Georgian Bay

Coordinates: 45°30′N 81°00′W / 45.5°N 81.0°W / 45.5; -81.0
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the namesake township, see Georgian Bay, Ontario.
Georgian Bay
Taken on March 20, 2022 with Resourcesat-2
Georgian Bay is located in Ontario
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Coordinates45°30′N 81°00′W / 45.5°N 81.0°W / 45.5; -81.0
Basin countriesCanada
Max. length190 km (120 mi)[citation needed]
Max. width80 km (50 mi)[citation needed]
Surface area15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi)[citation needed]
Average depth150 feet (46 m) near the shoreline of Cabot Head
Islands31,000+
SettlementsCollingwood
Owen Sound
Meaford, Ontario
Parry Sound
Midland
Penetanguishene
Wasaga Beach
Killarney, Ontario

Georgian Bay (

Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To its northwest is the North Channel
.

Georgian Bay is surrounded by (listed

pleasure craft
to travel to and from Georgian Bay.

The shores and waterways of the Georgian Bay are the traditional domain of the Anishinaabeg First Nations peoples to the north and Huron-Petun (Wyandot) to the south. The bay was thus a major Algonquian-Iroquoian trade route.

Etymology

Georgian Bay has been known by several names. To the

King George IV).[2]

Geography

Main body of Georgian Bay highlighted on the map of the Great Lakes

Georgian Bay is about 190 kilometres (120 mi) long by 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide.[3] It covers approximately 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi), making it nearly 80% the size of Lake Ontario.[4][5]

Eastern Georgian Bay is part of the southern edge of the

Drummond, Cockburn and St. Joseph islands, borders the Niagara Escarpment. Because of its size and narrowness of the straits joining it with the rest of Lake Huron, which is analogous to if not as pronounced as the separation of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan,[6] Georgian Bay is sometimes called the "sixth Great Lake".[7]

If Georgian Bay were considered a lake in its own right, it would be the fourth largest lake located entirely within Canada (after Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake and Lake Winnipeg). With Georgian Bay, Lake Huron is considered to be the second largest of the Great Lakes - if Georgian Bay were excluded, Lake Huron would be the third largest (after Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, but still ahead of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).

There are tens of thousands of islands in Georgian Bay. Most of these islands are along the east side of the bay and are collectively known as the "

UNESCO
.

History

Tom Thomson, Pine Island, Georgian Bay, Winter 1914-16. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Archaeological records reveal an

Aboriginal presence in the southern regions of the Canadian Shield dating from 11,000 years ago. Evidence of later Paleo-Indian settlements have been found on Manitoulin Island and near Killarney
.

During the period of deglaciation, a succession of prehistoric lakes in the Huron basin caused shoreline advance and retreat. The former shoreline of pro-glacial Lake Algonquin left behind high ridges which were attractive sites for human occupation. As shorelines retreated, the highly mobile Paleo-Indian groups of the period were able to migrate northward into this new land.[8]: 56  Declining water levels created two distinct lakes in the Huron basin: Lake Stanley and Lake Hough, the latter of which corresponds to the modern Georgian Bay. Lake Stanley drained into Lake Hough through a spillway. While it is sometimes unclear whether some sites were contemporaneous with shorelines or were located a distance inland,[8]: 56–57  sites are geographically-temporally stratified in correspondence with water levels.

For example, at two sites along Batteaux Creek near modern-day

Early Archaic[8]: 55  McKean site corresponds to the relatively low water ebb of Lake Hough, while the Middle Archaic Rentner site (likely a true shoreline site) reflects the high water levels of the later Nipissing transgression.[8]
: 57 

At the time of European

Gitchi Manitou
, the Great Spirit who left the bay as a source of life for the first people) and "Giant's Tomb" are indicative of the richness of the cultural history of the area. Aboriginal communities continue to live on their territories and practise their cultural traditions.

The first

interpreter trainee with the Onontchataronon, an Algonquian people of the Ottawa River. They travelled every winter to live with the Arendarhonon people of the Huron-Wendat Nation at the southern end of Georgian Bay, in the area now called Huronia. Brulé returned to the Arendarhonon the following year. At the same time another young interpreter trainee, a youth remembered only as Thomas, who was employed by the French surgeon and trader
Daniel Boyer, also likely made it to Huronia, in the company of the Onontchataronon, another member of the confederacy.

In 1615, Brulé's employer, the

Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Also nearby is the Martyrs' Shrine, a Catholic church dedicated to the Canadian Martyrs, Jesuits who were killed during Iroquois
warfare against the Huron around Georgian Bay in the 17th century. The Bay appears on maps of the time as "Toronto Bay".

Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. In 1814, during the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, one of the battles was fought in southern Georgian Bay. On August 17, at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River near Wasaga Beach, the British schooner HMS Nancy was sunk by three American vessels. Several weeks later, Nancy was avenged when British boarding parties in the De Tour Passage
surprised and captured two of the three American vessels.

The first nautical charts of Georgian Bay were made in 1815 by Captain

Henry Bayfield
, who made more detailed charts of the bay, renamed it in 1822 after King George IV. His charts are the basis for those in use today.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service traces its history back to 1883, when it was originally established as the Georgian Bay Survey, tasked with charting and improving knowledge of the bay after a steamship wrecked there the previous year, killing 150 of its passengers.

Over the years, 32 lighthouses were built on Georgian Bay. Six of them were designed with limestone towers; these were built in the 1850s and are known collectively as the Imperial Towers. Some of the 32 can be toured by the public, some cannot, and some are accessible only by tour boats or private boat.[9]

Legend of Kitchikewana

The waters between Finger Point and Thumb Point near Cedar Springs, Beausoleil Island

Wyandot legend tells of a god called Kitchikewana, who was large enough to guard the whole of the Georgian Bay. Kitchikewana was known for his great temper, and his tribe decided the best way to calm him was with a wife. They held a grand celebration, and many women came. Kitchikewana met a woman named Wanakita here. He decided that this was the woman he wanted to marry, and started planning the wedding immediately after she left. But when she was invited back, she told Kitchikewana that she was already engaged. Enraged, Kitchikewana destroyed all the decorations, running to one end of Beausoleil Island and grabbing a large ball of earth. Running to the other end, he tossed it into the Great Lakes. Thus, the 30,000 Islands were created. The indentations left behind by his fingers form the five bays of Georgian Bay: Midland Bay, Penetang Bay, Hog Bay, Sturgeon Bay, and Matchedash Bay.[10] He then lay down to sleep and sleeps there still as Giant's Tomb Island.

The town of Penetanguishene now has a large statue of Kitchikewana on its main street. There is a YMCA summer camp for youth located on Beausoleil Island, in southern Georgian Bay, named after Kitchikewana.[11] YMCA Camp Kitchikewana, or Kitchi for short, has been located in Georgian Bay Islands National Park since 1919. Originally operated by the Midland YMCA, it is now the residential camp for youth from the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka.

Settlements

Wiarton, and Lion's Head are located on the Bruce Peninsula along the southern and southwestern shores of the bay, while Tobermory is located at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula on the Main Channel. The passenger ferry MS Chi-Cheemaun travels from Tobermory across the Main Channel to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. Parry Sound, the world's deepest freshwater port, is located on the eastern shore of the bay.[13]

There are communities of summer cottages on the north and east shore and on the adjacent 30,000 Islands. These include areas such as Cognashene, Wah Wah Taysee, Sans Souci, Pointe au Baril and Byng Inlet. Most of these cottages are accessible only by water.

Images

  • Georgian Bay at Cabot Head
    Georgian Bay at Cabot Head
  • Reed's dump beach on Georgian Bay near the campsite
    Reed's dump beach on Georgian Bay near the campsite
  • Shoreline of Georgian Bay
    Shoreline of Georgian Bay
  • Sunset over Georgian Bay
    Sunset over Georgian Bay

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-8020-2495-5
    .
  2. ^ a b Ketcheson, Graham. "History of Georgian Bay" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Club. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  3. ^ Georgian Bay (bay, Ontario, Canada) - Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
  4. ^ Georgian Bay - definition of Georgian Bay by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
  5. ^ "Nearly as large as Lake Ontario, it is one of the world's great bodies of fresh water." (Archived from the original on October 16, 2013.)
  6. ^ "Great Lakes Sensitivity to Climatic Forcing: Hydrological Models Archived 2010-08-08 at the Wayback Machine." NOAA, 2006.
  7. OCLC 37863060
    .
  8. ^
    Ontario Archaeology
    . 70. Ontario Archaeological Society: 16–65.
  9. ^ "Lighthouse Tour". Visit Georgian Bay. Georgian Bay Destination Development Partnership. 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  10. ^ "The Ouendat (Huron) Indian Legend of Kitchikewana". Archived from the original on October 21, 2007.
  11. ^ "Overnight Camp" Archived 2010-03-08 at the Wayback Machine on the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka website
  12. ^ "Collingwood · Population". population.city.
  13. ^ "About | Parry Sound – Downtown Business Association".

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Georgian Bay.


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