Penetanguishene, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Penetanguishene , sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town
in Simcoe County, Ontario
, Canada
. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay
. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual (French
and English
) community has since grown to a population of 9,354 in the Canada 2006 Census
, an increase of 12.5 per cent from its 2001 population of 8,316.
The name Penetanguishene is believed to come from either the Wyandot language
or from the Abenaki language
via the Ojibwa language, meaning "land of the white rolling sands".
800, the Huron settled in semi-permanent villages in the area. The young French
translator
, Étienne Brûlé
, was the first European to set foot in the Penetanguishene area, some time between 1610 and 1614.
In 1793, John Graves Simcoe
, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, visited the area and saw the location's potential as a naval base. He wanted to use the bay to shelter warships to protect British interests on lakes Huron, Erie and Michigan. Beginning in 1814, the British-Canadians built the Penetanguishene Road to provide the area a land route to Barrie
and Toronto
, as it was previously accessible only by water transport along the rivers or across Georgian Bay.
In 1817, naval units from Michilimackinac
and Schooner Town (near modern-day Wasaga Beach) were consolidated at Penetanguishene. But, because treaty limitations with the U.S. limited both countries' naval power on the Great Lakes
, two British armed topsail schooners, HMS Tecumseth and HMS Newash were laid up "in ordinary", and eventually reported to have sunk at their moorings in the harbour in 1828. Some other small craft were headquartered in Penetanguishene for the exploration and mapping of the Great Lakes' coastline. In 1828, the main British military establishment on the Upper Lakes moved from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene. Families of Métis
fur traders who had moved with the British from Michilimackinac to Drummond Island after the War of 1812
, moved again to Penetanguishene. They settled in the town and the surrounding area. Although the naval base was closed in 1834, the military base remained until 1856. Some of the troops settled in the area after their service was complete providing an English-speaking population.
In the 1840s, French-speaking families from Quebec
(mainly from the area immediately east of Montreal), attracted by promises of cheap and fertile land, joined the French-speaking Drummond Island settlers already in the area. Later, as the logging
industry began to develop, more English-speaking settlers arrived. Penetanguishene became the local market and meeting place for these individuals. Many of Penetanguishene's families today are descended from the Québécois settlers who arrived in the 1800s, giving the town a marked bilingual nature.
The historic naval and military base (Discovery Harbour) near Penetanguishene is open to visitors. At one time it offered trips in the two reconstructed sailing ships from the 1812 period, HMS Bee
and HMS Tecumseth. While this is no longer permitted, the sailing ships may be visited in the harbour.
Penetanguishene, along with Parry Sound
, is now one of the departure points for Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands boat tours. These leave daily from the town's main dock.
Penetanguishene is home to the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene
, a maximum security mental health facility.
board.
s. It is one of only three communities in Central and Southwestern Ontario
where the population of francophones exceeds the provincial average of five percent, the other two being Welland
and Lakeshore
. The town is also 12.6% Métis, which is well above the provincial average of 0.6%.
station, CFRH-FM
(Vague FM), but is otherwise served by media based in the neighbouring town of Midland
.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Simcoe County, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) community has since grown to a population of 9,354 in the Canada 2006 Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
, an increase of 12.5 per cent from its 2001 population of 8,316.
The name Penetanguishene is believed to come from either the Wyandot language
Wyandot language
Wyandot is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot, Wyandotte, Wendat, or Huron. It was last spoken primarily in Oklahoma and Quebec...
or from the Abenaki language
Abenaki language
The Abenaki language is a dialect continuum within the Eastern Algonquian languages, originally spoken in what is now Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts and Maine...
via the Ojibwa language, meaning "land of the white rolling sands".
History
As early as ADAnno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
800, the Huron settled in semi-permanent villages in the area. The young French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
, Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé , was the first of European French explorers to journey along the St. Lawrence River with the Native Americans and to view Georgian Bay and Lake Huron Canada in the 17th century. A rugged outdoorsman, he took to the lifestyle of the First Nations and had a unique contribution to the...
, was the first European to set foot in the Penetanguishene area, some time between 1610 and 1614.
In 1793, John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...
, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, visited the area and saw the location's potential as a naval base. He wanted to use the bay to shelter warships to protect British interests on lakes Huron, Erie and Michigan. Beginning in 1814, the British-Canadians built the Penetanguishene Road to provide the area a land route to Barrie
Barrie
Barrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, as it was previously accessible only by water transport along the rivers or across Georgian Bay.
In 1817, naval units from Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac is a name for the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States...
and Schooner Town (near modern-day Wasaga Beach) were consolidated at Penetanguishene. But, because treaty limitations with the U.S. limited both countries' naval power on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, two British armed topsail schooners, HMS Tecumseth and HMS Newash were laid up "in ordinary", and eventually reported to have sunk at their moorings in the harbour in 1828. Some other small craft were headquartered in Penetanguishene for the exploration and mapping of the Great Lakes' coastline. In 1828, the main British military establishment on the Upper Lakes moved from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene. Families of Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
fur traders who had moved with the British from Michilimackinac to Drummond Island after the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, moved again to Penetanguishene. They settled in the town and the surrounding area. Although the naval base was closed in 1834, the military base remained until 1856. Some of the troops settled in the area after their service was complete providing an English-speaking population.
