History of Long Point

Before European settlement, the Balsam Lake area was inhabited by peoples of the Huron, Iroquois and Ojibway nations. A well-established portage route, following the path now taken by the Trent-Severn Waterway from the West Bay of Balsam Lake to Lake Simcoe, was used by first nations as part of the route from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe.

The area now known as Long Point was originally granted by the Crown to Kenneth Cameron in 1841. At this time, the area was largely unsettled by Europeans and its economic potential was tied to logging.

Long Point eventually passed through the hands of several farming families. In the early 1920’s, Alexander M. Fulton, Q.C., a Lindsay lawyer, began to acquire land on Long Point with the view of developing it as a summer community. Many of the original cottages build throughout the 1930’s still stand and many current residents of Long Point are the children and grandchildren of these original cottagers. By the middle of the 1950’s, the development of the area known as Long Point was, for all practical purposes, completed.

In the late 1930’s, the cottagers took steps to work together for their mutual benefit. The first tennis court was build in the early 1930’s by Fulton. Since then, the courts have been maintained and improved by the members of the Association. In 1959, a fire in the Centre Lands led to the creation of what was, for several decades, the Long Point Fire Department. The area around the stone barbeque has been the site of Long Point social activities, including the annual Regatta, which has been held since 1946.

By 1949, arrangements were finalized by the cottagers to purchase the interior parcels of land on Long Point from Fulton, at a nominal figure. Further land was purchased by or transferred to the Association by various cottagers over the following decades. These lands make up what we now refer to as the Centre Lands.

On July 4, 1951, Letters Patent were issued creating the Long Point Cottagers’ Association, Inc. In 1967, the Long Point Cottagers’ Association lost its Charter and the Center Lands were forfeited to the Crown.

The Long Point Cottagers’ Association (1971) Inc. was chartered as a corporation without share capital on May 21, 1971. A petition to the Lieutenant Governor for the return of the Centre Lands was successfully launched and shortly thereafter the lands were released from forfeiture. The name of the Association was changed on October 18, 1976 to The Long Point Residents Association Inc.

Consistent with the objects of the Association in its Letters Patent, current residents of Long Point continue to enjoy and benefit from the legacy created by the vision, cooperation and efforts of earlier residents. The 180 acre Centre Lands and recreational facilities are owned by the Association for the use and enjoyment of current and future residents of Long Point and their families.