History of Macdonald Meredith and Aberdeen Additional, Ontario

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
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(To be moved to a space page) The township encompasses the unincorporated communities of Echo Bay, Bar River and Sylvan Valley. Bar River is a small hamlet straddling the boundary between the townships of Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional and Laird. Echo Bay is located on the shores of the Echo Bay and Lake George. The area encompassed by the Township of Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional originally was inhabited by the Ojibway. After the Canadian government and the Ojibway signed the Huron-Robinson Treaty of 1850, surveyors were sent into this area to examine the territory. What later resulted was the creation of three separate townships. The first of the three townships created was Macdonald Township in 1863. Named after Sir John A. Macdonald, this township became home to the village of Echo Bay. In 1875 Meredith Township was surveyed. This township acquired its name from the Honourable Sir William Meredith who was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1872 and later appointed Chief Justice of Ontario in 1912. In June 1892 Macdonald Township and Meredith Township were incorporated as a municipality. The last township was surveyed in 1877. Originally labeled Coffin Additional (and later renamed to Aberdeen Additional in 1900), this area was known for its wide and extensive valleys. In 1899, Aberdeen Additional joined the Township of Macdonald and Meredith to create the municipality which exists today. The 1860s visible communities were located in Sylvan Valley, Bar River, and Echo Bay. With the construction of a Canadian Pacific Railway station in Echo Bay in 1888.