Wasaga Beach

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Wasaga Beach
Nickname : The Beach
Wasaga Beach seen from the southwest
Wasaga Beach seen from the southwest
Wasaga Beach Coat of Arms
coat of arms
Motto : The Beach is Just the Beginning ("The beach is just the beginning")
Location in Ontario
Wasaga Beach (Ontario)
Wasaga Beach
Wasaga Beach
State : CanadaCanada Canada
Province : Ontario
County : Simcoe County
Coordinates : 44 ° 31 ′  N , 80 ° 1 ′  W Coordinates: 44 ° 31 ′  N , 80 ° 1 ′  W
Height : 176  m
Area : 58.43 km²
Residents : 17,537 (as of 2011)
Population density : 300.1 inhabitants / km²
Time zone : Eastern Time ( UTC − 5 )
Postal code : L9Z Area Code 705
Mayor : Cal Patterson
Website : www.wasagabeach.com

Wasaga Beach (or just Wasaga ) is a city in Simcoe County , Province of Ontario , Canada . Because of its location on Georgian Bay (outdated "George's Bay"), a large bay on Lake Huron , and its proximity to Toronto , Wasaga Beach is a popular tourist destination in summer. The city stretches almost 10 miles along the coast from the south point of Georgian Bay to the northeast, surrounded by the communities of Collingwood to the east, Clearview to the south, Springwater to the east and Tiny to the north. Toronto is only 130 km away in the south and can be reached in less than two hours via the ON 400 provincial road, which is similar to a motorway.

geography

Geology and topography

Wasaga Beach is 176 m above sea level at the southernmost point of Georgian Bay, Nottawasaga Bay , which is part of Lake Huron. With an area of ​​c. 15,000 km² it is the largest freshwater bay in the world. The area on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield was largely shaped by the Paleo-roterozoic glaciation , an ice age that began about 2.3 billion years ago at the transition between the Archean and Proterozoic and lasted about 300 million years. After the last ice age about 11,000 years ago, meltwater created the postglacial “Lake Algonquin”, which encompassed almost the entire area of ​​today's Great Lakes . The coastal edges of this lake, which changed over the millennia because the meltwater became less and the land lifted again - freed from the enormous weight of the ice - can still be seen in the landscape around Wasaga.

The sandy soil of these coastal sections was thrown up into high transverse dunes by the prevailing northwest winds at the time . As there was little vegetation due to the cold climate, these transverse dunes were transformed into arched dunes (parabolic dunes) by the wind over time . As the temperatures rose, plants settled on the dunes so they kept their shape. They are the only arched dunes in the Great Lakes and Ontario area. At the same time, a 14 km long sandy beach with a dune zone behind was formed on the south bank of Georgian Bay; today the longest freshwater sandy beach in the world. The soil in this area is mostly very sandy, partly mixed with clay, not very fertile and suffers from erosion due to the strong winds. Soil quality has been rated 6-7 by the Canadian Department of Agriculture, with 1 being the best soils and 7 being the worst.

Coming from the east, the Nottawasaga River runs parallel to the dunes and the coastline for 6 km through the urban area, until it finally flows into Nottawasaga Bay in the north of the municipality.

natural reserve

The dune area in Wasaga and the mouth of the Nottawasaga River is a nature reserve as Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. It extends over almost 7 hectares. The northernmost parts of the sandy beach are closed in spring and summer due to breeding birds. The yellow-footed plover (Charadrius melodus, English: Piping Plover) should be mentioned here, which nests here in large numbers and has been on the list of endangered species since 1985. Wasaga Beach Provincial Park was the first Provincial Park in Canada to receive the “ Blue Flag ” for exemplary environmental management and excellent water quality.

location

Wasaga Beach is centrally located in Southern Ontario and is part of Simcoe County, which consists of sixteen parishes. Collingwood to the west, Clearview to the south and Springwater to the northeast. Wasaga beach is continued in the neighboring community of Tiny in the north. Since Wasaga is in the north of Simcoe, it no longer belongs to the Grand Toronto Area (GTA), all connections run into the Muskoka region, which is immediately north.

