| Wiarton | |
| Settlement Type: | Community |
| Pushpin Map: | CAN ON Bruce#Ontario |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Wiarton in Ontario |
| Coordinates: | 44.7436°N -81.1408°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Ontario |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Bruce |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | South Bruce Peninsula |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1866 |
| Established Title2: | Incorporated |
| Established Date2: | 1880 (village) |
| Established Title3: | Incorporated |
| Established Date3: | 1894 (town) |
| Extinct Title: | Amalgamated |
| Extinct Date: | 1999 |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 1989 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | EST |
| Utc Offset1: | -5 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -4 |
Wiarton is a community in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the western end of Colpoys Bay, an inlet off Georgian Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula.
Wiarton is notable for the Wiarton Willie Festival, in February each year (starting in 1956), when national and international media cover Wiarton Willie and his Groundhog Day prediction.[2] In the summer, Wiarton hosts the Bruce Peninsula Multisport Race.
Wiarton was named after the birthplace of Sir Edmund Head, the Governor General of Canada from 1854 to 1861. In 1880, Wiarton was incorporated as a village, then with a population of 750. By 1894, Wiarton had become an incorporated town.[3]
The Government of Ontario has erected two historic plaques in Wiarton, offering a glimpse into the past of this area.[4] The first discusses the fact that the Bruce Peninsula is a barrier to water transportation between Lake Huron and southern Georgian Bay. To avoid a difficult detour to the north, aboriginal peoples developed a portage route across the base of the peninsula. "For centuries, the Bruce Peninsula portage was an important link in the Great Lakes transportation network." The second plaque discusses developments in the 1800s, starting with 1855 when "a town-plot was laid out here on recently acquired Indigenous land and named Wiarton, reputedly after the English birthplace of Edmund Head, Governor General of Canada (1854-61)".
Until 1997, when the service was transferred to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wiarton was known around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, as the home of Wiarton Coast Guard Radio, providing continuous weather reports to mariners and residents.[5] [6]
In 1999, Wiarton was administratively amalgamated into the new municipality of the Town of South Bruce Peninsula.
Although specific dates vary depending on the source, the following are excerpted from a reliable source, History of the County of Bruce, Ontario, Canada, by Norman Robertson, published in 1906.
Geographically, the town is defined by the rugged limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve – one of only twelve such reserves in Canada), which bisects the town. The town rests on the picturesque shores of Colpoys Bay, part of Georgian Bay, which is itself part of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes.
The town has long been known as the gateway to the Bruce Peninsula, the peninsula separating Georgian Bay from the rest of Lake Huron.
Wiarton has a warm summer humid continental climate (Dfb under the Koppen Climate Classification) with four distinct seasons. Winters are cold and very snowy with much of it coming from lake effect snow. Because of its location on three sides of water, snowfall totals are very high with an annual average of 404.8 cm. Summers are warm and sunny with a July average of 18.9 degrees Celsius. The average precipitation is 1047.9 mm.
Wiarton's most important businesses were initially founded on the lumber industry. The harvest of timber and the manufacture of goods from lumber were an important industry early in the town's development, until two widespread forest fires, the first in the late 1800s and the later in the early 1900s, wiped out the local forests.
The next most important industry was fishing. In 1906, Wiarton was awarded a federal fish hatchery, which helped maintain the fish stock in the area for many years. Fishing was at its peak in the early 20th century, but suffered from the introduction of the invasive sea lamprey to the upper Great Lakes through the Welland Canal in 1921. By 1932, the sea lamprey had arrived in Georgian Bay, and, together with the Great Depression, it brought the decline of the fishing industry.
In 1881, the first train arrived in the town as part of Grand Trunk Railway system, for which Wiarton served as its northern terminus, extending to a new wharf in Colpoys Bay constructed in 1882. The last passenger train ran in 1957, when the Canadian government cut back funding on the railways. Freight trains continued using the tracks until 1968, when the lines were abandoned.
Tourism as well as stone mining and finishing are now important economic forces in the town.
An elected mayor, deputy major and three councilors provide the municipal government for Wiarton and the many small villages and communities that comprise the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. A number of Committees and local Boards assist Council. "Council establishes policies and budgets for programs and services delivered by the Town of South Bruce Peninsula." The Legislative Services Department includes the Clerk's Division, By-Law Enforcement and Animal Control, and the Building Division.[8]
Wiarton has fire stations, and policing is provided by the Ontario Provincial Police from the Wiarton Detachment.[9]
Another notable feature is the Wiarton Willie Festival and Wiarton Willie, the albino groundhog who purportedly predicts the length of winter every Groundhog Day. Tourism forms an important part of the town's modern economy, attracting many seasonal visitors to the area's cottages and resorts, and to the town's marina. The Bruce Trail runs through town, with a main trail that is more than 890 km long and side trails of 400 km.[10]