Ontario Place Names

William A. Waiser is a professor of history at the University of
Saskatchewan, and the author of Saskatchewan’s Playground: A History
of Prince Albert National Park and Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of
Western Canada’s National Parks, 1915–1946.

This handbook contains the origin of the name for every Ontario
community with a population greater than 199 people (i.e., for more than
1000 cities, towns, and villages in Canada’s largest province).
Entries are organized alphabetically, with each providing the 1996
population of the community, details of its location, and a brief
history, with particular emphasis on any unique or amusing features.

Ontario Place Names is yet another addition to the growing popular
literature on Canadian toponymy, and will appeal to anyone interested in
Ontario’s beginnings, especially its Native legacy and British
heritage.

It is unfortunate, however, that the entries are uneven; a few are
extremely detailed in their explanation of the community’s name, while
others are restricted to one or two sentences. It would have been
instructive, moreover, if the author had provided a list of those
communities that no longer meet the minimum population requirement for
inclusion; the fact that several communities have fallen below 200
people since the early 1990s says something about Ontario demographics.
Finally, the exclusion of those communities with fewer than 200 people
means that not only are the communities themselves slipping away, but
maybe even the memory of their name origins is fading.