Oro-Medonte is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, on the northwestern shores of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County.
The two townships of Oro and Medonte were originally incorporated on January 1, 1850. They were amalgamated, as well as Hawkstone Police Village (incorporated in 1922), on January 1, 1994, under a restructuring of Simcoe County.Ref.Cities Of Canada Reference Guide It is divided into lines based on the concession system implemented by the British colonial government in the mid-18th century. Currently there are 15 lines that are now streets and highway exits off Highway 11.
Geography Communities The township comprises the communities of:
Barrillia Park Bass Lake Park Baywood Park Big Cedar Estates Braestone Carley Carthew Bay Cedarmont Beach Coulson Craighurst Creighton Crown Hill Eady East Oro Edgar Eight Mile Point Fair Valley Fergus Hill Estate Knox Corners Forest Home Foxmead Guthrie Hawkestone Hawkestone Beach Hobart Horseshoe Valley Jarratt Lakeview Martinville Mitchell Square Moons Beach Moonstone Mount St. Louis Oro Beach Oro Lea Beach Oro Park Oro Station Palm Beach Parkside Beach Prices Corners Roberta Park Rugby Shanty Bay Simcoeside Sugar Bush Vasey Waddington Beach Warminster
Climate
History
First Nations had long established encampments and trails on the bank of Hawkestone Creek, Ridge Road, Mount St. Louis, and throughout the Township of Oro-Medonte.
The Huron village of Cahiagué (near Hawkestone) was the capital village of the Ahrendarrhonon (Rock) nation. In 1615, Samuel de Champlain estimated the village to comprise 200 houses.
The War of 1812 drew attention to the militarily strategic region between Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay. To provide supplies to the excellent harbour at Penetanguishene, a road of about 35 km was surveyed c. 1813 between the two bodies of water. That road did not actually become a functional road for about 30 years after it was surveyed. In the meantime, townships were created and surveyed on both sides of the Penetanguishene Rd c. 1820. Oro Township was one of those townships. Although there is no documentation about the origin of the name "Oro" it is assumed it came from the Spanish word for gold.
After the War of 1812, Sir Peregrine Maitland, then Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, offered Black veterans grants of land in what was to become the Township of Oro. This was in the area between Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe and Penetanguishene Bay on Lake Huron's Georgian Bay.Hill, Daniel G. The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada. 1st Stoddart edition, 1992. p18Hill, PAC. C.O. 42 (Q 326) Vol. 363, p. 117; as cited by Gary French: Men of Colour, pp. 12-13. Stroud, Ont: Kaste Books, 1978.
In the 1830s, Richard Hodges established a landing for settlers, mainly from the British Isles, who after arriving by lake steamer, on Lake Simcoe, followed these trails to their settlement in search of independence and land ownership.
Craighurst started as a small community on the Penetanguishene Road in the 1830s. Its post office was established in the 1850s, at its peak in the late 19th century, Craighurst had four hotels, three churches, and a school house.
A thriving community of a tavern, hotel, store and the first post office was located near the lake east of the creek at Hodges' Landing. The first postmaster was Charles Bell. Two dams and three mills sawed logs and ground grains. It is thought that the first mill was established by John Williamson who subsequently built the large brick house on the North-East corner of the Ridge Road and Line No. 11 South. In 1856 a new wharf was constructed and the name was changed from Hodges' Landing to Hawkestone.
The establishment of Shanty Bay was strongly influenced by the Underground Railroad. Many African-American refugees first settled near the water in shanties (small homes), contributing toward the name of the village. Lucius Richard O'Brien (1832–1899), the noted oil and watercolour landscape painter was from Shanty Bay. His father founded the village.Reid, Dennis. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. 2nd Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. . Shanty Bay also has one of Canada's oldest "Rammed Earth Construction" churches, St. Thomas Anglican Church, built between 1838 and 1841 and dedicated in 1842. The Church was officially opened on February 27, 1842
In 1866–67, a drill-shed was erected in East Oro by the Oro Company, 35th Battalion the Simcoe Foresters. At this time when the Fenian raids were alarming the country, eight company drill-sheds were built in Simcoe County, the county paying $390 and the government $250 for each. The company was manned by pioneer men of Oro. Local Wm.E. O'Brien of Shanty Bay became Lieutenant Colonel of the Battalion in 1882. This East Oro drill-shed served Oro Company until the start of the 20th century and was dismantled around 1918.
The Toronto, Simcoe and Muskoka Junction Railway was built through the area in 1871. Its route was roughly parallel to the lakeshore, passing through Shanty Bay, Oro Station, and Hawkestone. An extensive station complex evolved at Hawkestone, with a freight shed, stockyards and a massive water tower to supply the requirements of the steam locomotives. The railway was incorporated as a company in 1869 as an extension connecting the Northern Railway of Canada to the Muskoka region and Lake Muskoka, and eventually reached Gravenhurst in 1875. However, financial problems led to increasing integration and eventual merger under the Northern Railway of Canada, which itself went through numerous mergers, becoming part of the Grand Trunk and, later, the Canadian National Railways. In the Canadian National (CN) system, the line through Oro was a part of the Newmarket Subdivision. The section of the line through the township was abandoned in 1996.
A branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through Craighurst in the early 20th century, opening from Bolton to Craighurst in November 1906, when a station was opened. On July 19, 1907, the track was extended to Bala and by June 1908, the line was completed to Sudbury. This is now the MacTier Subdivision, a part of the railway's main line between the east and west.
Edgar was the site of a cold war radar station from 1952 to 1964.Directions to Edgar
In 1959, the Ukrainian National Federation (UNF) purchased the "Pugsley Farm" property located on the East half of Lot 23 and Lot 24 in Hawkestone. The were developed into a large recreation area and children's camp where members of the UNF and their families have spent their summers on the shores of Lake Simcoe. A portion of the property was subdivided into 100 lots of and sold to members of the UNF who built summer homes and cottages adjacent to the UNF. The entire property was named "Sokil", which is the Ukrainian word for "Hawk" in reference to the village of Hawkestone where the community was established. Today the private subdivision is maintained by the UNF, which manages the non-municipal water system, roads and other related issues as well as the recreation area and children's camp, where three children's summer camps run throughout the summer, along with weekend overnight camping area, seasonal cabin rentals and a seasonal trailer park. The property also hosts the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic chapel where services are conducted each Sunday throughout the summer season.
Black history
In 1819, a landmark decision was made in Fort York (now Toronto) to grant land to Black militiamen of Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men on an equal basis as it would be granted to Whites.Legend of the Drinking Gourd, W. Allen Fisher, 1973, W. A. and M. W. Fisher, publishers The land designated for Black settlement was in Oro Township. Within a few years all Blacks of any origin could acquire land in Oro Township on an equal basis as any other settler.Men of Colour, Gary French, 1978, Kaste Books, Stroud Ontario Canada, publishers
There was a military strategy behind the decision. Settlers would provide support for the fort at Penetanguishene by providing food and other local supplies, and, if the war with the U.S. again broke out, the trained militiamen could be armed to defend the region.
Although for years folklore suggested that the Oro Black Settlement was populated by escaped slaves coming to Oro via the underground railroad (UGRR), documentation suggests all Black settlers were freemen. Further, the 1819 settlement preceded by about a decade what is commonly consider the beginning of the UGRR.
The blocks of land on the Penetanguishene Road, were at the time being granted to settlers of European origin. In that one or more Blacks had already established successful farms further east, a road was surveyed parallel to that road and named Wilberforce in honour of William Wilberforce, the British parliamentarian who worked so hard to abolish slavery. The Blacks were settled along this new road.
The Oro Black Settlement grew to about 90 families, then diminished as the settlers found steady income elsewhere (mainly on railway trains and ships on the Great Lakes). The last Oro Black retired to Barrie in the 1940s, and when he died, he was buried in the cemetery beside the Oro African Church.
The Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church School was a rural segregated Black school established in 1849 in Oro-Medonte, alongside the Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church. The school served the children of African Canadian settlers who had been granted land in the Oro settlement by the British colonial government. Operated in tandem with the church, it provided basic literacy and religious education in a log structure built by the community itself. As one of the few early schools for Black students in rural Upper Canada, it reflects the intersection of race, land access, and education in early 19th-century Ontario. The Oro Methodist Episcopal African Church was built out of logs by the Oro Black Settlers and was finished in 1849. It is likely the oldest log African Church still standing in North America. In 2003, it was designated a Canadian national historic site, mainly due to the link the Oro settlers had to the War of 1812. The church had fallen into disrepair, but since the summer of 2015 work has begun on restoring it.
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Oro-Medonte had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Local government The township council is composed of a mayor and six councillors who each represent one of six wards. The members of the council from the elections of October 24, 2022 are:
Mayor: Randy Greenlaw Deputy Mayor: Peter Lavoie (2022-2024), Lori Hutcheson (2024-2026) Councillors: Ward 1: Lori Hutcheson Ward 2: John Bard Ward 3: David Clark Ward 4: Peter Lavoie Ward 5: Richard Schell Ward 6: Robert Young
The mayor and deputy mayor also represents the Township at meetings of Simcoe County Council.
The Battle of Burl's Creek
The Battle of Burl's Creek is the title given by journalist Barbara Kay to the current protest and legal battle between Stan Dunford, Republic Live, The Municipal Government of Oro-Medonte, SaveOro and The West Oro Ratepayers Association (WORA).
Burl's Creek Event Grounds is a grounds located on the south side of Highway 11 on Oro-Medonte's 8th Line. It was established in 1994 by Don Hanney, a local businessman, as an event grounds to host small country events such as agricultural fairs, farmers' markets and Highland games. Burl's Creek has also hosted events like the Barrie Auto Flea Market. In 2015 Burl's Creek Event Grounds was sold to Dunford, as well as many other adjacent lots totaling 560 acres. Dunford started to develop the land to make way for a much larger event park.