How did Pointe au Baril get it's name?

In the mid 1800's when the first boats navigated the waters of Georgian Bay, very few of the channels were marked with anything more than a pile of stones. It was determined that a barrel be erected with a lantern placed on top to guide the boats into the channel after dark or in the event of a storm. This served as the first lighthouse for Pointe au Baril, hence the name which translates "Point of the Barrel". In 1889 the first lighthouse was erected to replace the barrel light. It stands to this day, over a hundred years old and still in use to guide fishing boats, sportsmen and residents to safe harbour and is open for viewing during the summer months.

History buffs will want to visit the stone monument marking the canoe route of Samuel de Champlain's passage through the Pointe au Baril waterway to Georgian Bay in 1615.

Then

The Bellevue Hotel, circa 1940		Pointe au Baril Station CPR Railway Bridge 1950's
CC Kennedy's General Store Pointe au Baril Station, circa 1940		Pointe au Baril Station, circa 1940

If anyone has some good history of Pointe au Baril pictures and stories to share,
to be displayed on this history page please contact us.

Now