Geography:
Located in eastern Ontario, Tay Valley Township covers 554 square kilometres.  Ottawa is just over 80 kilometres to the northeast and Peterborough is 98 kilometres to the west.  Kingston and the USA border are 70 kilometres to the south.

This is an area of many lakes including Rideau, Bennett, Christie, Long, Silver, Little Silver, Rainbow, Fagan, Black, Pike, Otty, Adams, McLaren, McGowan, Farren, Davern, Clear, Bob’s, Mud, Loon and Round.  Our rivers are the Tay, Mississippi and Fall.

Population:
The municipality is permanent home to more than 6,000 people and each year experiences a steady increase.  The population increases to close to 12,000 in summer months.

Tourism and Recreation:
The Township, with its numerous lakes, woodlands and marshes, offers countless outdoor activities, which embrace all seasons.  Our waterways make the area perfect for canoeing, sailing, water-skiing, swimming and fishing. golf, tennis, baseball, hockey, bird watching, cycling, hiking, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and skating are also popular activities.  Hunting continues to be a strong tradition in the area, with deer, ducks and wild turkeys being plentiful.

Nature enthusiasts will find an abundance of natural beauty at Silver Lake and Murphys Point Provincial Parks.  An interesting diversion is a visit to the ruins of the 19th century Silver Queen Mine, which produced mica and feldspar.

Visitors can take cycling or driving tours down our winding country lanes during autumn to see Mother Nature in all her splendour.  The area offers a fine selection of summer camps, tent and trailer sites, cottage rentals and bed & breakfast accommodations.  Children and young people spend many memorable and happy days at camps such as Camp Cameron, Camp Davern, Camp Shomria, Christie Lake Camp and Camp Opimekon.

Facilities:
Residents and guests enjoy a number of township recreational facilities including:
• Two community halls that are used for social gatherings, business meetings, dances, clubs and special events
• Three baseball diamonds (Stanleyville, Fallbrook and Maberly)
• Penny Grand Tennis Court (Maberly)
• Two outdoor hockey rinks (Maberly and Bowes)
• Beaches (Glen Tay and Noonan Side Road)
• Boat Launches (Long Lake, Otty Lake and Tay River)

We have a partnership agreement with Perth to give our residents access to their arena, community centre, Conlon Farm multi-recreational facilities, Perth Public library and the indoor swimming pool.  Another agreement with Lanark Highlands gives access to the Lanark Highlands arena and Library.

Annual Festivals and Events:
Come join us for days of family fun, adventure and learning:
The Maberly Agricultural Fair, founded in 1882
The Sharbot Lake Pow Wow
Tay River Ecofest (Glen Tay)
Canada Day Celebrations (Fallbrook)
Art in the Garden (Kiwi Gardens on Harper Road)
Autumn Studio Tour throughout Brooke Valley and Maberly

Cemeteries and Historic Mill Sites:
Tay Valley Township has eleven cemeteries.  Take a stroll into the past on a beautiful sunny day.  Check out our / your genealogical roots.
Brooke United Cemetery
McVeigh Cemetery (abandoned)
St. Stephen’s Anglican Cemetery
Pinehurst Cemetery
St. Bridget’s R.C. Cemetery
Scotch Line Cemetery
Scott Family Cemetery Anglican Cemetery at Fagan Lake (abandoned)
Bolingbroke Cemetery
Maberly United Church Cemetery
St. Andrew’s Anglican Cemetery (abandoned)

The waterways of Tay Valley Township are lined with the milling history of our forefathers.  Along the Tay, the Bowes Mill, Allan Mill and the mill at Glen Tay are fine examples of these structures.  Ruins of former mills can be found in Bolingbroke, Maberly and Doran Rapids.

Health & Community Services:
Hospital services are provided in Perth and Smiths Falls, with clinic facilities in Perth, Sharbot Lake and Lanark.  There are numerous alternative and holistic health care practitioners in the Township offering services in homeopathy, massage therapy, reflexology and aromatherapy.  Tay Valley Township is the home to two long-term care facilities, Lanark Lodge and Perth Community Care.  Foot-care clinics, visiting home care and meals on wheels are also available for our residents.  Our fire department provides emergency first response services.

