Whitewater Region, Ontario
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Whitewater Region is a
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
on the Ottawa River in
Renfrew County Renfrew County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stands on the west bank of the Ottawa River. There are 17 municipalities in the county. History Bathurst District When Carleton County was withdrawn from Bathurst District in 1 ...
, located within the scenic
Ottawa Valley The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surroun ...
in eastern
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. Whitewater Region is made up of the former municipalities of Beachburg, Cobden, Ross and Westmeath, which were amalgamated into the current township on January 1, 2001. Whitewater Region is named after the stretch of world-famous
whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
on the Ottawa River, popular for
rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
and kayaking. This section is part of the Ottawa River Provincial Park. The township also claims a distinctive place in Canada's history. An astrolabe bearing the date 1613 and believed to have belonged to Samuel de Champlain was discovered within the township. A monument commemorating this historic site is located just outside Cobden on Highway 17.


Communities

The township comprises the communities of: Beachburg, Chenaux, Cobden, Finchley, Foresters Falls, Garden of Eden, The Glen, Grants Settlement, Haley Station, Kerr Line, La Passe, Ledgerwoods Corner, McLaren's Settlement, Meath, Millars Corner, Perretton, Pleasant Valley, Queens Line, Rocher Fendu, Shields Crossing, Snake River and Westmeath.


Beachburg

Beachburg () is one of the larger population centres in the Whitewater Region, having a variety of stores and restaurants, an arena, several halls, a public elementary school and a public library. It was founded by and named after David Beach and became a stop along the
Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Man ...
line with a station and grain elevators. In 1853, the entire village, except for two houses, was destroyed by fire. By 1869, Beachburg was a village with a population of 250 in Westmeath County, Renfrew. There were stages to Pembroke and Sand Point. The average price for land was $8. Beachburg was devastated by a fire in 1931, destroying the station, the grain elevators, and the Main Hall and Dining Hall of the Exhibition Park. In 1959, the Village of Beachburg was separated from Westmeath Township and incorporated.


Cobden


Foresters Falls

Foresters Falls () was founded in the early 1840s by Oliver Forester, a prominent pioneer who was the community's first postmaster. By the 1870s the community had three stores, a
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
, and a sawmill, all of which were destroyed in a fire later that same year. The
Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Man ...
does not pass through Foresters Falls, save for at a small intersection outside the town known as Miller's Corners. A large railway bridge, known to the locals as Black Rock, crosses a gully just beyond Miller's Corners. The rail track was torn up in the late 2000s but the bridge remains and is now a popular route for ATVs. Foresters Falls is now a small community having regressed since the invention of motorized transport. Attractions include the Ross Township Museum that is located in the heart of Foresters Falls.


Haley Station

Haley Station (also known as ''Haley'', ''Haleys'', ''Haley's'', with or without Station)() derives its name from a station built on the Canadian Pacific Railway(CPR) where the railway right of way crossed the farm of George Haley, an early settler on the second concession of Ross township (now part of Whitewater township). Haley Station once boasted a blacksmith shop, a general store, two churches (
United Church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state ...
and
Free Methodist The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...
), two service stations, a railway station and an Orange Hall. With the advent of the automobile, people found it more convenient to go to Renfrew. Of the establishments mentioned, only the United Church remains in operation.


McLaren's Settlement

McLaren's Settlement () originated in the 1840s when members of the McLaren family came to the area from
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. It was located a short distance upstream from the present
Ontario Power Generation Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is wholly owned by the governmen ...
(OPG) Chenaux Generating Station. The McLarens arrived during the peak of the
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
ing industry in the
Ottawa Valley The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surroun ...
, and one of their number constructed a
timber slide A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging c ...
in the Ottawa River to facilitate the movement of squared timber rafts past the Chenaux Rapids. These slides could be described as a sluice about wide and about long and steeply sloped through which some river water was diverted. Floating bundles of about 25 pieces of squared timber would be steered toward the upper end of the slide. Once into the sluice, the bundle of timber would descend at a great speed, emerging undamaged into the river below the rapids.


History


Founding and development

Much of the early development in Renfrew County is largely a circumstance of location. As Pembroke and Ottawa grew, so did the gap between them. In the 19th century, the easiest route between the two was the Ottawa River. However, the presence of rapids near
Portage-du-Fort Portage-du-Fort is a village municipality in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality in the southwest corner of the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. The village lies across the Ottawa River from Chenaux, Ontario and Horton, Ontario. At Po ...
necessitated a land route. At this time the area was mostly a vast forest untouched by Europeans. A few settlers had put down near
Muskrat Lake Muskrat Lake is located in the Whitewater Region of Renfrew County, in Ontario, Canada. It is approximately in length, an average of deep but at its deepest point, and covers an area of . It is rumored to be home to a legendary lake monster ...
, but for the most part there had been little activity since Champlain's visit in the 17th century. In 1849 Jason Gould built a road from what came to be called Goulds Landing to what would become Cobden on Muskrat Lake. One could catch a steamer down the lake and then go on by road to Pembroke. The traffic on the road could not help but cause growth. In 1850 Gould built a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
and named the fledgling settlement Cobden after
Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a you ...
, a member of the
British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
whom Gould admired. By October 2, 1876, the railway had reached Cobden. The community started to expand from the lake towards the railway station further inland. Main Street began to take shape: the ''Cobden Sun'', the Bank of Ottawa, blacksmith shops, a bakery, a general store, a mill, a surgeon and a jewelry store were all located in the community. In 1880 a public school was opened to accommodate the strain on nearby S.S. No 1. Cobden was soon the biggest community in Ross Township and became an incorporated village in October 1901. Cobden has been the victim of many fires, which have destroyed almost all the original buildings. Main Street has suffered worst from fire, including one in 1913 which destroyed the ''Cobden Sun'' building and many historical records. A
hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
dam began operating at the falls south of Cobden. It supplied the town, off and on, with power until it was destroyed on April 12, 1934 in a raging flood. Large blocks of ice ripped the dam apart and poured over Highway 17, tearing away sections of pavement. The plant operator, Bill Wall, was stranded in the upper section of his house until flooding subsided. The town then started receiving power from a station in Calabogie. Council elections in 1949 were dominated by the issue of whether to hold another plebiscite on establishing a waterworks system. A previous plebiscite had come out 82–56 against. But times were changing quickly—after the war a new council was elected and the next vote was 124–46 in favour and by the early 1950s Cobden had water. The waterworks system required constant maintenance until a major retooling in the 1980s. The visibly dominating water tower was built in 1988 replacing the original (built in 1951). A bigger school was needed by 1903. The present-day school, Cobden District Public, was built in 1938 and served initially as a high school until Opeongo High School was built.


