Severn Bridge is a small community in the Town of Gravenhurst, of the

District of Muskoka The District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka or Muskoka, is a List of regional municipalities in Ontario, Canada, regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It extends from Georgian Bay in the ...

in the province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is located approximately 160 kilometres north of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, on the Severn River, roughly halfway between

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

and Gravenhurst. Its population was around 300 in 1992.Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Tourism and Recreation, Ontario Official Road Map 1992/93. It was founded in the nineteenth century. The village is served by important road, rail, water links and its postal services and rural route are handled in Washago, Ontario.

Geography

Severn Bridge is located at 44.8° north, 79.4° west. It is located on the Severn River in Ontario. Geologically, it is located in the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

. It is approximately 160 kilometres north of Toronto, roughly halfway between Orillia and Gravenhurst.

History

Severn Bridge came into existence in the year 1858, when the Muskoka Road was surveyed and constructed from the head of navigation on

Lake Couchiching Lake Couchiching ( ; from the Anishinaabe language, Ojibwe ''gojijiing'' meaning "inlet") is a medium-sized lake in Central Ontario, Canada, separated from Lake Simcoe by a narrow channel. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching are popular spots for fishin ...

at Washago Mills, to a crossing of the Severn River. The supervisor of the bridge's building was David Gibson, the Inspector of Crown Lands Agencies and Superintendent of Colonization Roads. By the end of that year, provincial land surveyor

Charles Rankin Charles Rankin, (1797 − 1886 or 12 October 1888) was an early Irish-born and Scottish-descended settler and land surveyor in Upper Canada (the predecessor to the province of Ontario, Canada). He is significant due to his role in the survey ...

was issued instructions to continue the road northward from the "Bridge" constructed across the River Severn. Work on the road resumed the following Spring. The settlement was officially given its name in 1861, when a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was opened there. James H Jackson was the first postmaster and the first settler north of the river, having arrived there in 1858 . In 1873, the Toronto, Simcoe and Muskoka Junction Railway reached Severn Bridge, but as a result of the

panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...

, further construction was stalled. Two years later, this line was acquired by Northern Extensions Railway and upon completion of the line to Gravenhurst in 1875, was absorbed by the

Northern Railway of Canada The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first Steam locomotive, steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually ac ...

. The line was extended to make a connection with

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

near

Lake Nipissing Lake Nipissing (; , ) is a lake in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Lake Nipissing i ...

in 1886, by the

Northern and Pacific Junction Railway The Northern and Pacific Junction Railway (N&PJ) is a historic railway located in northern Ontario, Canada. It connected the Northern Railway of Canada's endpoint in Gravenhurst to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) at Nipissing Junction, near N ...

, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

. The entire route from

to North Bay was subsequently purchased by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

, (which in turn became part of

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

s). In September 1906, many of the homes and businesses of Severn Bridge were destroyed by fire.Angus, J.T. (1995).Severn River: An illustrated history, p. 104. Between 1925 and 1927, the provincial government under the leadership of

Howard Ferguson George Howard Ferguson (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth premier of Ontario, from 1923 to 1930. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to ...

, created a road, known as the

Ferguson Highway The Ferguson Highway was a long gravel trunk road in Ontario, Canada. Built between 1925 and 1927 from the city of North Bay to the town of Cochrane, it was created to connect the growing agricultural and mining communities of Northern Ontario ...

, beginning at Severn Bridge and extending to the

Clay Belt The Clay Belt is a vast tract of fertile soil in Canada, stretching across Cochrane District in Ontario and Abitibi County, Quebec, Abitibi County in Quebec, covering in total with of that in Ontario. It is generally subdivided into the Great ...

of "New Ontario", it is now part of

Highway 11 Route 11, or Highway 11 can refer to routes in the following countries: International * AH11, Asian Highway 11 * European route E11 * European route E011 Argentina * Provincial Route 11 (Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires Provincial Route 11 Austr ...

. There is a small

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

in Severn Bridge. Like many of the communities around it,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

makes up a significant part of the economy.

Education

The school boards that serve Severn Bridge are the

Trillium Lakelands District School Board The Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 15 prior to 1999) administers public school education for students in a large area of central Ontario, Canada, including the municipali ...

(formerly the Muskoka Board of Education) and the

Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board The Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 44 prior to 1999) administers and governs separate school Catholic education from kindergarten through grade 12 in Simcoe County ...

. Severn Bridge is home to K.P. Manson Public School, a primary school that serves grades

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through grade 8. The school

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is the cougar. K.P. Manson carries one of the highest ratios of computers to students in Ontario, complete with

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

access to each machine. Catholic school students and public secondary students attend school outside Severn Bridge.

Transportation

Severn Bridge is located on significant

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

, and

water transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it pr ...

links. Highway 11, a historic Ontario highway, runs through Severn Bridge. There is a

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

bus stop in Severn Bridge. The Canadian National Railway's Newmarket Subdivision, originally built by the

in the nineteenth century, runs through Severn Bridge (CN has abandoned its Newmarket Subdivision south of the junction with its Bala Subdivision in nearby Washago, a few kilometres to the south). The village is no longer served by passenger train, although before its closure in 2012, the

Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency (Ontario), provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming ...

's ''

Northlander The ''Northlander'' was a passenger train operated by the provincially-owned Ontario Northland Railway in southern and northeastern Ontario, Canada. In 2012, rail service was discontinued and replaced with express bus service. Rail service will ...

'' passed through Severn Bridge. Both the ''Northlander'' formerly, and

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's ''

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

'' stop at Washago. Severn Bridge also lies upon the Trent-Severn Waterway, a navigable waterway. A portion of the

Trent Canal Trent may refer to: Places Australia * Trent, Western Australia, a locality of the Shire of Denmark Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom ...

connects with the Severn River near Severn Bridge, and the Couchiching Lock (Lock 42 in the waterway) is located nearby. This waterway is a significant recreational waterway in Ontario.

References

External links

Severn Bridge
{{authority control Communities in the District Municipality of Muskoka