Bell Ewart, Ontario

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Bell Ewart is a village located within the town of Innisfil, Ontario, on the shore of Lake Simcoe.

[edit] History

Bell Ewart was a station on the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Rail Road. The village was laid out in 1854 and soon rose to a place of importance, as a port of transfer between lake steamers and the railroad. After the railway was completed as far as Allandale, a mile long branch was constructed from south of Lefroy, to Cook's Bay, where the railway established its wharves and warehouses. This place was named for James Bell Ewart, a Dundas industrialist who purchased lands around the proposed railway terminus, as an investment. Mr. Bell Ewart died a very short time later. As well as being important for lumber shipments from various points on Lake Simcoe a large sawmill was established there in 1854 by Henry W. Sage.

By the time the railway had extended its line beyond Orillia in the 1870s, the village of Bell Ewart had lost its importance as a railway terminal. Only after the sawmill accidentally burned down in 1879, that the rails of the branch line were removed.

Later on the rails at Bell Ewart were re-laid to serve the Ice Harvesting Industry. One entrepreneur of this business established his firm as the Belle Ewart Ice Comany, adding the second "e" to the name Bell, because he liked the way appeared on his company letterhead. Any use of the corruption of the name Bell Ewart in reference to anything other than the Ice Company, would certainly be an insult to James Bell Ewart, the namesake of this place.