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As
you hustle down the highway to your cottage or home in the Kawarthas,
you will pass through many small rural villages. - You probably don’t
even give them a second look as you speed through. One of these might be the
sleepy village of Kirkfield, once a vibrant, busy commercial hub of
pioneer living.
A short
history of the village of
Kirkfield
1615
Champlain
the
great explorer - the first European to cross this site
1836
Alexander Monroe was the
first settler
1895 work on
the
Trent Valley Canal
begins
Sir William Mackenzie
-
Kirkfield's most famous son.
Kirkfield
is no longer a bustling pioneer village, its lifestyle has changed to
adapt to its present position. Situated on a main highway and in the
heart of the cottage country and the main gateway to the Carden Plain
natural heritage area, local merchants now cater to the tourist
trade. Many people are migrating from big cities to build new homes
and summer retreats in the area.
Thousand of
tourists visit the village by car and boat each year. They also come
to fish and play on Mitchell and Canal Lakes. They marvel at the
magnificent engineering of the world's second tallest hydraulic lift
locks (approximately two miles north of the village)
Many
now believe that with
the increasing demand for “a place away from it all”, Kirkfield is
once again beginning to thrive.
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