History
Grey County was created in 1852 with the first settlement in the vicinity of Collingwood or Meaford. Exploring parties arrived from York in 1825 by traveling from Holland Landing and down the Holland River into Lake Simcoe and Shanty Bay. From there they traveled by land to the Nottawasaga River into Georgian Bay and along the thickly wooded shore.
In 1837 the village of Sydenham was surveyed by Charles Rankin, P.L.S. In 1856 it was incorporated as the Town of Owen Sound with an estimated population of 2,000.
The county was formed in 1852 and was named in honor of Earl Grey. In 1861-1862 the first gravel roads were constructed into Owen Sound at a cost of $300,000. The four roads graveled were The Garafraxa Road running from Fergus to Owen Sound (now Highway 6); the Durham Road leading east and west from the village of Durham (now County Road 4); the Lake Shore Road from Collingwood to Owen Sound (now Highway 26) and the Toronto and Sydenham Road leading from Toronto to Owen Sound (now Highway 10). Prior to the road building it often took two days to walk up to Owen Sound.
On January 1, 2001, Grey County underwent a major reorganization. The majority of towns, villages, and townships were amalgamated, reducing the number of municipalities from 26 to 9. Only Owen Sound and Hanover were unaffected.
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“A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
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