Ferguson Highway

Route information

Maintained by Ontario Department of Highways

Length:

420 km (260 mi)

History:

Constructed 1925–1927

Major junctions

South end:

North Bay

North end:

Cochrane

Highway system

Roads in Ontario

Northern highway development in Ontario
← Scott Highway	Ferguson Highway	Heenan Highway →

Wilson Lake Road
Location:	Latchford–North Bay

Roads in Ontario

The Ferguson Highway was a 260 mi (420 km) long gravel trunk road in Ontario, Canada. Built between 1925-1927 from the city of North Bay to the town of Cochrane, it was created to connect the growing agricultural and mining communities of Northern Ontario with other areas further south.

Several sections of rebuilt local roads were incorporated into the Ferguson Highway, with the final link being completed through the thick forest of Temagami. The highway was officially opened on July 2, 1927, and was named in honour of Premier George Howard Ferguson. It quickly became an important access route to settlements and tourist areas in Northern Ontario. Throughout the following 30 years, the Ferguson Highway was extensively bypassed by the current routing of Highway 11.

Although it was named for the man who campaigned to premiership on the promise of building the road, the Ferguson Highway was an inevitable extension of the Muskoka Colonization Road that came to be known as part of it.

Construction of the Muskoka Road began at a portage site at the mouth of the Severn River where a harbour known as Washago was established. In 1858, work began on a trail north towards the survey line of the Peterson Road.Thomas J. McMurray established Bracebridge in the spring of 1861 at the northernmost point of the Muskoka Road where it intersected the Peterson Road. The road was completed as far as Utterson in 1862.

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Wikipedia