In the early 1850s, settlers began moving into the townships in the Queen's Bush north of the Huron Tract. One of these townships, Turnberry, was surveyed by 1853 and a plot for a market town designated where two branches of the Maitland River met. Among the earliest settlers on the plot was John Cornyn who was operating a hotel here in 1861. A year later, a post-office named Wingham was established and, by 1866, Wingham had become a prominent supply and distributing centre for the agricultural and lumbering hinterland. In the 1870s, railway expansion stimulated tremendous growth and led to Wingham's incorporation as a village in 1874 with a population of 700. Five years later, its population numbering 2,000, Wingham was incorporated as a town.

Location

At the Wingham Museum, 273 Josephine Street, Wingham

Themes

• Agriculture
• Communities
• Industry and trade
• Transportation systems and communications