Parry Sound: Gateway to Northern Ontario

Clint MacNeil teaches history, geography, and world religion at St.
Charles College in Sudbury.

Adrian Hayes blends meticulous research and sound storytelling in this
account of a resource-based industry town that evolved into a dynamic
and thriving tourist destination. He highlights important events and
themes and sets them within a historical context. Prominent
personalities, intrigue, and even murder are just some of the notable
occurrences that illuminate this narrative.

The indelible mark left on Parry Sound by its founder, William Beatty
Jr., is undeniable. Born in Stonyford, Ireland, this devout Methodist
acquired a Crown lease for timber rights on 234 square miles around the
mouth of the Seguin River on Georgian Bay in 1864. J.&W. Beatty and
Company purchased 2,198 acres for a townsite to attract potential
settlers. Beatty’s interest in business, education, rails, politics,
and morality laid the groundwork for early Parry Sound. Magistrate
Patrick McCurry and newspaper owner Thomas McMurray were two other
Irishmen who helped shape the town.

Parry Sound had its share of scandal. In 1892, local council hired
Toronto engineer John Armstrong to build a waterworks system; work fell
behind schedule and when it became apparent that the water lines were
not buried deep enough, payments were withheld and the whole matter
ended up in court. In 1895, lumber baron J.R. Booth reneged on a promise
and opted to make Parry Island, a Native reserve, the terminus for the
new Parry Sound Colonization Railway in 1895, knowing that the
government intended to expropriate the land, Natives sold the land for
nine dollars per acre. In 1906, Parry Sound residents were incensed when
the CPR line divided the town, resulting in street closures and a drop
in property values. In 1928, New Yorker John Burowski was hanged in the
courtyard of Parry Sound jail for the accidental murder of Thomas
Jackson.

On the whole, Hayes’s work is informative, thorough, and
entertaining.