
Haliburton County was established under modern government in 1983, but the community
itself has existed since the 1800's. The area has an extensive history and local
culture based on the Native Americans, and also of the European settlers. The region
is known commonly as the Haliburton Highlands, which is a name given to it due to
its placement in the highest ground of the Canadian Shield, and Scottish ancestry.
Within the county are areas such Algonquin Park, which pay more homage to the Native
tribes of the area. The County includes of the towns of Haliburton, Minden, Dorset,
Wilberforce, Gooderham, and a few other small hamlets. It is a well-known tourist
and cottage area, so much so that the population exhibits a huge increase in the
summer months, fueling the economy and waterfront development of the area. The tourism
industry in both the summer and winter months keeps local economy growing, with
many resorts and tourist service businesses to provide for visitors. Places like
Haliburton Forest and Sir Sam's Ski and Bike offer year round activities for locals
and vacationers, making Haliburton County one of the top destinations for an Ontario
vacation.
The area of Haliburton County has several public elementary schools, but only one
public high school. The elementary schools in the area are Archie Stouffer Elementary
School, JD Hodgson Elementary School, and Stuart Baker Elementary School. Stuart
Baker is a primary school, providing education for Kindergarten through grade 4,
and is a French emersion school. The area's high school is Haliburton Highlands
Secondary School, and is located on the opposing shore of Haliburton on Head Lake.
The schools are all part of the Trillium Lakelands School Board, which covers the
Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County and the Muskoka District.
The town of Haliburton is located along the western banks of Head Lake, one of the
many beautiful lakes in the area. It runs heavily on the tourism industry, with
a number of resorts and businesses in the area to cater to cottagers and visitors.
The town, and county, is named for Thomas Chandler Haliburton, a popular author
in the 19th century and the chairman for the Board of Directors of the British Land
and Immigration Company. They were one of the largest developing companies in the
area, and so it was named for him. The town of Haliburton has a permanent resident
population of 5966 as of the 2011 census, and a population density of 4 people per
square kilometer. This population of course increases greatly during the summer
months due to cottagers and resort tourists.
The town of Minden is now known as Minden Hills, which is a combination of the townships
of Anson, Hindon, Lutterworth, Snowdon and Minden. The Town of Minden was named
in 1858 after the village of Minden in Germany, and prior to that was just known
as the Gull River settlement. The areas original industry was logging, as it had
ample forestry and rivers to transport the logs. Now, the area's main industries
revolve around tourism, and construction. The secluded lake and rugged terrain have
made it one of the most popular areas in Ontario for cottagers and vacationers from
Southern Ontario. Cottage properties are often being bought in the area, and most
often it is local workers who build the new cottages and homes or take care of the
maintenance. Minden's population is very close to Haliburton's, and as of the 2011
census was at 5655. Although there are marginally fewer people in the Minden area
than Haliburton, the population density is higher, at 6.4 people per square kilometer.
Dorset is a small town to the North of Minden. It borders two municipal districts,
the Algonquin Highlands Township of Haliburton County and the Lake of Bays Municipality
of the Muskoka County. The town was originally named Cedar Meadows, but took on
the name Dorset from settlers who came over from Dorset, England. It was originally
founded as a trading post in the 1800's, but also became an area for logging companies.
The town is now famous in the area for its fire watch tower, which offers cottagers
and tourists a beautiful bird's eye view of the forestry on the Canadian Shield.
The population of the area is much smaller than that of Minden or Haliburton, as
it only has a permanent population of 400 people.
The Eastern towns of Haliburton County form what is known as Highlands East. The
towns include Cardiff, Gooderham, and Wilberforce. Cardiff was originally founded
as a mining town, with Uranium being the primary mineral being mined. Wilderforce
was founded as a station on the railway for Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa (The IB&O
Railway). It was originally called "Pusey" after the president of the railway, Charles
J. Pusey. The railway was set up as a transport for iron which was mined out of
the pits in Irondale. The mines in the area eventually closed, but a Sawmill was
opened up which kept the local economy going. Today, Wilberforce is known as the
geocaching capital of Canada. The community of Gooderham is on the Irondale River
in Haliburton County. It was located on the IB&O Railway. As with many of the
other local communities, Gooderham's original industry was logging. The population
of Highlands East is 3249 people; with a population density is 4.6 people per square
kilometer. Of course, there are many additional seasonal residents.
Haliburton County is known world round for its crystal clear lake chains and rivers.
Many people spend their summers on the waters in Haliburton and surrounding towns.
Whether they spend their time on the water boating, skiing & wakeboarding, fishing,
or just enjoying the beaches and relaxing in the sun, people have been attracted
to the lake lands in Haliburton for generations. There are several businesses in
town to help people better enjoy the local lakes by offering fishing trips and tours,
and also places to take water ski and wakeboard lessons. These local businesses
are overflowing with customers throughout the summer months. The lakes in Haliburton
are also home to children camps. Camps like the YMCA Wanakita and Kilcoo have been
in operation in the Highlands for years, always having new and returning kids for
their summer programs. Even in the winter, the lakes don't slow down attracting
visitors. The ice on the lakes provides fisherman a place to venture out into ice
huts for ice fishing. Snowmobiling is also a very popular sport in the winter time
in Haliburton. Snowmobilers need the frozen lakes to complete their trails, providing
hundreds of kilometers of scenic wilderness trails to sled on.