Self Guided Historic Walking Tour of Parry Sound - Parry Sound's Industrial Past

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About

On this tour we'll take a walk along Parry Sound's waterfront and learn about the industries that profoundly shaped the town's development.

Parry Sound is located in a protected harbour on Lake Huron's north shore, making it a natural staging area for resource extraction and industrial development in northern Ontario. From the 1850s, lumber mills and mining camps grew up along the coast here, from whence goods were exported by ship.

Georgian Bay was locked in ice for much of the year, effectively cutting Parry Sound off from the outside world over the long winter months. Eventually roads and railways were hacked through the rugged Canadian Shield, ending Parry Sound's seasonal isolation, and further fuelling the growth of a town where the loggers and miners could live.

This tour will examine Parry Sound's fascinating industrial era, when hardy pioneers carved out a living on--what to them--must have seemed the far edge of the world. We'll start at the mouth of the Seguin and see the lumber mills that grew up around this harbour. We'll learn about the terrifying and often deadly risks ships ran in navigating the treacherous waters around Parry Sound. We'll walk along the route of an old railway cut through hard granite, that helped to open this town up to the outside world. Finally at the old Salt Dock we'll see the huge smelter that once stood there.

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• Learn more about On This Spot onthisspot.ca
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Organizer

On This Spot

On This Spot​ guides people on a tour back in time, showing & telling the history that surrounds them. On each spot, users will find themselves standing in the footsteps of a photographer who took a historic photo. On site tourists/users can use the built-in camera feature to create their own then-and-photos, which can be shared on social media and saved as a digital souvenir. Selections of these photos are chained together into walking tours that take a deep dive into local history.

On This Spot​ strives to make history engaging, educational, and accessible to all with a focus on easy to use features and a succinct writing style. The aim is to create an intuitive user experience that provides historical unparalleled depth without overwhelming or confusing users.