Lindsay is a community of 19,361 people (
2006 censusThe Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
) on the
Scugog RiverThe Scugog River is a river in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario which flows north from Lake Scugog to empty into Sturgeon Lake on the Trent-Severn Waterway....
in the
Kawartha LakesThe city of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Although called a city, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontarian county and is mostly rural....
region of south-eastern
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is approximately 43 km (26.7 mi) west of
PeterboroughPeterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
. It is the seat of the
City of Kawartha LakesThe city of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Although called a city, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontarian county and is mostly rural....
(formerly
Victoria CountyThe County of Victoria, or Victoria County, was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was formed in 1854 as The United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria, and gained independence in 1863. In 2001, the county was dissolved and reformed as the city of Kawartha Lakes...
), and the hub for business and commerce in the region.
Lindsay TransitLindsay Transit provides bus service to the community of Lindsay, the main population centre in the City of Kawartha Lakes in east-central Ontario, Canada....
provides bus service to the community and surrounding area.
Lindsay has a sister city,
Nayoro, Japan- External links :...
, and a small Japanese culture exhibit is in the main entrance to the library. The sister city serves as a cultural experience for local students as every two years students are chosen to travel to Japan for free.
History
The Township of Ops was surveyed in 1825 by Colonel Duncan McDonell, and Lots 20 and 21 in the 5th Concession were reserved for a town site. The same year settlers began to come to the region, and by 1827, the Purdy's, an American family, built a
damA dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
on the
Scugog RiverThe Scugog River is a river in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario which flows north from Lake Scugog to empty into Sturgeon Lake on the Trent-Severn Waterway....
at the site of present-day Lindsay. The following year they built a
sawmillA sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, and in 1830, a grist mill was constructed.
A small village grew up around the mills, and it was known as Purdy's Mills. In 1834,
surveyorSee Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
John Huston plotted the designated town site into streets and lots. During the survey, one of Huston's assistants, Mr. Lindsay, was accidentally shot in the leg and died of an infection. He was buried on the riverbank and his name and death were recorded on the surveyor's plan. The name Lindsay remained as the name of the town by government approval. Lindsay grew steadily and developed into a lumbering and farming centre.
With the arrival of the
Port Hope RailwayThe Midland Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway which ran from Port Hope, Ontario to Midland on Georgian Bay.-Early days:This railway was originally conceived as a rail link between Port Hope and Peterborough and the company was originally named The Peterborough and Port Hope...
in 1857, the town saw a period of rapid development and industrial growth. On June 19 of the same year, Lindsay was formally incorporated as a town. In 1861, a fire swept through the town and most of Lindsay was destroyed with hundreds of people left homeless. It took many years for Lindsay to recover from this disaster. In the late 19th century, local photographers Fowler & Oliver worked out of the Sunbeam Photo Gallery. It was also the home to Sir Samuel Hughes, the Canadian Minister of Militia during the First World War. The Victoria Street Armouries were built during this time.
In 2001 Lindsay's town government was officially dissolved and merged, with
Victoria CountyThe County of Victoria, or Victoria County, was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was formed in 1854 as The United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria, and gained independence in 1863. In 2001, the county was dissolved and reformed as the city of Kawartha Lakes...
into the new
City of Kawartha LakesThe city of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Although called a city, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontarian county and is mostly rural....
.
Railway
The first railway to arrive in Lindsay was the Port Hope, Lindsay & Beaverton Railway (PHL&B), originally chartered in 1846 as the Peterborough & Port Hope Railway). The first train arrived at the St. Paul and King Streets station (Lindsay’s first) on the east side of the Scugog River on October 16, 1857. In 1871 it continued on over the Scugog River across a swing-bridge, gained height on the west bank, and then headed west out to
BeavertonBeaverton may refer to the following places:In Canada:*Beaverton, OntarioIn the United States:*Beaverton, Alabama*Beaverton, Michigan*Beaverton Township, Michigan*Beaverton, Oregon**Beaverton Mall, in Beaverton, Oregon...
