Location

Fenelon Falls is located in the beautiful Kawartha Lakes region, less than two hours from Toronto. The town is situated between Cameron and Sturgeon Lakes, Lock 34 on the Trent Severn Waterway.
By road, Fenelon Falls is at the intersection of Highways 121 and 35A.

History

Fenelon Falls is rich in native and pioneer history. More then 10 000 years ago Paleo-Indians inhabited the area. 2000 years ago the area was inhabited by Southern Woodland Indians who were hunters that set up temporary camps in the area. In 1615 Sammuel de Champlain travelled what is now the Trent-Severn Waterway and discovered that Huron Indians had camps throughout the region. Unlike the previous tribes, the Hurons relied on both hunting and agriculture to survive.

Europeans began to arrive in this region around 1700. They were heavily engaged in the fur trade and it was not until the early 1800's that the area around Fenelon Falls was settled. The first settlers hailed from the United Kingdom. The area of land that is now Fenelon Falls was originally called Cameron Falls after the first land owner, the Honourable Duncan Cameron who was the provincial secretarary of Upper Canada between 1817 and 1838. When Cameron passed away in 1838, the land was sold to James Wallis and Robert Jameson who became the founders of the present village. Wallis's home in the village, Maryboro Lodge still stands in it's original location on Oak Street and is now the village museum.
Wallis and Jameson had dreams of setting up tenant farms. However this dream never became a reality. While Jameson returned to England, Wallis constructed the first mill in the township, a grist mill at the falls in 1841. Ten years later, he toar down this first mill and built a combination grist and saw mill in it's place. Wallis entered the booming lumbering business and Fenelon Falls experience great growth. When the mill burnt down eight years later, this growth was halted. The history of Fenelon Falls continues in this boom and bust matter. When the mills were up and running the town grew and prospered. However when the mills weren't running, all expansion halted.

In 1874, the village of Fenelon Falls was incorporated. Then in 1876, the Victoria Railway reached Fenelon Falls. The village was booming. In 1885 construction of the a lock between Cameron and Sturgeon lake literally begin with a bang. The excavator's were using a new explosive known as dynamite to blow rocks out of the prospective lock pits. They under estmated this new blasting agents strength and sent chunks of limestone flying into the air and crashing through the roofs of buildings more than a hundred metres away. The waterway had reached Fenelon Falls.

When the lumber trade deteriorated the falls served another useful purpose. A Hydro-electric generating plant was built, and the falls produced enough power to supply Fenelon and Lindsay with electricity.

Since the turn of the century, tourism has been a large part of Fenelon Falls.The two lakes are home to many summer resorts, lodges and cottages. The friendly and laidback atmosphere draws people in for a relaxing holiday away from the husltle and bustle of home. Lock 34 of the Trent Severn Waterway, in the heart of town is one of the busiest locks on the waterway. People come to Fenelon Falls for their vacation.

Geography

Fenelon Falls is located in the heart of the Kawartha Lakes Region. The surrounding landscape is characteristic of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Lowlands. A spectacular limestone gorge cuts through the heart of town with the 7m falls between Cameron and Sturgeon Lakes being the focal point. Sand and gravel ridges decorated the fields around town. All these features are compliments of the glaciers in the last ice age.

The village has a population of about 2040 people. The population mainly falls into two major groups, families and retireree's. The town boasts two schools, Langton Public School and Fenelon Falls Secondary School. As well it has a medical centre housing 4 family doctors, a dentist, medical lab facilities, x-ray, ultrasound and a pharmacy. And now thanks to the new 911 emergency number, police, firefighters, and ambulance attendants are just a phone call away. Fenelon Falls has everything you need.