The United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, commonly known as the Municipality of Dysart et al, is a municipality in Haliburton County in CentralOntario, Canada. The original townships were of the Canadian Land and Emigration Company. At 61 letters or 68 non-space characters, the municipality has the longest name of any place in Canada.
The municipality's primary town is Haliburton, a community on Head Lake. Haliburton has a seasonal tourism-based economy. Some of southern Ontario's population retreats to central and northern Ontario "cottage country" for recreation and relaxation during the summer. Haliburton Village and Haliburton County derive their name from the author Thomas Chandler Haliburton, who wrote the popular "Sam Slick" stories in the mid-19th century. Haliburton was chairman of the Board of Directors of The British Land and Immigration Company in England, who were responsible for developing most of the area before it became incorporated into a "Provisional County" in 1887. The municipality also includes the smaller communities of Donald, Eagle Lake, Fort Irwin, Goulds, Harburn, Kennaway, Kennisis Lake and West Guilford.
History
In the 1860s, the Canadian Land and Emigration Company of London, England purchased in this part of Ontario for settlement purposes. The development was named after company chairman Judge Thomas Haliburton, a politician and the author of the Sam Slick stories. According to the book "Fragments of a Dream", the first European settlers began arriving in Haliburton village in 1864. Key settlers included Captain John Lucas. Lucas co-established the first saw/grist mill and was later elected the first Reeve of Dysart. Captain Lucas, originally a native of Long Preston, Yorkshire, England, also established the first hotel in town that later became the Grand Central Hotel. Other important settlers included W. Ritchie, Alexander Niven, James Holland, John Erskine, the Heard family and Willet Austin. Haliburton was the northern terminus of the Victoria Railway from Lindsay. The first railway train to arrive in Haliburton was on November 26, 1878, with John Albert Lucas as the train engineer. The railway was abandoned and the rails lifted in 1980. The station remains and is now home to Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre.
Fire tower history
The former Dysart fire tower was erected in 1956 on a hill by the east side of the village just off of Ontario Highway 118. Its frame still stands, but the cupola has since been removed. It was erected by Ontario's former Department of Lands and Forests as an early detection to protect the local forests from fire. This tower was put out of use in the late 1960s when aerial detection systems were put in place. It was one of the County of Haliburton's many towers that were part of the former Lindsay Forest Fire District. Other towers included: Harburn, Eyre, Glamorgan, Harvey, Cardiff, Digby, Lutterworth, Sherboure, Dorset and Bruton. There were Department of Lands and Forests offices stationed in Minden, Ontario, Dorset and at St. Nora Lake.
Dysart et al has a vibrant cultural community including Haliburton School of The Arts, Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands, Highlands Summer Festival, Highlands Opera Studio, Haliburton Highlands Museum, Haliburton Sculpture Forest, and Rails End Gallery & Arts Centre. The Haliburton International Film Festival is held each November at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion at the high school. The Annual Haliburton Art and Craft Festival is held on the fourth weekend in July and is a signature event for Haliburton County with attendance of approx 7500 and over 100 artisans. Haliburton appears as a significant setting in Canadian literature. Examples include Richard Pope's Me n Len – Life in the Haliburton Bush 1900–1940 and Robert Rotenberg's Old City Hall. Scenes from the movie Meatballs were filmed at Camp White Pine, Haliburton.
Media
Dysart et al is served by two newspapers, The Haliburton Echo and The Highlander, and two radio stations, 100.9 Canoe FM and 93.5 The Moose.
Parks
Southern portions of Algonquin Provincial Park lie in Dysart et al in the geographic townships of Bruton, Clyde, Eyre and Harburn.
