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Huntsville, Ontario
Coordinates: 45°20′N 79°13′W / 45.333, -79.217
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Muskoka Region
Settled	1869
Incorporated	1886
Government
- Mayor	Claude Doughty
Area [1]
- Total	26.5 sq mi (68.72 km²)
Population (2006)
- Total	18,280
Website: Official website

Huntsville (2006 population 18,280) is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada.

The area was first settled, and founded in 1869 by Captain George Hunt, who built a small agricultural centre there. In 1870, a post office was built and the area was named Huntsville after Hunt, who became the first postmaster. In the following year, the Muskoka Colonization Road reached this area. A water route north from Port Sydney to Huntsville opened in 1877 and a railway route was built by the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway in 1885, which encouraged development and resulted in Huntsville becoming officially incorporated in 1886.

The community became an important industrial area in the late 19th century and had several saw, planing and shingle mills, as well as a tannery. Today, the many lakes and hills in the area, combined with the town's proximity to both Algonquin Park and Toronto, make Huntsville and the Muskoka region a major tourist destination.

[edit] Communities

In addition to the main townsite of Huntsville, the communities of Allensville, Ashworth, Aspdin, Britannia Road, Canal, Centurion, Etwell, Hidden Valley, Ilfracombe, Lancelot, Martins, Melissa, Muskoka Lodge, Newholm, Norvern Shores, Parkersville, Port Sydney, Ravenscliffe, Stanleydale, Utterson, Vernon Shores, Williamsport and Yearley are located within the municipal boundaries. The town of Huntsville's population is well over 18,500 now.

[edit] Culture

Many summer camps for children such as Muskoka Woods and Olympia Sports Camp are within a few kilometers of Huntsville. Resorts such as Deerhurst Resort, where Shania Twain was discovered in 1988-1989, and Hidden Valley Resort are located within the town's boundaries.

Huntsville supports a number of arts festivals, including Huntsville Festival of the Arts. The Huntsville Festival of the Arts recently provided a seed grant which enabled a book of poetry entitled Fringe Festival Poetry, Poems from the Poetry Cafe, edited by June Salmon and Marta Mirecki-de Roode. Other arts activities include the annual Muskoka Novel Marathon, started by Canadian authors Martin Avery and Mel Malton in 2001. The town is especially proud of its new municipal centre and performing arts theatre, the Algonquin Theatre.

The theatre provides a beautiful and professional space for local dance, music, and school activities. For profit venues are also scheduled, and most of the labour is provided by local volunteers.

Rocker Hawksley Workman was born and raised in Huntsville. His 2003 album Lover/Fighter included a track called "Ilfracombe".

[edit] Economy

Major employers in Huntsville include Deerhurst Resort Panolam and Kimberly Clark.

[edit] Transportation

Huntsville is accessible through a variety of roadways, including Highway 60, Highway 11 and Muskoka (Regional) Road 3. Buses to and from Toronto come into the city daily.

Passenger train service to the town from Toronto is provided daily by the Northlander.

Huntsville Transit provides local bus service in the town.

[edit] Sports

Hockey and lacrosse are popular sports in Huntsville. The town is the hometown of sports icons such as Jack Bionda, for whom Huntsville's municipal arena is named.

The town has a lacrosse team, the Huntsville Hawks of the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League, as well as two female hockey teams: the Honeys and Huskies. The town also has an Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League team called the Huntsville Otters, which has had players move on to major junior A in the Ontario Hockey League.

[edit] Notable residents

• Jack Bionda, athlete best known as a lacrosse player.
• Ethan Moreau, captain of the Edmonton Oilers.
• Les Stroud, survival expert and host of the television program Survivorman.
• George Selkirk, a major league baseball player, was born here in 1908. Selkirk succeeded the legendary Babe Ruth as the right fielder for the New York Yankees.

[edit] Demographics

Racial Profile

• 95.5% White
• 4.0% Aboriginal
• 0.0% Korean
• 1.0% other
• 1.0% Chinese

Religious Groups

• 57.0% Protestant
• 15.6% Roman Catholic
• 2.0% other Christian
• 0.08% Jewish

Age Group

• 0-14 years: 18.9%
• 15-64 years: 67.6%
• 65 years and over: 16.8%

The town of Huntsville grows by an average 1.78% a year.

[edit] Media

[edit] Radio

• FM 94.3 - CBLU, CBC Radio One
• FM 106.9 - CDBG,SouthARadio
• FM 98.9 - CJLF-3, Christian
• FM 105.5 - CFBK ("MOOSE FM"), hot adult contemporary
• FM 106.9 - CBL-1, CBC Radio Two

[edit] Television

• Channel 8: CBLT-TV-2 - CBC
• Channel 11: CICI-TV-11 - CTV
• Channel 13: CICA-TV-13 - TVOntario

[edit] 36th G8 Summit

The Deerhurst Resort was selected as the main venue for the 2010 G8 Summit by Stephen Harper.[1] Also, this upcoming Summit will be the second such one hosted in the province of Ontario; Toronto hosted the 14th G7 summit in June 1988. Most of all, this will be the second time Canada hosts a G8 Summit and an Olympic Games in the same calendar year, after 1988. Vancouver, British Columbia, hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics in February.

[edit] References

1. ^ Town of Huntsville, residents, main page

[edit] External links

• Official website of the Town of Huntsville
• Huntsville Festival of the Arts

		McMurrich/Monteith, Perry		v • d • e
	Muskoka Lakes		Lake of Bays
		Huntsville, Ontario
		Bracebridge

Coordinates: 45°20′N 79°13′W / 45.333, -79.217