Meaford trip planner

Meaford is a Canadian municipality in Grey County, Ontario. Meaford is located on Nottawasaga Bay, a sub-basin of Georgian Bay and Owen Sound Bay, in southern Ontario. The municipality's seal and motto reflect its heritage as a place of apple orchards, but in the 21st century the area has partly switched to weekend homes, seasonal homes, and lakeside tourism.The Canadian Army maintains a training facility, 4th Canadian Division Training Centre Meaford (4 CDTC), northwest of the Town of Meaford.HistoryIn 1837, when this area was part of the St. Vincent Township, locals asked the government for a piece of land at the mouth of the Bighead River. The first settler was from Ireland, before the townsite was laid out by Charles Rankin in 1845 and called Meaford. By then, a sawmill and gristmill were already operating nearby; the post office there was called St. Vincent. Meaford saw little growth until 1850 but then began booming; it had a library by 1856.The post office was renamed Meaford in 1865; by then, the community was booming and had connection by steamship and roads with the railway at Collingwood. The community became a town in 1874.In 1872, there were six churches; the railway arrived at Meaford, serving its population of 1700. By the early 1880s, Meaford boasted three planing mills, three carriage factories, two tanneries, a sawmill, a shingle mill, a woollen mill, two foundries, two flour mills, a dozen general stores, and a wide range of other stores and tradesmen. The community also had ten hotels. A public school was added in 1868 with 152 students within a year. A high school was opened in 1890.