. It was renamed the
Port Hope RailwayThe Midland Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway which ran from Port Hope, Ontario to Midland on Georgian Bay.-Early days:This railway was originally conceived as a rail link between Port Hope and Peterborough and the company was originally named The Peterborough and Port Hope...
in 1869.
Lindsay’s second railway began as the Fenelon Falls Railway in 1871, changing its name to the Lindsay, Fenelon Falls & Ottawa River Valley Railway, and then to the Victoria Railway. It reached and terminated at Haliburton in 1878. At its Lindsay end, it connected with the original Midland Railway route on William Street North at “Victoria Junction” in 1875, and its original Lindsay terminus was at the PHL&B/Midland station at St. Paul and King Streets. In 1877, it applied to the Town of Lindsay to extend its railway down Victoria Avenue to Glenelg Street to connect with the WPP&L (see below), where a brick station (Lindsay’s second) was built on Victoria Ave between Glenelg and Melbourne Streets to serve the two railways as a union station.
Lindsay’s third railway was the Port Whitby & Port Perry Railway, extended from Port Perry to Lindsay in 1876, reaching Albert Street, Lindsay on June 15, 1877 as the Whitby, Port Perry & Lindsay Railway (WPP&L).
In 1881, the Midland Railway acquired the neighbouring smaller railways and built two links important to Lindsay. One was between Wick (Blackwater) Jct., and Cresswell (Manilla Jct.) in early 1883 for a direct route between Lindsay and Toronto (hitherto via Lorneville Jct.); and the other (“the Missing Link”) between Peterborough and Omemee in late 1883, for a direct Lindsay – Peterborough connection (hitherto via Millbrook Jct.).
In Lindsay, a new entry from Omemee was then decided upon, and a bridge was built over the Scugog River at the east end of Durham St. The track now came along just south of Durham to Cambridge Street, where it curved north to connect with the former Victoria Railway on Victoria Avenue. A new station (Lindsay’s third) was built at the south end of William Street in 1883, at which time the King at St. Paul Street station was abandoned. The new station burned in 1885, and the former union station was taken back into use until 1890 when a grand new two-storey station was built (Lindsay’s fourth), that lasted until 1963. The union station was demolished around 1890. A freight shed was built on the site, which was destroyed by fire in 1954. (It was replaced by another freight shed, demolished in 2006.)
In 1887 the Midland Railway made Lindsay its operational headquarters. A large freight yard was built south of Durham between Lindsay and Hamilton Sts, and the Port Hope engine house was dismantled and rebuilt in Lindsay as a running shed, together with the attendant shops, on the east side of Albert St. south of Durham. In the meantime the old swing-bridge across the Scugog River at Lindsay and Colborne Sts. was dismantled in 1887, and the former Midland Railway route across Victoria Jct. and through what is now the Lindsay airport was abandoned when
the new direct line from Lindsay out to Midland was built in 1907. The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) took over the Midland in 1884, and Lindsay became a division point for the GTR’s 8
th (Belleville, Peterborough and Port Hope), 9th (Midland and Coboconk) and 10th (Scarboro Jct., Whitby and Haliburton) Districts. The GTR was merged into the Canadian National Railways in 1923. (The Maynooth Sub. was added to Lindsay’s control in 1931, then at its peak as a railway centre.)
In the meantime Bobcaygeon interests had applied for, and in 1890 obtained, a charter for the Lindsay, Bobcaygeon & Pontypool Railway (LB&P) from Burketon Jct. (west of Pontypool) on the CPR’s then main MontrealToronto line, north to Lindsay. Construction began in 1901, and the line opened in 1904. The LB&P ducked under the GTR at the Scugog River bridge, following the east bank of the river to a station at Caroline Street (Lindsay’s fifth). The last train to Bobcaygeon was in 1957.
To commemorate the 150th Anniversary, a monument was carved in front of the old town hall on Kent Street, by chainsaw carver Gerald Guenkel, of
OmemeeOmemee is a community within the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, formerly known as Victoria County. Omemee is one of the major communities in the Kawartha Lakes, as the proclaimed "city" is vastly rural and has but one major population centre...