Wasaga Beach, the main beach in summer

The urban area covers 61.13 km² and was divided into four districts: West (7,190 inhabitants in 2001), West Central (16,809), East Central (4,593) and East (12,417). The beach is divided into six sections and numbered from east to west. Beach 1 (Main Beach) and Beach 2 are the main bathing spots and the most visited; the further west, the lower the number of visitors. To the far east are New Wasaga Beach and Allenwood Beach, where many weekend homes are located.

climate

Normally a continental climate would be expected this far from the sea ; but the Huron Sea weakens these extremes, so that the “lake effect” occurs: in summer it is a few degrees cooler and in winter a bit milder, so that there is also a longer vegetation period with more frost-free days. Another effect of the Lake Effect in the winter months is sudden, violent snowstorms, which, however, only reach 30–40 km inland. Heavy snowfall can prevail in Wasaga Beach, while the sun is shining in the neighboring communities in the south. The average duration of frost is 149 days over a 30-year period. The wind blows predominantly from the south / southwest.


Monthly averages for Wasaga Beach
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) -3.0 -2.5 2.3 10.3 16.8 22.7 24.9 24.3 20.2 14.2 6.6 -0.3 O 11.4
Min. Temperature (° C) -10.2 -10.7 -6.0 0.8 5.8 11.7 14.5 14.0 10.6 5.8 0.0 -7.1 O 2.5
Temperature (° C) -6.6 -6.6 -1.8 5.6 11.4 17.1 19.6 19.3 15.4 9.8 3.3 -3.7 O 7th
Precipitation ( mm ) 81.2 52.2 58.7 64.3 66.2 72.6 66.9 88.2 80.1 71.8 71.0 84.4 Σ 857.6
Humidity ( % ) 80 77 73 65 62 65 63 66 68 69 76 81 O 70.4
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
-3.0
-10.2
-2.5
-10.7
2.3
-6.0
10.3
0.8
16.8
5.8
22.7
11.7
24.9
14.5
24.3
14.0
20.2
10.6
14.2
5.8
6.6
0.0
-0.3
-7.1
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g
81.2
52.2
58.7
64.3
66.2
72.6
66.9
88.2
80.1
71.8
71.0
84.4
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: [Town of Wasaga, Community Profile 2007, p. 5]

history

Pre-European settlement

The Tionontati or Petun originally lived on Nottawasaga Bay and settled there in nine villages. They practiced agriculture by means of slash and burn; mostly corn, beans and pumpkins. Neighboring peoples in the west were the Wyandot or Wendat, also known as the Hurons, in the north the Mohawk , in the south the Erie and Susquehannock and in the east the Iroquois . The population grew strongly in the 14th and 15th centuries, so that the number of inhabitants in 1615 is estimated at 6,500 people, which grew to over 10,000 by 1623. Until 1610 they lived for many years at war with the Wyandot.

First contacts with Europeans

The first encounter with the French took place in 1615 under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain , when he was the first European to discover Lake Huron. Through the fur trade, the Tionontati became allies of the French and thus opponents of the Iroquois, who were allied with the English and Dutch. During the Beaver Wars (1640–1701), the Indians living here were completely defeated by the Iroquois, allied with the English; a smallpox epidemic brought in by the French also contributed to the weakening of the people, so that by 1650 the Tionontati had left the area. Subsequently, Algonquians immigrated from the Ottawa area . The name Nottawasaga comes from these, whereby nottawa means 'Iroquois' and saga 'estuary'. The name originated when Algonquin scouts patrolling the (Nottawasaga) River discovered Iroquois raid squads, and means something like 'Iroquois at the mouth of the river'.

In 1798 the entire area south of Georgian Bay was bought by the government of Upper Canada for 101 English pounds and was thus officially British territory.