The Astrolabe

In 1613, French
explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
Samuel de Champlain, traveled through an area very near Cobden while exploring the Ottawa River. Due to the Chenaux Rapids, Champlain and his men were forced to portage. They presumably took shore in Browns Bay near present-day McKenzie's Hill. In 1953 a large rock was found in this area bearing a chiseled inscription. Though the inscription was hard to read it was determined that it said "Champlain Juin 2, 1613". Champlain's trail from this point is debatable. He may have cut straight across land to the southern tip of Jeffreys Lake, or he may have veered south skirting the far side of what later came to be known as the Champlain Trail Lakes. It is known that he eventually made his way to Green Lake and at this point, according to several 17th-century authors, Champlain lost his astrolabe. It remained there for 254 years, until it was found in 1867 by Edward George Lee, a 14-year-old farm boy helping his father clear trees near Green Lake (now Astrolabe Lake). Lee gave the astrolabe to Captain Comley, a steamboat captain on Muskrat Lake but never received the ten dollars Cowley promised him. Cowley sold the astrolabe to his employer, R.W. Cassels of the Ottawa Forwarding Company. The astrolabe eventually passed to Samuel V. Hoffman of the New York Historical Society in 1942, remaining there for 47 years until it was acquired by the
Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
in 1989. In 1990 a special celebration was held in Cobden in honour of the astrolabe's return.


Culture

The Cobden Farmers' Market, first organized in 1991, is an outdoor market that runs from May to October. It offers a variety of crafts and foodstuffs; everything must be grown or handmade locally. The market has recently moved from the Memorial Hall grounds to the Fair Grounds, but the Christmas Market, the grande finale for the year, is held in the Ag Hall, also on the Fair Grounds. Overlooking Muskrat Lake, Cobden Park occupies what is thought to be the spot where Champlain met the Native Chief Nibachis. A plaque was erected in the 1960s commemorating this event. The lands for the park were donated by Thomas Robinson and his wife in 1904. In 1988 extensive work was carried out on the beach portion of the park by the Civitans. Logos Land is a religious-based
water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...
. Built on the site of the Astrolabe's discovery, Logos Land features five water slides, paddle boats, mini-golf and a representation of
Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...
which holds a souvenir shop and "The Ark" restaurant. It is also home to Canada's tallest Christmas tree standing high. Every year over 3000 local children get together to decorate the tree, which is dedicated to children around the world.
Mussie In Canadian folklore, Mussie is a creature said to live in Muskrat Lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is variously described, for example, as a walrus or as a three-eyed Loch Ness Monster-like creature.The legend of Mussie likely began ...
is a likely mythical
Nessie NESSIE (New European Schemes for Signatures, Integrity and Encryption) was a European research project funded from 2000 to 2003 to identify secure cryptographic primitives. The project was comparable to the NIST AES process and the Japanese Gov ...
-like creature said to reside in Muskrat Lake. Ottawa Valley Pentecostal Camp (OVPC) is a Christian-based family and children's camp at the foot of Muskrat Lake. It has hosted many local community events with its year round facilities. OVPC is owned and operated by the
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) (french: Les Assemblées de la Pentecôte du Canada) is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the largest evangelical church in Canada.Storyland once featured 200 animated characters set in 40 different fairy tale scenes surrounded by a natural
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
environment. The park is now a campground for
glamping Glamping is a portmanteau of " glamorous" and "camping", and describes a style of camping with amenities and, in some cases, resort-style services not usually associated with "traditional" camping. Glamping has become particularly popular with ...
. The Champlain Lookout offers a panoramic view of the Ottawa River.


Transportation

The only provincial highway serving the township directly is Highway 17, the main route of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...
through Ontario. The planned extension of Highway 417 to
Petawawa Petawawa is a town located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Situated in the Ottawa Valley, with a population of 18,160 (2021 Census), Petawawa is the most populous municipality in Renfrew County. Geography The town lies on the west ...
will see the highway largely rerouted onto a new alignment through Whitewater Region. Home to The Champlain Flying Club, the Cobden/Bruce McPhail Memorial Airport is located on Highway 17.


Municipal council

The municipal council sits in Cobden. It consists of Mayor Michael Moore, Reeve Cathy Regier, and Councillors Chris Olmstead, Charlene Jackson, Daryl McLaughlin, Dave MacKay and Neil Nicholson.


Demographics

In the
2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by Statistics Canada, Whitewater Region 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.


Notable people

Cobden is the hometown of Susie Laska, former professional hockey player for the NWHL and Robert Wellington Mayhew, the first Canadian ambassador to Japan. Westmeath is the birthplace of D. Allan Bromley, physicist, academic, and Science Adviser to former
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
, George H. W. Bush.


See also

* List of townships in Ontario


References


External links

* {{Renfrew County Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Renfrew County Township municipalities in Ontario