. It shows the importance of locomotives to Lindsay’s history.
Print
- The Lindsay Post
The Lindsay Post is a twice-weekly, broadsheet community newspaper in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, that was established as The Canadian Post in 1857 in Beaverton before being moved to Lindsay in 1861...
is a twice-weekly newspaper (paid circulation Tuesdays, free Fridays) that is part of Osprey MediaOsprey Media was a Canadian newspaper regional chain that published 20 daily newspapers, 34 non-daily newspapers, and a number of shopping guides and magazines in the Canadian province of Ontario...
and owned by Quebecor Inc. (Sun Media) that operated as a daily until May 2007. Its history dates back more than 150 years.http://www.thepost.ca
- Kawartha Lakes This Week
Kawartha Lakes This Week is a twice-weekly, community newspaper in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, that was established in 1977 under the title Lindsay This Week. It is one of three newspapers in the Kawartha Division of Metroland Publishing, a company that owns newspapers across Ontario...
is a twice-weekly newspaper owned by Metroland Media GroupMetroland Media Group, also referred to as Metroland is a publisher of daily and weekly community newspapers, as well as several speciality products and services, in the southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario...
, a subsidiary of Torstar Corp. It publishes Tuesdays and Thursdays, both on a "volunteer payment" basis. http://www.mykawartha.com
Broadcast
CKLY-FMCKLY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 91.9 FM in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. The station has used the Bob FM brand and format since August 21, 2005. It previously broadcast an adult contemporary format as Y92....
plays hits from the 80s, 90s and 'whatever' at 91.9 Using the BOB-FM format. It was formerly known as 910 CKLY on AM.
Peterborough'sPeterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
CBCCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
affiliate
CHEX-TVCHEX-TV is a television station in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and an affiliate of the CBC Television network. It began broadcasting on March 26, 1955, with an NHL ice hockey game. The station broadcasts over-the-air on channel 12.- History :...
covers the City of Kawartha Lakes daily with its
Newswatch news programs. The municipality also draws intermittent news coverage from
CTV TorontoCFTO-DT, broadcast on channel 9 and cable 8, is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. Currently branded as CTV Toronto, it is the flagship station of the CTV Television Network, and was one of the charter members of the network when it was launched in 1961. It...
and
A-Channel BarrieCKVR-DT, is a television station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media, it serves as the flagship station of Bell Media's secondary television service, CTV Two, with facilities located at 33 Beacon Road in Barrie...
.
Climate
Lindsay is in a
humid continental climateA humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
zone with warm, humid summers and cold winters.
The coldest temperature on average that Lindsay experiences in the winter is -31.4 °C (−24.5 °F). On occasion the first snowfall occurs earlier than November, though the snow usually melts within a short period of time. Temperatures start to increase again in late February. The warm and hot temperatures last from late June to mid September.
High schools
Elementary schools
- Pope John Paul II Elementary - K-8 (Catholic)
- St. Mary's Elementary - K-8 (Catholic)
- St. Dominic's Elementary - K-8 (Catholic)
- Parkview Public School - K-6
- Alexandra Public School - K-6
- Central Senior School - 7-8
- Jack Callaghan Public School - K-8 (formerly known as Ops Elementary)
- King Albert Public School - K-6
- Leslie Frost Public School - K-8 (French Immersion)
- Queen Victoria Public School - K-6
- Central Senior School - 7-8
- Heritage Christian School (Private)
Ross Memorial Hospital
Ross Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in Lindsay. It was founded on November 20, 1902 by James Ross, who died on September 20, 1913. On April 14, 2005 the hospital finished a major renovation. A new dialysis unit was opened in 2008.
Culture
Through direction from the
Hockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
the history of the world's oldest stick was traced through the Lindsay Public Archives to verify the stick was carved between 1852 and 1856 by Alexander Rutherford Sr. of Fenelon Township near Lindsay. This stick sold for $2.2 million dollars at an auction.
Scenes from the movies "
A Christmas StoryA Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark...
