North Sherbrooke was surveyed in 1820-21during the first wave of European settlement to the Highlands and was named for Sir John Sherbrooke, a prominent officer in the British Army who later became Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia and Governor-in-Chief of Canada. The first settlers to this area came from Lanark Village in 1821 in hand-made scows and boats by what was called the "Mississippi route". The land assigned to them was so challenging that they found it difficult to earn the necessary funds to repay the loans provided by the government. In 1827, the British government was petitioned to cancel their indebtedness and grant them their land deeds. This was done on the basis of a commision report recommendation stating "it was a mistake to send so many immigrants to such a rough backward country, without any roads and very little money."

The tour begins at the intersection of McDonald's Corners Road and Lavant Mill Road. This is a short tour of just 30 kilometres and less than an hour driving time. North Sherbrooke has a fuel stop and washrooms at the D & M Store in Snow Road Station, a snack bar and washrooms at Paul's Creek Campsites, a picnic table and a simple outhouse at the Stump Lake boat launch, food at the Snow Road Café and picnic tables and washrooms at Centennial Park on the shore of Dalhousie Lake.

As you pass the 2nd Concession North Sherbrooke, the Wilson family farm is down the road to the right, but little remains that can be seen.

1. John Wilson Family Farm, 2nd concession North Sherbrooke – There is perhaps no better witness to the value of hard work and education than John Wilson, son of Ebenezer Wilson, who settled near the 2nd concession of North Sherbrooke. Remembered in the area as the survivor of the last fatal duel in Canada, John Wilson led a remarkable life. He walked barefoot to the farmers' market in Perth, carrying the farm's first crop of potatoes. His home education was so sound that he excelled as a schoolteacher while still in his teens and was accepted into the then cliquish Perth society as a law student. It was during this apprenticeship that the duel was fought as John defended the honour of a woman. The fatal outcome resulted in a murder trial in which he defended himself successfully but was subsequently banished from Lanark County amid fears of reprisal from the victim's friends. He continued studying law and rose to become a judge in London, Ontario where he is remembered as a champion of the common man. He returned to Lanark County as a circuit court judge, presiding over the same court in which he had been tried decades before. The law society in London, Ontario is called the John Wilson Society.

2. Elphin Schoolhouse, 7125 McDonalds Corners Road – This was the third schoolhouse built over the years in the Elphin community; the previous two log structures having been across the road, closer to the corner. J. H. McFarlane, whose son wrote the Hardy Boys series of books under the pen-name Franklin W. Dixon, taught school here. Every fall, all schools in the area held a fair and each school entered a banner. All the boys brought cows to be judged, and the girls brought pies. The school was the centre for community events, including popular box socials. All the women would prepare a lunch in a fancy box, and the boxes, supposedly anonymous, were then auctioned, with the high bidder getting not only the lunch but the honour of sharing it with the woman who prepared it. There was great competition among the young ladies to make the prettiest box and also among the young men to win the right to share the chosen box with their favourite girl. It was a source of hilarity when mischievous friends would bid up the price of the box which a smitten lad desperately wanted to share with the object of his affections.

ELPHIN — The first settlers in Elphin and surrounding area were members of the Lesmahagow Society, formed in Scotland to help emigration. Elphin, once known as Mann's Corners, is the gateway to the Snow Road. The road from Elphin to the Mississippi River was already in place when surveyor John Snow used it as a point of departure for a road into the unsettled area to Bancroft. This became a supply route for hardy settlers and for the lumber camps working in the abundant forests.

There were two blacksmiths in Elphin and a number of shops. Peter McLaren's general offered a wide selection of hardware and animal feeds. In the evening, farmers gathered there to pick up mail and discuss events of the day. Elphin once had a cheese factory and a livery stable where travelers could get a fresh horse. It is the only village in North Sherbrooke - one of the smallest townships in Ontario.

There was opportunity in Elphin to join a wide variety of organizations such as the North Sherbrooke Circulating Library formed in 1841, the Elphin Cheese Association, the Sons of Scotland, the Royal Templars of Temperance, the Elphin Women's Institute and the Elphin Boxing Club.

