User:Floydian/Victoria County, Ontario

The County of Victoria, or Victoria County, was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was formed in 1854 as The United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria, and gained independence in 1863. In 2001, the county was dissolved and reformed as the city of Kawartha Lakes. Though first opened to settlement in 1821, the area that was encompassed by Victoria County has a history of Indian occupation, first by the Huron's, and

History
The history of Victoria County began with the passing of a Constitutional Act in 1791, dividing Canada into two provinces: Upper Canada (present day Ontario) and Lower Canada (present day Québec); and appointing a governor for each. The first governor of Upper Canada was Colonel John Graves Simcoe, who surveyed the province and set out tracts of land to immigrants with genuine interests. Before the land that became Victoria County could be surveyed, however, speculators had him removed from office in 1796, and the land was secured from settlement for over 20 years.

Following the War of 1812, a large wave of immigration prompted the province to purchase more land from local Indian tribes. On November 5, 1818, six Mississauga chiefs, Buckquaquet of the Eagles, Pishikinse of the Reindeers, Paudash of the Cranes, Cahgahkishinse of the Pike, Cahgageewin of the Snakes, and Pininse of the White Oaks, met in Port Hope. There they surrendered the rights to over four thousand square kilometres of land, known as the Mississauga Tract. In exchange, the Indians (Numbering about 400) were to recieve $750 per year in goods. However, the government would later change this to $10 per year for each living person born before the deal was signed.

The Mississauga Tract included all of Victoria and Peterborough counties, as well as parts of 28 adjacent townships. Following the purchase, the land became Newcastle County. It was renamed Colborne District in 1841, followed by being reorganized in 1850 as Peterborough County. In 1854, Peterborough County was again reorganized as the United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria, the first time the land was officially named "Victoria County". Over the next decade, Victoria County gradually segregated from Peterborough County, gaining a provisional government in 1861, and finally independence in 1863.

In 1973, Manvers Township was transferred from Durham County (Now the regional municipality of Durham) to Victoria County as a result of the restructuring of several county governments.

On January 1, 2001, Victoria County was dissolved, and its townships and incorporated communities were amalgamated into a single-tier municipality named Kawartha Lakes, a name chosen because of the prominence of the lakes in the geography of the region.

Geography
2855.56 km2

Townships
Victoria County consisted of 13 separate townships and 6 incorporated villages with their own local governments: Population centers are listed in parenthesis
 * Bexley (Victoria Road, Coboconk)
 * Carden (Dalrymple)
 * Dalton (Sebright, Uphill, Sadowa)
 * Eldon (Glenarm)
 * Emily (Downeyville, Fowlers Corners)
 * Fenelon (Isaacs Glen, Powles Corners)
 * Laxton, Digby and Longford (Uphill, Norland)
 * Longford (uninhabited)
 * Manvers (Janetville, Bethany)
 * Mariposa (Oakwood)
 * Ops (Reaboro)
 * Somerville (Coboconk, Kinmount)
 * Verulam (Dunsford, Bobcaygeon)

The township of Laxton, Digby and Longford is an amalgamation of the once individual townships of Digby and Laxton, and half of the original Longford Township. The separate township of Longford is uninhabited, though dotted with abandoned logging towns.

Incorporated Communities

 * Town of Lindsay
 * Village of Bobcaygeon
 * Village of Fenelon Falls
 * Village of Omemee
 * Village of Sturgeon Point
 * Village of Woodville

Unincorporated Communities and Hamlets

 * Ancona Point
 * Argyle
 * Avery Point
 * Baddow
 * Baker Trail
 * Ballyduff
 * Barclay
 * Bellevue
 * Bethany
 * Bethel
 * Birch Point
 * Bobcaygeon
 * Bolsover
 * Brunswick
 * Burnt River
 * Burton
 * Bury's Green
 * Cambray
 * Cameron
 * Camp Kagawong
 * Campbells Beach
 * Coboconk
 * Corsons
 * Cowan's Bay
 * Crawfords Beach
 * Cresswell
 * Crosshill
 * Cunningham's Corners
 * Dalrymple
 * Dartmoor
 * Daytonia Beach
 * Dunsford
 * East Emily
 * Eldon Station
 * Fairburn Corner
 * Fee's Landing
 * Feir Mill
 * Fell Station
 * Fenelon Falls
 * Fingerboard