" (1983) and "A Cool Dry Place" (1998) were filmed in Lindsay. In 2001, Lindsay played host to an episode of the
OLN Reality Series "
Drifters: The Water Wars" as they passed through the
Trent-Severn WaterwayThe Trent–Severn Waterway is a Canadian canal system formerly used for industrial and transportation purposes and now for recreational and tourism purposes, connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to the Georgian Bay portion of Lake Huron at Port Severn...
.
Cityscape
Lindsay has a 150th anniversary song, entitled A Song For Lindsay. It was written and performed by recording studio owner Bob May, and local high-school student/vocalist Bethany Rees.
Landmarks
One of Lindsay's popular landmarks is the old burnt down mill.
William Henry Clarke, owner and publisher of Clarke Irwin, which published many school texts, grew up in Lindsay.
Nearby towns
- Little Britain
Little Britain is a community in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada. It is located 15 km southwest of Lindsay. Formerly a part of Mariposa Township and Victoria County, Little Britain is now part of Ward 8, City of Kawartha Lakes.-History:...
- Omemee
Omemee is a community within the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, formerly known as Victoria County. Omemee is one of the major communities in the Kawartha Lakes, as the proclaimed "city" is vastly rural and has but one major population centre...
- Fenelon Falls
Fenelon Falls is a village in Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Kawartha Lakes. Nicknamed the "Jewel of the Kawarthas," it has a population of 1,800 permanent inhabitants, which swells in the summer due to tourism and cottaging. Fenelon Falls is home to lock 34 on the Trent-Severn Waterway...
- Downeyville
- Dunsford
- Bobcaygeon
Bobcaygeon is a community on the Trent-Severn Waterway in the City of Kawartha Lakes, east-central Ontario, Canada.Bobcaygeon was incorporated as village in 1876, and became known as the "Hub of the Kawarthas"...
- Port Perry
Notable residents
- Sir Sam Hughes the Minister of Militia for Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
during World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
was born and raised in Lindsay. His house was demolished to build a parking lot.
- William Samuel McGee (b 1868, Lindsay - d 1940, Beiseker
Beiseker is a village in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Calgary. It is considered to be an outermost part of the Calgary Region and is included within Calgary's Census Metropolitan Area...
, AlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
) was born on a farm just outside of Lindsay. His name was to be the inspiration for the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee"The Cremation of Sam McGee" is among the most famous of Robert W. Service's poems. It was published in 1907 in The Songs of a Sourdough...
by Robert W. ServiceRobert William Service was a poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon".Service is best known for his poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee", from his first book, Songs of a Sourdough...
.
- Leslie M. Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was Premier of Ontario from 1949 to 1961. First elected in 1937 to the Ontario legislature representing Victoria-Haliburton, he was known as "The Laird of Lindsay." He combined small town values with progressive policies to lead the province through the economic boom of the 1950s.
- Joe Primeau
Alfred Joseph Francis "Gentleman Joe" Primeau , was a Canadian professional ice hockey player.-Playing career:...
played for the Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
in the 1930s. Ron EllisRonald John Edward Ellis is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs.-Playing career:...
played for the Maple Leafs in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a member Team Canada 1972.
- Other NHLers from the town include: Don Maloney
Donald Michael "Slip" Maloney is a former NHL player, and is currently the general manager of the Phoenix Coyotes. He played for the New York Rangers for parts of eleven seasons. His best season came in the 1982–83 season, in which he tallied 29 goals and 69 points in 78 games...
, Bill Speer, Dave MaloneyDavid Wilfred Maloney is a former professional ice hockey defenceman who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League from 1974–75 until 1984–85....
, Jamie AllisonJamie Allison is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for the Calgary Flames. Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League...
, Joe JunkinJoseph Brian Junkin is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in one National Hockey League game for the Boston Bruins during the 1968–69 NHL season.-External links:...
, Dave RocheDavid Roche is a retired Canadian ice hockey player who played in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames and New York Islanders...
, and Tom ThornburyThomas Thornbury is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 14 games in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins.-External links:...
