...through the years... Inverhuron Historical Timeline compiled by Lois Bradley, Inverhuron, 2011
3000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Early hunting and gathering peoples; evidence of occupation of Inverhuron has been found back to 3000 B.C. (Archaic culture)
900 B.C. to 500 B.C. Fishermen, farmers, gatherers and hunters. (Early Woodland Culture)
600 B.C. to 1000 A.D. People came to the Little Sauble River mouth to camp and fish in the spring and summer months. (Middle Woodland Culture)
1100 A.D. to 1350 A.D. Agriculture became the main form of subsistence. (Early Iroquoian Culture)
1350 A.D. to 1650 A.D. Inverhuron area became disputed territory, occupied by no one.
17 th Century Area given the Gaelic name Inbhir (Inverhuron), meaning river mouth. 1692 Map of Great Lakes Area
1851 Sauble Town Plot surveyed by the government. Fur traders & fishermen, Hodgins and Leduc, already had clearings and buildings.
1854 William Gunn established a post office, known as Inverhuron. Land sale in Southampton enabled squatters to buy the property that they inhabited.
1854 First log school opened with Miss Roach as teacher (first school in Bruce Township). Re-established as SS # 1, Bruce, in 1862.
1856 Streets were laid out around the harbour, north of the river. 53 households, 144 people, 2 stores, 2 taverns, a saw mill, & 2 grist mills were assessed.
1856/7 A 546 foot pier was extended into 17 feet of water, costing 3,781 ($15,000). First library in Bruce County established with 39 volumes.
1858 Sandford Fleming surveyed Inverhuron Bay recommending that funds be made available for a Harbour of Refuge.
1859 Inverhuron was dropped from the contest for the County Town of Bruce.
1860's Gravelled roads led to village. There were 2 hotels, a telegraph office, carpenters, coopers, cabinet maker, tailor, milliner, weaver & a Justice of the Peace.
Early 1870's Wm. Gray built "Boss" Gray's Castle. There were 3 grain warehouses, 2 lime kilns, fishing, a rock quarry, and hemlock bark export.
1870's Inverhuron's heydays of prosperity. Large grain export business. Population of up to 500. Brick school built in 1875.
1879 Wm. "Boss" Gray mysteriously left the area and never returned. Gray's Castle
1882 Fire destroyed the warehouses. Lime kilns shut down. 1 sawmill, 1 flour mill, and 4 fish dealers remained.
1887 A second fire reduced the village to rubble. Some farms remained. The school was spared in both fires.
1887 A railroad was planned from Mount Forest, through Walkerton to Inverhuron.
1891 Part of John & Elizabeth Smith's house on Cayley Street was swept away by the raging Little Sauble river, taking their 2 little girls.
By 1901 Blowing sand covered the topsoil and Bruce County evaluated the land as worthless. A lime kiln was built on Lake Street south.
1907 Delegations were sent to Ottawa to press for a Harbour of Refuge and a terminus for the proposed Cargill, Glammis to Inverhuron railway.
1906 to 1908 First beach cottages were built. 1911 Post Office closed except for the summer months.
1913/14 After Nov. 1913 Great Lakes disasters, another harbour delegation went to Ottawa receiving encouragement, but was superseded by WWI.
1918 Giles` Store was built. ``The Oasis`` was operated by the McKellar family from 1928, replaced in 1947, later known as the Beach Memory Store.
1922 Grace Stevens and Margaret and Florence McKay drowned. Grace Stevens standing on ribs of "Boss" Gray's uncompleted ship. Photo from Ghost Ports of South Bruce.
Early 1930's First archaeological research of the area by Fritz Knechtel. Lime Kiln Lodge was started after the lime kiln closed on Lake Street South.
1930 Inverhuron Dance Pavilion "Casa Nova Gardens" was built. 1934 Florence and Jowilla Todd drowned.
1946 Beach Association formed, later becoming the Inverhuron District Ratepayer's Association.
After 1950 John L. McIntyre bequeathed McIntyre Park to the community for a playground and church services; later donated to Bruce Township.
Early 1950's Archaeological assessment of the Inverhuron area by the Royal Ontario Museum, producing many artifacts and confirming previous archaic findings.
1953 SS # 1 closed when enrolment declined to a very few students.
1957 Ont. Dept. Of Lands and Forests bought 540 acres for the Inverhuron Provincial Park. By 1972, there were 331 campsites.
1958 Federal Government bought lands north of Inverhuron at Douglas Point for Canada's first commercial nuclear power station.
1960 Gray's castle burned. Keith Surridge opened the Cottage Grocery on Albert Rd. A restaurant was later added by the Baker/Smith family.
1964 Inverhuron Dance Pavilion closed and was converted to apartments.
1960/70's Population increased in support of BNPD; many permanent homes and 3 mobile home parks were built and cottages were winterized.
1969 Heavy Water Plant construction began at Douglas Point site, lighting up Inverhuron's night sky.
1973 Ontario Hydro purchased Inverhuron Provincial Park, to be later replaced by MacGregor Point Provincial Park.
1975 Inverhuron Park closed to overnight camping. Hyde-A-Way campground was also sold to Ontario Hydro and ceased to operate.
1980/90's Year-round population declined after end of Hydro construction. One diminished mobile home park remained. School house was demolished.
1998 Bruce Heavy Water Plant ceased production, opening the way for refurbishment of Inverhuron Provincial Park.
2005 Inverhuron Provincial Park reopened to overnight camping, initially with 125 campsites. 162 campsites operating in 2011.
2011 Celebrating 160 years since the first European settlement of Inverhuron.
...And all through the years, the beautiful sunsets...