The District Municipality of Muskoka, often referred to as the District of Muskoka or simply Muskoka, is a regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It extends from Georgian Bay in the west, to the northern tip of Lake Couchiching in the south, to the western border of Algonquin Provincial Park in the east. A two-hour drive north of Toronto, it spans . It has some 1,600 lakes, making it a popular cottaging destination.
This region is referred to as "cottage country", due to its waterfront forested landscapes with over 2.1 million visitors annually. Muskoka is populated with several villages and towns, farming communities, lakeside vacation hotels and resorts near golf courses, country clubs, and marinas. Its regional government seat is Bracebridge and its largest population centre is Huntsville.
Muskoka is geographically within the Central Ontario region of the province, although it is treated as part of Northern Ontario and even Eastern OntarioConsultation: Eastern Ontario Transportation Plan, Ontario.ca, August 6, 2021Eastern Ontario Map, Ontario.ca, August 2021 by some government programs due to its status as a transitional area between the geographic regions.
Muskoka is a summer destination for GTA residents and was the most-searched Canadian destination for vacation rentals in 2017. It was ranked number one for Best Trips of 2011 by National Geographic and was a finalist for the same distinction in 2012.
The municipality's name derives from a First Nations chief of the 1850s. Lake Muskoka was then the hunting grounds of a troop led by Chief Yellowhead or Mesqua Ukie or Musquakie. He was revered by the government, which built a home for him in Orillia, where he lived until his death at age 95.
Muskoka has 60,000 permanent residents. An additional 100,000 seasonal property owners spend their summers in Muskoka, making the municipality a major summer colony. Due to the region's popularity and high property costs, hundreds of Muskoka properties are available for short-term rental through online platforms.
Many of Muskoka's seasonal properties are large summer estates, some of which have been passed down through families for generations. Most of these properties can be found along the shores of Muskoka's four major lakes: Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau, Lake Joseph, and Lake of Bays. In recent years, various Hollywood and sports stars have built retreats in Muskoka, including Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Mike Weir, Martin Short, Harry Hamlin, Cindy Crawford, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
History Indigenous peoples Geography drove history in the Muskoka region. Studded with lakes and rocks, the good land offered an abundance of fishing, hunting, and trapping, but was poorly suited to farming. The Muskoka and Haliburton area, with its chain of lakes and rivers, its fur-bearing animals, its fish, wild fruit, and maple sap, would have supported a large Indigenous population, but written evidence suggests that until very recent years, it has harboured only nomadic groups. Largely the land of the Ojibwa people, European inhabitants ignored it while settling what they thought were the more promising areas south of the Severn River. The Ojibwa leader associated with the area was Mesqua Ukie, for whom the land is believed named, as he was liked by the European Canadians. The tribe lived south of the region, near present-day Orillia. They used Muskoka as their hunting grounds. Another Ojibwa tribe lived in the area of Port Carling, then called Obajewanung. The tribe moved to Parry Sound around 1866.
In the present day, Muskoka contains four First Nations reserves:
Wahta Mohawk Territory - an area used for hunting and fishing by Mohawk from the independent Kanesatake and Kahnewake reserves Indian River - shared between the Wahta and the Chippewas of Rama First Nation Moose Point 79 Chippewa Island - shared between the Beausoleil First Nation, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and the Chippewas of Rama First Nation
European arrival Until the late 1760s, the European presence in the region was largely limited to seasonal fur trappers, but no significant trading settlements were established. Following the American War of Independence, the British North America government feared invasion from its new neighbour to the south. The authorities began exploring the region, hoping to develop a settled population and find travel lanes between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay.Ahlbrandt p 16 The first European known to have caught even a glimpse of Muskoka or Haliburton was a French youth, usually identified as Étienne Brûlé, and the year was in 1610 or 1611. In 1826, Lieutenant Henry Briscoe became the first European man known to have crossed the middle of Muskoka. The explorer David Thompson drew the first maps of the area in 1837 and possibly camped near present-day Beaumaris.
Canada experienced heavy immigration from Europe in the 19th century, and Muskoka was no different. Large numbers of settlers from the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, Germany, began to arrive. As the land south of the Severn was settled, the government planned to open the Muskoka region further north to settlement. Logging licences were issued in 1866, which opened Monck Township to logging.
The lumber industry expanded rapidly, denuding huge tracts of the area. Road and water transportation was developed and used later to facilitate town settlement. Road transportation took the form of the Muskoka Colonization Road, begun in 1858 and reaching Bracebridge in 1861. The road was roughly cut through from the woods and was of corduroy construction. Logs were placed perpendicular to the route of travel to keep carriages from sinking in the mud and swamps. This made for extremely rugged travel.
The railroad pushed north to support the industry, reaching Gravenhurst in 1875 and Bracebridge in 1885. The lumbering industry spawned a number of ancillary developments, with settlements springing up to supply the workers. Bracebridge (formerly North Falls) had some leather-tanning businesses develop. Tanners used the bark from lumber to tan hides, turning what would otherwise be a waste product to effective use.
Formation of the territorial district The district was created in 1868, through the withdrawal of townships and unorganized territory from three other jurisdictions:
+ Formation of the District of Muskoka (1868)Withdrawn fromTownshipsSimcoe County Morrison Muskoka Monck Watt Cardwell Humphrey
Together with the unorganized territory lying between the southern boundary of Humphrey and the Severn River, bounded on the west by the western boundary of Humphrey extended southerly to the Severn RiverVictoria County Ryde Draper Macaulay Stephenson Brunel Mclean OakleyDistrict of NipissingSuch unorganized territory as determined by proclamation
The townships of Stisted, Chaffey, Franklin, and Ridout (all from Victoria County) were transferred to the sistrict in 1873, while Humphrey Township was transferred to the Parry Sound District.Proclamation, January 1, 1873 In 1876, the boundaries of the District were formally defined by statute:
To the south, the middle of the main channel of the Severn River, and a line formed by the southerly boundaries of the townships of Morrison and Ryde, the easterly boundary of Ryde, the southerly boundary of the township of Oakley, the easterly boundary of Oakley, and the southerly boundary of the township of Ridout; To the east, the Bobcaygeon Road and the line surveyed for its continuation; To the north, the southerly boundary of the Territorial District of Parry Sound, and, in that regard, the newly surveyed Conger Township was transferred to Parry Sound; and To the west, the waters of Georgian Bay, including its islands.
Although the townships were part of the district, they were still allied with their original counties for municipal purposes. This was rectified in 1877, when all of the district was declared to be within Simcoe County. This lasted until 1888, when it was separated from that county.
Settlement
The passage of the Free Grants and Homestead Act of 1868 opened the era of widespread settlement to Muskoka. Settlers could receive free land if they agreed to clear the land, have at least under cultivation, and build a 16x20 ft, or house. Settlers under the Homestead Act, however, found the going hard. Clearing 15 acres of dense forest is a huge task. Once the land was clear, the settlers had to attack Muskoka's ubiquitous rocks, which also had to be cleared. Consisting largely of a dense clay, the soil in the region turned out to be poorly suited to farming.
As news of the difficult conditions spread back to the south, development in Muskoka began to falter, but development of the steamship revived industry. In a time when the railroads had not yet arrived and road travel was notoriously unreliable and uncomfortable, the transportation king was the steamship. Once a land connection was made to the southern part of the lake in Gravenhurst, the logging companies could harvest trees along the entire lakefront with relative ease. Steamships gave them the way to ship the harvest back to the sawmills in Gravenhurst.