History
Brochure
Constitution
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History
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Dalhousie Lake is named for the ninth Earl of Dalhousie, Governor General of Canada from 1819 – 1828. The lake was once used as a winter "highway"for farmers who, with their sleighs and teams of horses drew hay and pulpwood up and down the lake. In spring and summer, logs were held in the lake before being driven further down the Mississippi towards the mills in Carleton Place. The first local mill was constructed at the head of the lake by Robert Currie who had purchased land from the Crown in 1826. This grist mill and sawmill was eventually purchased by the Geddes family. The Geddes sawmill was sold and dismantled in 1950. A second sawmill was constructed by Lindsay Duncan near the southwest shore of the lake in 1947 and is still in operation today. The Dalhousie Lake community was established with grist and saw mills, a post office and a store in the early 1900's.
There have been 5 bridges over Mississippi River where it enters Dalhousie Lake. The first bridge was constructed of logs in 1843. It was destroyed by a flood resulting from the failure of the Crotch Lake dam in 1857. The second log bridge was burned, a third log bridge was constructed only to be replaced by an iron bridge in 1903. The iron bridge was replaced in 1973 by a cement bridge, still standing today. At the outlet near Sylvania Lodge the original iron bridge was replaced by a new cement structure in 1996.
Just beyond the outlet bridge there was a large open area stretching from the shoreline to where the Dalhousie Glen golf club now stands. As the water remains shallow for some distance, it was a thought to be an appropriate site for picnics and community swimming during the summer from the late 1880's into the 1900's. During one well remembered picnic, the owner of a Model T was showing off by driving into the lake. When the engine flooded, ropes were attached and everyone helped to pull it to shore. Picnics usually meant a visit to the cheese factory located down the North Shore Road where local farmers went to taste cheese made from the milk of their own cows.
Since the evidence of a seasonal settlement in the late 1800's as shown by some of the older cottages at the head of the lake, the lake population has gradually grown to approx 184 seasonal and 50 permanent residences as well as 3 commercial resorts. There is no longer any Crown land surrounding Dalhousie Lake and most shoreline development in the form of cottages began in the 1960's. Dalhousie Lake has become a thriving recreational community on its own with fishing, swimming, canoeing, boating, golfing and camping in the summer and snowmobiling and ice fishing in the winter.
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Brochure
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Constitution
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