designed to open up the districts lying inland from the settled townships. Construction began in 1856 from Bobcaygeon running northward to the interior of Haliburton. In 1858 Richard Hughes was appointed government land agent at Bobcaygeon and directed the progress of settlement. Free grants of land along its route were made to persons fulfilling the required settlement duties. By 1863 the road, sections of which follow the boundaries between Victoria and Peterborough and Muskoka and Haliburton, was completed to the Oxtongue River in Franklin Township. The southern section, between Bobcaygeon and Minden, is still in use.

The Peterson Road

Plaque near Muskoka Falls (Highway 118 and Highway 11):

Muskoka Falls was the western terminus of the Peterson Road, a colonization road named after surveyor Joseph S. Peterson. Constructed 1858-1863 at a cost of some $39,000, It stretched about 114 miles between the Muskoka and Opeongo Roads and formed part of a system of government colonization routes built to open up the southern region of the Precambrian Shield. Poor soil disappointed hopes of large-scale agricultural settlement along this road both on government "free-grant" lots and on the lands of the Canadian Land and Emigration Company. By the 1870s portions of the route were overgrown, though certain sections aided lumbering and now contribute to the development of an important Ontario vacation area.

Plaque in Maynooth:

The Peterson Road was named after Joseph S. Peterson, a surveyor who determined its route in this region. Constructed 1858-1863 at a cost of some $39,000, it stretched about 114 miles between the Muskoka and Opeongo Roads and formed part of a system of government colonization routes built to open up the southern region of the Precambrian Shield. Poor soil disappointed hopes of large-scale agricultural settlement along this road both on government "free-grant" lots and on the lands of the Canadian Land and Emigration Company. Though portions of the route were overgrown by the 1850s, the Maynooth-Combermere section added lumbering and now contributes to the development of an important Ontario vacation area.

The Monck Road

Leading from the upper end of Couchiching Lake in Mara in and easterly direction, to unite with the Mississippi at its intersection with the Hastings Road. Using present-day ma,es the route might be described as passing through North Mara, Rathburn, Sebright, Dartmoor, Uphill, Head Lake, Norland, Kinmount, Furnace Falls, Irondale, Gooderham, Monck Road and Bancroft (ibid. p. lxxvii.)

Plaque near Bancroft:

This road was constructed for the dual purpose of opening up a wilderness area to settlement and providing an alternative, less vulnerable military route between the upper Great Lakes and the Ottawa Valley. Its line from the vicinity of Lake Couchiching to the junction of the Hastings and Mississippi Colonization Roads at the hamlet of York River (now Bancroft), was surveyed in 1864-65 at the time of the American Civil War. Named in honour of the Governor General (1861-68), Lord Monck, construction was begun in 1866 and completed in 1873. Free grants of land along its route were made to persons fulfilling the required settlement duties.

Plaque near Lake Couchiching:

This road was named to honour of Charles Stanley Monck, Governor-General of the Canadian provinces from 1861. Lord Monck presided with distinction over confederation, and became the first Governor-General of Canada 1867-68.
The road was built to open up land for settlement and as a military road. Fear of American power and Fenian threats in the 1860s gave urgency to plans for an inland route from the upper Great Lakes to the Ottawa River, an alternative to the St. Lawrence route which was vulnerable to American attack.
From Lake Couchiching, surveys for the road began in 1864, building in 1866. Completed in 1873, the road extended 100 miles east to the Hastings Road (Bancroft), where it joined other roads to Ottawa.

The Musquash Road and Bala

Plaque The Founding of Bala

Thomas W. Burgess, Bala's first settler, brought his family here to "Musquosh Falls" in 1868, probably aboard the steamer "Wenonah". Burgess opened a sawmill and store to serve the pioneers attracted by Muskoka's free land grants. A post-office named after Bala in Wales and with Burgess as postmaster, was established by 1872. That year the Musquosh Road linked Bala with Gravenhurst and by the 1880's the settlement was benefiting from a growing tourist trade. Railways reached Bala by 1907 and it became one of Muskoka's most accessible tourist resorts. When it was incorporated as a town in 1914, Dr. A.M. Burgess, a son of the community's founder, became the first mayor.

The Cameron Road

Rosedale is on Cameron Lake. Fenelon Falls, on the other side of the lake was called Cameron's Falls. South of Rosedale lies the village of Cameron. The road may have started there and followed Hwy 35, or today's Kawartha Lakes Road 34 which is still called Cameron Road. Or still yet, as per Coboconk, Ontario may have started from Fenelon Falls.

Referenced in Laxton, Digby and Longford townships between Norland and the boundary of Bixley (near Coboconk), and in Lutterworth township Lot 14 Concession 7 (Miner's Bay). Indicates a route between (Cameron and) Coboconk, Norland and Miner's Bay along current 35.

A short road from Balsam River, Fenelon (Rosedale) to the Monck Road in Digby (Norland?), about 18 miles. It answers no reasonable Colonization purpose.

Undertaken to extend to Minden

The Lavant Road

Appears to be named after Lavant. There is an eastward side road to the Snow Road, County Road 16 (South Levant Road). It runs between Highway 509 (near Beatty) and Highway 511 (near Hopetown). Lavant is about halfway. Sometimes called "Old Government Road" e.g. in County Atlas maps. Most of in Lanark County. Altogether inconclusive.