Haliburton History
by Ariel White
The region which we now call
Haliburton
County has a long and rich history filled with fascinating tales of life long ago. Natives and settlers carved a way of life in the rock and the trees of the area and created a community that exists even today.
In 1615, Samuel de Champlain amassed information on the area on a return journey from Iroquois country. In 1653 a map was created from the information given by Champlain that marks the Haliburton area as an excellent area for hunting stag.
Over the course of time, various treks were made up the
River in search of a trade route from Georgian Bay to Ottawa . Several expeditions were made in search of an easily travelled highway in 1819, 1825 and 1827. It was determined that this route would be of use only after great expense and effort. Despite the lack of the simple route, other visionary settlers realized the logging, trapping and settlement potential of the area. The Peter Robinson settlement of the
County . Eventually surveyors were commissioned to begin mapping the land for settlement.
The first to arrive was John Huston. In 1826, Huston studied the areas north of Harvey and Verulam townships in search of useable land, but a number of events led Huston to report that the area was unsuitable for sustainable settlement. In 1836, David Thompson, one of the greatest British surveyors travelled the areas of Sherborne and McClintock where his party caught many speckled trout and admired the stands of hardwood.
By the 1840's the need for land had become great. Scottish and Irish immigrants were arriving in Upper Canada in larger numbers. Also interested in settlement were Canadians who were the children of immigrants who had settled around the great lakes. In the 1850's land was being divided and sold for settlement and timber. In 1854, Michael Deane created the guide line that eventually became the Bobcaygeon Road, opened up the townships of Lutterworth, Snowdon, Anson, Hindon, Minden and Stanhope. This line opened the path for settlers to find their fortune in Haliburton. In 1854 the
Canadian
Nova Scotia, never once visited the provisional county with his namesake and eventually moved to
Victoria in 1858, while Snowdon, Guilford, Dysart, Glamorgan, Monmouth, Dudley, Harburn, Bruton, Harcourt and
County . This was the first of many separations and amalgamations between townships in Haliburton,
Counties.
Through many hardships times of strife, the small settlements in the Haliburton area began to grow and evolve into communities, with a post office, stores and established government. Minutes from the Provisional County of Haliburton date back to 1874, as do many of the County's townships.
The rivalry between Haliburton and Minden , which for some still exists, began during the struggle to decide which village would hold the county seat. Three townships from
Minden fought and solicited to become the county town, the Minden, Lutterworth, Anson and Hindon, Glamorgan, Monmouth and Snowdon , and Stanhope and Sherborne. The first warden of the county was Alexander Niven of Dysart et al, and the first by-law passed by the new council was a tax increase to raise $55,000 to aid with the construction of the Victoria railway line.
Haliburton remained a provisional county for many years, due to its relatively small population. On December 16, 1982, the Haliburton County Act passed provincial legislation to instate Haliburton as a full fledged county. On January 19, 1983 the Haliburton County Council held its inaugural meeting.
Today, the county remains small in population but large in community spirit. From
County have carved their own identity into the land and the rock as the natives of the area did centuries before.