As you stand in Elphin and look towards McDonald's Corners you are lined up directly with Ottawa. This was evident on the cold evening of February 3, 1916 when the Parliament Buildings were destroyed by fire. From Elphin, the glow from the flames could be seen straight down the road.

JOHN SNOW AND THE SNOW ROAD – In the mid-1800's, roads were little better than paths through the bush. Perth was the closest town and it would take two or three days of travel to make a return trip with oxen. Potash could be sold there and household necessities purchased. In 1856 the government decided to build the settlers a better road. A government engineer, John Allen Snow began his survey of what came to be called "The Snow Road" in 1857, the year of the Crotch Lake disaster. The road began at the Mississippi River, between Snow Road and Elphin, at Balfour's Bridge, so named because it ran through the Balfour property. The Snow Road entered Palmerston Township, Frontenac County, at what is known locally as the Stone House, then paralleled the Mississippi River to McLaren's Depot and Snow Road. It was to proceed from there north-westerly across Frontenac, Lennox and Addington counties to the Hastings/Addington border - eventually the road went to the Hastings Road a few miles south of Bancroft, a distance of over 70 miles. Despite being officially named a continuation of the Elphin Maberly Road, it continues to be known locally as the Snow Road.

3. Post office and Carding House, 7311 McDonald's Corners Road – This house was at one time the post office. To the left of the house the former sheep shearing shed, which was later a carding house, still stands.

The next site is at the far end of the village travelling by car or on foot.

4. Cheese factory, 2958 Elphin Maberly Road – This community cheese factory opened in 1899 under the direction of Mr. McMunn, the cheesemaker. In later years, it was converted to a creamery. Nearby (2988) was Peter McLaren's general store, and behind the house at 2988 was the livery stable. Between the livery stables and the general store was the site of one of the blacksmith shops. In front was a large round stone used of shaping wagon wheels - the Elphin roundabout.

Country Lane Walk – South from Elphin is the unmaintained 3rd Concession road. Along the two- kilometre walk a variety of flora awaits the amateur botanist. Maple trees that were mature when the first settlers arrived have escaped the lumberman's axe. The forest yields to a wetland which flows into Paul's Creek and then into Dalhousie Lake.

5. Elphin Presbyterian Church 3027 Elphin Maberly Road – Built in 1894, the present church replaces a log church and hall built on the same site and an earlier log church which was located at Crawford Cemetery, a site at the end of the tour. Ellen Wilson was the organist for the Elphin Church where she played every Sunday for 62 years (1904-1966).

Leaving Elphin, the road crosses the summit of Wilson Hill. Before descending the long Smythe's Grade take in the panoramic view across the Mississippi Valley. The highest point along the ridge in the distance is Gemmill's Hill. The tour will take you around the back side of this ridge.

6. 3307 Elphin Maberly Road. This classic old homestead was once farmed by Thomas Wilson, brother of John Wilson.

7. Smyth's Bay, Stump Lake, The Drowned Lands – When the dam at High Falls on the Mississippi River was built, serious flooding occurred, and the trees in Smyth's Bay were "drowned". Local people harvested the trees for firewood, cutting in winter when they were able to get out on the ice. After eighty years, the stumps are still sticking up out of the lake, hence its local name, Stump Lake.

8. Balfour's Bridge — crossing the Mississippi River is the third of the bridges built at this location. It ran through the Balfour property. In 1929 this bridge collapsed when William Balfour was crossing it with his steam tractor. The engine turned upside down several feet under water. He and his helper jumped into the water and escaped being seriously hurt. It was several months before a new bridge was open for traffic.

9. The Stone House, 3925 Elphin Maberly Road – This magnificent local landmark was built in 1889 by lumber baron William Richards. The stone was quarried locally and timbers were taken from the property on the opposite shore, when a bridge once connected the house to the farmland. It straddles the boundary between Lanark and Frontenac counties.

10. Gemmill's Maple Bush and Sugar Shack Gemmills have made maple syrup in this sugar bush continually since 1909. The 3200-tree syrup operation may be visited during March and April.