British-American War

After the British lost the Battle of Lake Erie against the Americans on September 10, 1813, the United States controlled the Upper Great Lakes. Only one ship was able to escape, the British schooner The Nancy , which was a fur-trading ship that was forced into military service. It hid from the American fleet in the mouth of the Nottawasaga, but was discovered and sunk by the Americans on August 13, 1814, who at the same time blocked the British supply route. After the Americans left the area, the Nancy survivors built small boats and sailed across Lake Huron to Fort Mackinac . At the site of the wreck, a small island has formed that divides the river into two arms of equal size.

First settlement

Nottawasaga Township, Simcoe County, Ontario, 1880

After the end of the war, the British built Fort Nottawasaga on Nottawasaga six kilometers from the river mouth in 1816. The first civilian settlement was established in 1820 when the area was being explored more closely. They were called "Flos Township". Since the sandy soil was very barren and there were no large trees for shipbuilding, sawmills were built for firewood. The river served as a means of transport. In 1830 there were plans for a canal from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron, which should use the Nottawasaga. When this turned out to be too expensive, a railway line was planned from Toronto to Georgian Bay, at the end of which at the mouth of the Nottawasaga the city of Hythe was planned with a large port. However, since the bay was too sandy, these plans were not implemented either.

In 1870 John van Vlack bought Grund on Nottawasaga and built a sawmill, a post office and a general store, thus creating the basis for a larger settlement that in 1896 had 70 inhabitants and was called "Van Vlack". The name Wasaga Beach first appeared in the late 1880s when a building area in Van Vlack was given the name.

20th and 21st centuries

From 1900, more and more Toronto people began discovering the beauty of Wasaga and tourism began. The first hotels on the beach ("The Capstan Inn") were built in 1911 and tourism flourished, especially in the summer months, thanks to the good transport links to the south.

Wasaga Beach, postcard from 1920

In 1914 the trading port was closed for lack of importance and relocated to Collingwood. On August 8, 1934, the first successful overseas flight from Canada to England started in Wasaga with the "Trial of the Caribou" biplane. The location was chosen as the launch site because the hard sandy beach was long enough for the fully loaded aircraft to take off.

In 1941, the mine sweeper HMCS Wasaga was the first ship of the Bangor class to enter service and assigned to the 31st Canadian Minesweeping Flotilla. The ship survived the mission on D-Day (June 6, 1944) in Omaha Beach as one of the few mine sweepers. It was scrapped in 1947. During World War II, Wasaga Beach became a popular resort for soldiers sent to war from Borden Base (near Barrie ). Often there were over 100,000 visitors who visited the place and its amusement parks on sunny weekends. Wasaga Beach was the premier leisure destination in Ontario by the late 1960s. In 1940 Wasaga Beach was elevated to the status of "Police Village" as "the northern border of Flos Sunnidale and Nottawasaga Townships" and thus received the first minor form of self-government. In 1949 the survey was made as a "incorporated village", which roughly corresponds to a German community. On January 1, 1974, the community was raised to the city as the "Town of Wasaga Beach". The city continued to expand and today over 17,000 people live in the city, plus there are 16,000 second homes.

On November 30, 2007, a large fire, fanned by strong winds, destroyed two thirds of the pedestrian zone in the main street. Whether the fire was started on purpose or whether it was a disaster has never been clarified.

Population development

date Residents (main residences)
1896 70
1965 500
1971 1.923
1974 4.034
1981 4,705
1991 6.224
1996 8,698
2001 12,419
2006 15,029
2011 17,537

Economy and Infrastructure

There is almost no industry in Wasaga Beach. In 2005 only 9.8% of the working population worked in the secondary sector . Wood processing, which was important in the last century, was discontinued in 1914. Most of the population works in the service sector , especially tourism. Due to the proximity to Toronto, house and land prices have risen sharply. A house on the Beach cost Can $ 400,000 in 2002, and Can $ 650,000 in mid-2007. The prices for weekend houses have doubled from Can $ 100,000 to Can $ 200,000. An end to the price increase is not in sight. Over 16,000 second homes are registered in the city, and the number is rising.

tourism

Wasaga is one of the main tourist spots in Ontario. Over two million tourists visit Wasaga Beach every summer. One of the main attractions is Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. It offers over 50 km of hiking trails and is characterized by its diverse fauna and flora. Many hotels, campsites and weekend houses are available to tourists. Trout in particular can be caught in the fish-rich Nottawasaga. There are also opportunities for golf, cycling and water sports such as sailing or canoeing.

