Port Franks, Ontario
| Port Franks | |
| Settlement | |
| Name origin: named for Charles Franks of the Canada Company | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Province | Ontario |
| Region | Southwestern Ontario |
| County | Lambton |
| Municipality | Lambton Shores |
| Elevation | 177 m (581 ft) |
| Coordinates | 43°13′53″N 81°53′35″W / 43.23139°N 81.89306°WCoordinates: 43°13′53″N 81°53′35″W / 43.23139°N 81.89306°W |
| Founded | 1851 |
| Timezone | Eastern Time Zone (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | Eastern Time Zone (UTC-4) |
| Area code | 519, 266 |
  Location of Port Franks in Ontario.
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Port Franks is a small Southern Ontario community in the municipality of Lambton Shores, Lambton County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is located along Kings Highway 21 near Pinery Provincial Park, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of Thedford, Ontario. Archaeological evidence suggests that human habitation and use of this site date back thousands of years, and that locally obtained flint was manufactured at the so-called 'flint chipping beds' in the vicinity long before the period of European contact with First Nations peoples in the Great Lakes Basin.
The "Port Franks" reserve (named for company official Charles Franks and not, as is commonly reported, a Lake Huron sloop captain) was initially laid out by the Canada Company north of the present day village of Grand Bend. However, by 1851 its location was moved south to near the mouth of the Ausable River.
The village was caught up in a series of rather public battles between Canada Company officials, Frederick Widder in Toronto and Thomas Mercer Jones in Goderich. Heartened by published reports, early in 1851 Robert McBride of Haldimand County travelled to the site and ultimately attempted, with much difficulty, to obtain land at Port Franks. It was only upon meeting with Canada Company officials in Goderich did McBride learn that contrary to what officials in Toronto may have believed no townsite had actually been surveyed. When legal action was threatened company officials quickly made provisions for a survey to be completed. Over the next few years a small settlement grew up around a couple of taverns and in 1854 Robert McBride was named the first postmaster. (The post office would close in 1856 with McBride's departure, but was reopened again in 1873). A series of disputes and legal wrangling stunted the community's growth, and led to McBride's departure in 1856.
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