Wiarton, Ontario
| Wiarton | |
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| Community | |
Wiarton
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 Wiarton
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| Coordinates: 44°44′37″N 81°08′27″W / 44.74361°N 81.14083°WCoordinates: 44°44′37″N 81°08′27″W / 44.74361°N 81.14083°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| County | Bruce |
| Municipality | South Bruce Peninsula |
| Settled | 1866 |
| Incorporated | 1880 (village) |
| Incorporated | 1894 (town) |
| Amalgamated | 1999 |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 2,291 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Wiarton is a community in Bruce County, Ontario, at the western end of Colpoys Bay, an inlet off Georgian Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula. The community is part of the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario.
Wiarton is known for the Wiarton Willie Festival, in February each year, when national and international media cover Wiarton Willie and his Groundhog Day prediction.
Wiarton was built on lands acquired from the First Nations in the area. It was named after the birthplace of Sir Edmund Head, the Governor General of Canada from 1854 to 1861. In 1880, Wiarton was incorporated as a village, then with a population of 750. By 1894, Wiarton had become an incorporated town.
The Government of Ontario has erected two historic plaques in Wiarton, offering a glimpse into the past of this area. The first, discusses the fact that The Bruce Peninsula is a barrier to water transportation between Lake Huron and southern Georgian Bay. To avoid a difficult detour to the north, aboriginal peoples developed a portage route across the base of the peninsula. "For centuries the Bruce Peninsula portage was an important link in the Great Lakes transportation network."
The other discusses developments in the 1800s starting with 1855 when "a town-plot was laid out here on recently acquired Indian land and named Wiarton, reputedly after the English birthplace of Edmund Head, Governor General of Canada (1854-61)".
Until 1997, when the service was transferred to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wiarton was known around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, as the home of Wiarton Coast Guard Radio, providing continuous weather reports to mariners and residents.
In 1999, Wiarton was administratively amalgamated into the new municipality of the Town of South Bruce Peninsula.
Although specific dates vary depending on the source, the following are excerpted from a reliable source, History of the County of Bruce, Ontario, Canada, by Norman Robertson, published in 1906.
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