Looking southwest from Main Street Bridge to the Nancy Island Museum

The Nancy Island Historic Site - the island created by the sunk ship "Nancy" - houses a museum, theater and a lighthouse.

In winter there is the possibility of cross-country skiing, skibob riding and of course ice hockey.

traffic

Wasaga Beach is well connected to the economic metropolis of Toronto by Highway ON 400. Wasaga Baeach is well integrated into the Simcoe region thanks to an extensive network of county roads. The city itself maintains a road network of around 190 km.

There is an urban bus system with three lines, and there are daily scheduled services to Owen Sound , Barrie, Toronto and Toronto International Airport.

Four berths are available for smaller vessels. The nearest regional airport is in the neighboring community of Collingwood.

Education and culture

Wasaga Beach only has kindergartens and elementary schools; the closest high school is in Collingwood. There is also a facility for the care of disabled children.

On Nancy Island there is a small lighthouse and an open-air theater that plays during the summer season. Next to it is the Nancy Island Museum (opened August 14, 1928) with a permanent exhibition on the British-American War "War of 1812". The most important exhibit is the "Nancy", which was discovered on July 1, 1911 and recovered from the Nottawasaga in 1928 and restored.

Personalities

Jason Arnott (born 1974), ice hockey player in the NHL; 1994 world champion with Canada; 2000 Stanley Cup winners with the New Jersey Devils.

literature

  • Ontario Parks, HMS Nancy and Historic Wasaga Beach brochure, 1997.
  • Ray Gibson, Trail of the Caribou, Wasaga Bay, 1984
  • Town of Wasaga Beach
  • Wasaga.com

Remarks

  1. ^ Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto, Wasaga Beach Provincial Park
  2. Land Area, Geology and Topography . In: Community Profile . Town of Wasaga Beach. September 28, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  3. http://www.blueflag.ca/
  4. Cindy Harvey, A Historical Overview of Wasaga Beach, Wasaga Beach, 1991
  5. ^ Gary A. Warrick: A population history of the Huron-Petun, AD 900-1650 , PhD, Montréal: McGill University 1990.
  6. Lyal Tait, The Petuns Tobacco Indians of Canada , Port Borwell, Ontario., 1971
  7. ^ The History of Wasaga Beach . Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  8. Cindy Harvey, A Historical Overview of Wasaga Beach, Wasaga Beach, 1991; P. 3
  9. Diane Kerluke, The History of Wasaga Beach, Wasaga Beach, p.14
  10. ^ Mary Watson, The History of Wasaga Beach, Wasaga Beach, 2009
  11. The Trail of the Caribou . In: History . The Friends of Nancy Island Historic Site and Wasaga Beach Park. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  12. http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/2060253-navy-visits-hmcs-wasaga-s-namesake/
  13. Isabel Teotonio: Fire razes Wasaga beachfront . In: Toronto Star , Torstar , November 30, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2008. 
  14. Town of Wasaga Beach, Table of Contents, p. 8; Wasaga Beach 2007
  15. ^ Connie Gray, Community Resource Binder Information, p. 3
  16. Town of Wasaga Beach, Table of Contents, p. 19; Wasaga Beach 2007
  17. Town of Wasaga Beach, Table of Contents, p. 24 ff .; Wasaga Beach 2007
  18. ^ Connie Gray, Community Resource Binder Information, p. 2
  19. Legends of Hockey - Jason Arnott . Hockey Hall of Fame . Retrieved on May 5, 2007.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.legendsofhockey.net