Local schools include St. John High School, Glen Tay Public School and Brooke Valley private alternative elementary school.  Children’s Resources on Wheels (CROW) provides their services within the Township and Churches of all denominations are supported and represented across the Township.

Industry, Commerce, Life Styles:
Wood products, farming and maple syrup have been staple industries in the area since early settlement and are still important economic activities for many residents.  The largest industry in the Township is Swiss-based OMYA, the world’s largest calcite producer.  Their plant at Glen Tay is their largest Canadian processing centre and already one of Eastern Ontario’s largest industrial complexes.  Many small contracting, haulage and seasonal support businesses are based in the Township as are many professional artists and craftspeople who have found a supportive community in which to base their creative businesses.  The influx of cottage vacationers over the past half-century has influenced the demographic makeup and the local service industries.  Recently, enhanced communication has resulted in more people moving to the area to work in the “new economy” in such things as software design and computer consulting businesses.

There is a slow but steady trend for these people, along with retirees from urban areas, to take advantage of the natural beauty of the Township landscape by transforming cottages into permanent residences.  Our main trade areas are adjacent to Perth on Highways 7 and 511, along the Scotch Line corridor and at Silver Lake and Maberly.

Waste Management:
Tay Valley Township operates one landfill site in Glen Tay.  In addition, there are two waste transfer stations, one at Maberly and one at Stanleyville.  The Township has a voluntary recycling program and a highly motivated, environmentally conscious populace that results in one of the highest waste diversion rates in the County.  The Township also partners with Lanark Highlands to provide a Hazardous Waste Depot in Middleville for receipt of paint, automotive batteries, solvents, antifreezes, etc.  The site is open between Victoria Day and Labour Day.

Transportation:
TransCanada highway #7 links us to Ottawa & Peterborough with County roads 511, 36, 10 and 6 bisecting the rural landscape.

The Tay and Mississippi Rivers are navigable waterways.

Recreation:
The mandate of the Township’s Recreation Advisory Committee is to make activities available, in the community as cost effective as possible for Township youth.  Programs such as baseball, soccer and hockey are offered. In addition, a tennis tournament is hosted every summer for adults at the Penny Grand Tennis Court in Maberly.  For those who love to sing, you may consider joining the Tay Valley Community Choir.

History:
For the aboriginal peoples the rivers and lakes of theTtownship were the highways of this land; abundant with fish, game, wild rice, maple sap and wild fruits.  Traditional seasonal resting and gathering places were located along rivers and lakes.  In local stories the early Algonquin name for Silver Lake meant “Paradise”, and was the site of traditional summer gatherings.

This historic area was settled in the early 1800′s, when several hundred Scottish and Irish settlers and soldiers established early communities in Stanleyville, Glen Tay,  Allan’s Mills, Maberly, Bolingbroke, Feldspar, Althorpe, Harper, Rokeby, Brooke, Wemyss, Fallbrook, Playfairville and DeWitt’s Corners.  Their descendants, together with the original settlers stayed to build farms, beautiful stone and log homes, and an industrious and competent work force.

The first part of the present amalgamated Township to be settled was North Burgess Township, named in 1794 in honour of the Rev. Thomas Burgess, Bishop of Salisbury.  The first emigrants from Britain settled as farmers along the Scotch Line in 1816.

Bathurst Township was surveyed in 1816 for settlement by both British emigrants and ex 1812-14 War soldiers and seamen.  It was named for Henry Bathurst, third Earl of Bathurst and Secretary of War and the Colonies from 1812-1827.

South Sherbrooke was surveyed in about 1819 and named after Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, a successful general in the War of 1812-14 and Governor-in-Chief of Canada from 1816-1818.

To find out more about the former townships of Bathurst, North Burgess and South Sherbrooke, visit the Perth Historical Society website: www.perths.org

Photos by S. Lunn ©