Severn, Ontario

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Country	Canada
Township of Severn
The Trent-Severn Waterway in Port Severn.
Location of Severn, Ontario
Province	Ontario
County	Simcoe
Incorporated	January 1, 1994
Government
- Mayor	Phil Sled
- Governing Body
- MPs	Bruce Stanton
- MPPs	Garfield Dunlop
Area
- Total	534.72 km² (206.5 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	12,030
- Density	22.5/km² (58.3/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal code span
Website: Township of Severn

Severn is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada located between Lake Couchiching, and the Severn River (both are part of the Trent-Severn Waterway) in Simcoe County. The current township was founded on January 1, 1994, as part of the restructuring of Simcoe County, by amalgamating the village of Coldwater with the townships of Matchedash and Orillia, plus portions of the townships of Medonte and Tay.

1 Communities
2 History
3 Population
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Communities

The township comprises the communities of Amigo Beach, Ardtrea, Buckskin, Buena Vista Park, Burnside, Carlyon, Coldwater, Cumberland Beach, Fesserton, Hamlet, Hampshire Mills, Happyland, Hawkins Corner, Hydro Glen, Lovering, Maple Valley, Marchmont, Medonte, Menoke Beach, Mordolphin, Mount Stephen, Port Severn, Port Stanton, Scarlet Park, Severn Park, Swift Rapids, Uhthoff and Wilson Point.

[edit] History

Chief John Aisance and his band of Chippewas settled at what is now Coldwater in 1830, calling the place Gissinausebing, which means "cold water." A grist mill was built on the site in 1833, and a post office was established in 1835 with the name Coldwater. The native people owned the mill until 1849. Coldwater was opened to European settlement in 1836, and was incorporated as a village in 1908. Three weekly newspapers have been published in the community: the Coldwater Planet, from 1896 to 1928, the Coldwater News, from 1895 to 1956, and the Coldwater Canadian in 1956.

Port Severn was originally known as Severn Mills after a sawmill was built in 1830. Around 1850, lumber from this area was being sent out on ships; the village was renamed to Port Severn in 1868. In 1875, the Georgian Bay Lumber Co. was formed and became the major lumber producer in the Severn River watershed. The settlement expanded rapidly over the next 20 years. In 1896, the mill was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Since the timber supply in the area had been greatly reduced, the mill was not rebuilt and the population of the village began to decline. With the completion of the Trent-Severn Waterway in this area in 1915, economic activity shifted from lumber to tourism.