.
- Tyler Kyte
Jonathan Tyler "Ty" Kyte is a Canadian actor and musician. He began his acting career with commercials and performing in the Musical Tommy in Toronto. Kyte was made famous amongst Canadian youth as a correspondent on the Canadian TV series Popular Mechanics for Kids alongside fellow Canadians...
from Instant StarInstant Star was a Canadian television program which aired from September 2004 to June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as adolescent music competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experience in the recording industry whilst focusing upon character development.Linda...
and Popular Mechanics for KidsPopular Mechanics for Kids was a Canadian children's television series based on Popular Mechanics magazine. It was notable for starting the careers of both Elisha Cuthbert and Jay Baruchel. The show's purpose was to teach children how things work...
grew up in Lindsay.
- CFL
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
player Carl CoulterCarl Coulter is a former professional Canadian football offensive lineman who played 15 seasons in the Canadian Football League for six different teams. He was named CFL All-Star in 1998 and was a part of one Grey Cup championship team with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1999. Coulter played CIS...
won the Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
with the Hamilton Tiger-CatsThe Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
in 1999.
- Fergus Patrick McEvay
Fergus Patrick McEvay, , was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Toronto from 1908 to 1911.Born in Lindsay, Ontario, McEvay studied at University of St. Michael's College and Grand séminaire de Montréal. He became an ordained Priest of Kingston, Ontario and in 1899 appointed Bishop of London, Ontario...
former catholic archbishop of Toronto.
- James Ross financed the building of Lindsay's only hospital.(Ross Memorial Hospital) Died in 1913.
- Megan Park
Megan Marie Park is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in Charlie Bartlett and the television series The Secret Life of the American Teenager as Grace Bowman.-Life and career:...
, actress best known for her role as Grace on Secret Life of the American Teenager
- Jack Tunney
John "Jack" Tunney was a Canadian wrestling promoter. Tunney was known worldwide for his appearances on World Wrestling Federation television as the promotion's figurehead president, suspending wrestlers, stripping them of titles, and ordering matches...
, best known as an on-air authority figure for World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
in the 1990s made his second home in Lindsay, and died there in 2004.
- Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...
(1860–1946), famed artist, naturalist and writer of realistic wild animal stories. The Thompson family arrived in Lindsay in 1866 from South Shields, England. They resided in the home they built on Stony Creek until 1870, when Seton's father, Joseph Thompson, secured employment in Toronto as an accountant.
- Joey Lawrence (photographer)
Joey Lawrence is a young professional photographer who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known as creator of the Twilight movie posters.-Start of career:...
, commercial photographer behind the infamous TwilightTwilight is the time between dawn and sunrise or between sunset and dusk, during which sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere illuminates the lower atmosphere, and the surface of the earth is neither completely lit nor completely dark. The sun itself is not directly visible because it is below...
movie posters.
Forest fire protection history
Ontario's former
Department of Lands and Forests (now the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) ran one of its 17 forest fire districts from Lindsay. Formed in 1946
The Lindsay Forest Fire District served as the headquarters for the protection and study of forests in Haliburton, Victoria, Durham, Peterborough and Northumberland Counties. The Lindsay office was also responsible for the maintenance and manning of the 13 fire tower lookouts within its boundaries. The towerman's purpose was as an early detection to protect the local forests from fire. The district's towers included: Harburn, Bruton, Eyre, Glamorgan (Green's Mountain), Harvey, Cardiff, Digby, Lutterworth, Sherbourne (St. Nora), Dorset, Clarke (Ganaraska Forest), Haldimand (Northumberland Forest) and Methuen (Blue Mountain). When a fire was spotted in the forest a towerman would get the degree bearings from his respective tower and radio back the information to headquarters. When one or more towermen from other towers in the area would also call in their bearings, the forest rangers at headquarters could get a 'triangulation' read and plot the exact location of the fire on their map. This way a team of forest firefighters could be dispatched as soon as possible to get the fire under control. Most of these towers were put out of use in the late 1960s when aerial detection systems were put in place.
External links