In the 1840s, French-speaking families from Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(mainly from the area immediately east of Montreal), attracted by promises of cheap and fertile land, joined the French-speaking Drummond Island settlers already in the area. Later, as the logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
industry began to develop, more English-speaking settlers arrived. Penetanguishene became the local market and meeting place for these individuals. Many of Penetanguishene's families today are descended from the Québécois settlers who arrived in the 1800s, giving the town a marked bilingual nature.
Today
HMS Bee
Three vessels and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Bee, after the insect, the Bee. A third ship was ordered but never completed:-Ships:...
and HMS Tecumseth. While this is no longer permitted, the sailing ships may be visited in the harbour.
Penetanguishene, along with Parry Sound
Parry Sound, Ontario
Parry Sound is a town in Central Ontario, Canada, located on Parry Sound on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is the seat of Parry Sound District, a popular cottage country region for Southern Ontario residents. It is also the...
, is now one of the departure points for Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands boat tours. These leave daily from the town's main dock.
Penetanguishene is home to the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene
Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene
Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care , also known as Waypoint Centre de soins de santé mentale is a 312-bed psychiatric hospital located on Georgian Bay in the Town of Penetanguishene, approximately 150 km north of Toronto...
, a maximum security mental health facility.
Education
Penetanguishene has four different school boards within its limits — the publicly founded English board (Simcoe County District School Board), which runs the Penetanguishene Secondary School and James Keating Elementary School; the Public French School Board, the CSDCSO and the English Catholic School Board. The town is also home to the province's last remaining Protestant Separate schoolSeparate school
In Canada, separate school refers to a particular type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces and statutory status in three territories...
board.
Demographics
The town has a significant concentration of Franco-OntarianFranco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....
s. It is one of only three communities in Central and Southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Guelph to Windsor. The region had a population...
where the population of francophones exceeds the provincial average of five percent, the other two being Welland
Welland, Ontario
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada.The city has been traditionally known as the place where rails and water meet, referring to the railways from Buffalo to Toronto and Southwestern Ontario, and the waterways of Welland Canal and Welland River,...
and Lakeshore
Lakeshore, Ontario
Lakeshore is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on Lake St. Clair. Its nearest city is Windsor, located in Essex County. The town was incorporated in 1999 by amalgamating the Town of Belle River with the townships of Maidstone, Rochester, Tilbury North, and Tilbury West.Lakeshore has a...
. The town is also 12.6% Métis, which is well above the provincial average of 0.6%.
Media
The town is home to a francophone community radioCommunity radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
station, CFRH-FM
CFRH-FM
CFRH-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 88.1 FM in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Owned and operated by the Radio-Huronie cooperative, it is a non-profit community radio station for the region's Franco-Ontarian community....
(Vague FM), but is otherwise served by media based in the neighbouring town of Midland
Midland, Ontario
Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.Situated at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, with a 125-bed hospital and a local airport. It is the main town of the southern Georgian Bay area...
.
Notable people
- Bert CorbeauBert CorbeauBertram Orian "Pig Iron" Corbeau was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton Tigers, Toronto St. Pats, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of the Montreal Canadiens first Stanley Cup championship...
, hockey player - Patrick DesRochersPatrick DesRochersPatrick DesRochers is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for Norwegian GET-ligaen team Vålerenga.- Playing career :...
, hockey player - Glenn HowardGlenn HowardGlenn Howard is a Canadian curler from Penetanguishene, Ontario. He has won three Briers and three world championships in his career. He has also won six straight Ontario provincials.-1980s-2006:...
, World champion curler - Russ HowardRuss HowardRussell W. "Russ" Howard, ONL is a Canadian curler and Olympic champion, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, but originally from Midland, Ontario. His home club in Moncton is Curling Beausejour...
, Olympic gold medallist (curlingCurlingCurling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
) - Chris KontosChris KontosChristopher T. Kontos is a former National Hockey League forward who is best known for his surprising 9 goals in 11 playoff games while he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings and his shocking franchise opening night 4 goal performance against that season's Vezina Trophy winner Ed Belfour.During...
, NHL hockey player - James LaBrieJames LaBrieKevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater.-Early life:...
, rock singer for progressive metal band Dream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would... - Phil MarchildonPhil MarchildonPhilip Joseph "Babe" Marchildon was a Canadian Major League Baseball pitcher.Born in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Marchildon pitched 1,214 innings with a record of 68 wins and 75 losses and a career ERA of 3.93 for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox from 1940 to 1942 and from 1945 to...
, baseball pitcher - Tim MasonTim Mason (Bowls)Tim Mason is a Canadian lawn bowler from Penetanguishene, Ontario. He is a two time Canadian champion and an international medalist, including an Asia Pacific Championship silver and bronze medal and a North American Championship Gold....
, lawn bowler - Peggy McIntaggart, Playboy Playmate (Miss January 1990)
- John Moberly
- Brian OrserBrian OrserBrian Ernest Orser, OC is a Canadian retired competitive and professional figure skater. He is the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medalist, 1987 World champion and the 1981-1988 Canadian national champion....
, figure skater