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Founding of Bala 1868
Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted May, 2005
Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted December, 2009
Plaque Location
The District of Muskoka
The Township of Muskoka Lakes
In Bala, in a park north of the north bridge
on the west side of Road 169
Coordinates: N 45 00.831 W 79 36.877 |
 |
Plaque Text
Thomas W. Burgess, Bala's first settler, brought his family here to "Musquosh Falls" in 1868, probably aboard the steamer "Wenonah". Burgess opened a sawmill and store to serve the pioneers attracted by Muskoka's free land grants. A post-office named after Bala in Wales and with Burgess as postmaster, was established by 1872. That year the Musquosh Road linked Bala with Gravenhurst and by the 1880's the settlement was benefiting from a growing tourist trade. Railways reached Bala by 1907 and it became one of Muskoka's most accessible tourist resorts. When it was incorporated as a town in 1914, Dr. A.M. Burgess, a son of the community's founder, became the first mayor.
Related Ontario plaque
Steamboating in Muskoka 1866-1959
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