 * Fleetwood
 * Fowler's Corners
 * Fox's Corners
 * Frank Hill
 * Franklin
 * Gilsons Point
 * Glamorgan
 * Glandine
 * Glenarm
 * Glenway Village
 * Grasshill
 * Greenhurst-Thurstonia
 * Hickory Beach
 * Hillhead Corners
 * Horncastle
 * Hukish
 * Isaacs Glen
 * Janetville
 * Joyvista Estates
 * Kenedon Park
 * Krenrei
 * Kenstone Beach
 * Keystone Beach
 * King's Wharf
 * Kinmount
 * Kirkfield
 * Lake Dalrymple
 * Lancaster Bay
 * Lifford
 * Linden Valley
 * Lindsay
 * Little Britain
 * Long Beach
 * Long Point
 * Lorneville
 * Lotus
 * MacKenzie Point
 * Mallards Bay
 * Manilla
 * Manvers
 * Mariposa
 * McCrackin's Beach
 * McGuire Beach


 * Newmans Beach
 * Norland
 * Oak Hill
 * Oakdene Point
 * Oakwood
 * O'Donnell Landing
 * Omemee
 * Orange Corners
 * Pickerel Point
 * Pleasant Point
 * Pontypool
 * Port Hoover
 * Powles Corners
 * Reaboro
 * Red Cap Beach
 * Rohallion
 * Rokeby
 * Rosedale
 * Sadowa
 * Sandy Point
 * Sebright
 * Silver Lake
 * Snug Harbour
 * Southview Estates
 * Sturgeon Point
 * Sullivan's Bay
 * Sylvan Glen Beach
 * Taylor's Corners
 * Tracey's Hill
 * Union Creek
 * Valentia
 * Verulam Park
 * Victoria Place
 * View Lake
 * Birch Point
 * Washburn Island
 * Watson's Siding
 * Woodville
 * Yelverton

Abandoned towns, post offices and church villages

 * Aros
 * Dongola
 * Downeyville
 * Fleetwood Station
 * Hartley
 * Head Lake
 * Islay
 * Mariposa Station
 * Mount Horeb
 * Palestine
 * Ragged Rapids
 * Uphill
 * St. Mary's
 * Zion

Demographics
The population is mostly rural, with only 34% living in urban areas.

Colonization Roads
Victoria county was first opened up to settlement in the 1821. At this time, the primary routes for entering the county-to-be were narrow trails. Settlers were offered land on the condition that they help further the progress of concession roadss into the region. This was often met with the bare minimum, and progress was slow.

The Land Act of 1853 provided funding for the development of roads throughout the wilderness of Upper Canada. Grants were administered by the Department of Agriculture to survey and build the new roads. The roads followed the tradition of old Roman roads, and cut through the wilderness in a straight line, veering only when the terrain was impassible, but cutting through swamps and hills otherwise. Four primary roads were built: the Cameron Road, the Bobcaygeon Road, the Monck Road, and the Portage Road.

http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Victoria/settleme.html http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Victoria/history/victoriacountypioneers2.html

now mostly encompassed by Highway 35, provided access from Lake Ontario to the northern limits of Victoria;

started in 1953, traversed north and south along the present-day eastern boundary of the region, and is mostly encompassed by former Highway 121;

Which connected Lake Couchiching to Hastings, encompassed partially by former Highway 503, now Road 45;

connecting Lake Simcoe to Balsam Lake, encompassed entirely by Highway 48