Just before the D& M General Store, the tour follows Gemmills Road to the right. A side trip past the general store leading to the junctions of Highway 509 and the Elphin Maberly Road offers the opportunity to observe the following heritage sites:

McLAREN'S DEPOT – The present D & M General store was built by the Canada Lumber Co., a syndicate which bought out the Peter McLaren interests on the Mississippi in the late 1800's, including warehouses, mills, stables and blacksmith shop. The blacksmith was James Cameron, father of Walter Cameron, the famous blacksmith and wood carver of Fallbrook. The store and post office operated here until 1914 when a single post office and store in the area was seen as sufficient and John A. Geddes' store next to the railway station in Snow Road Station had the advantage. He had direct access to all the goods from Kingston and Renfrew as it was only 20 yards from the railway mail car to his post office. Ironically, when the railway closed, the post office relocated to McLaren's Depot.

High Falls and the Rivers and Streams Act – In lumbering days, High Falls was the site of several clashes in the historic Caldwell-McLaren feud, when entire districts were "Caldwell" or "McLaren" and rival gangs fought it out in the streets and taverns. Peter McLaren and Boyd Caldwell, lumber barons of their time, each had large timber holdings along the shores of the Mississippi and large mills at Carleton Place. McLaren had made many improvements so that logs could be driven over the Ragged was of the strong opinion that he therefore had sole navigation rights. The most famous incident occurred when Caldwell's timber drive was stalled in a standoff at High Falls above where McLaren's timber was being held at Dalhousie Lake. In the night, Caldwell's foreman slipped past McLaren's sentries and opened the slide, letting the logs go down into the lake. In the ensuing court battle, many of the settlers sided with Caldwell - "we are all poor men and kept poor by the monopolist." The case was in courts for many years, and was eventually settled at the highest court level, the Privy Council of Great Britain. A settlement in Boyd Caldwell's favour led to the historic Canadian Rivers and Streams Act, which made waterways accessible to all. After the McLaren-Caldwell decision, 60,000 logs held in streams above the dam were brought down, employing over 100 men.

11. James Lett Farm, 4263 Elphin Maberly Road – An old wooden silo on the James Lett farm forms part of a picturesque setting. The Green Landing, also on the Lett farm, was a gathering spot for the log drivers and tragically became the burial ground for some who were drowned in the Crotch Lake dam disaster of 1857. This was also probably a camping spot for First Nations people on their travels up and down the Mississippi River trading beads, furs, venison and fish.

SNOW ROAD STATION – The village grew at the intersection of the Snow Road and the Kingston and Pembroke Railway. It became a centre for lumber operations, commerce, transportation, postal services and community activities. In its heyday, there was more maple syrup shipped from Snow Road Station than from anywhere in Canada. John A. "Jack" Geddes ran the store and was postmaster and stationmaster. He was also an agent for most of the American pulp and paper companies. Pulpwood such as poplar was cut one winter and the logs had to be peeled and dried all summer. The following winter they were skidded out, and then sawn up ready for loading into a boxcar at one of the K&P stops. Jack Geddes would arrange the contract, provide advances to the woodsmen to help them through the summer and arrange for a boxcar when the pulpwood was ready to ship. The former station building has been disassembled and reconstructed as a cottage on Millar Lake.

12. Snow Road Presbyterian Church – Built in 1885, the church was fortunate to receive financial assistance from the lumber baron, Peter McLaren. The value of the donation was approximately $700, which at the time would have represented a small fortune. Before its construction, services were held in the local schoolhouse on weekdays; on Sundays some worshippers would travel to services in Elphin, crossing the river by ferry. In 1886, this church became aligned with those of McDonald's Corners and Elphin. Inside is a plaque honouring local historian Hilda Geddes and her seventy-five years as church organist.

Along Highway 509 to the left the former Schoolhouse, closed in 1966, which is now a community centre may be seen. Directly across the road from the community centre is the former Oddfellows' Hall built around 1894. A picnic held at Snow Road in that year raised funds to pay off the debt on the new hall. The first floor of the hall was used for community dinners and dances and the meeting rooms were upstairs.

At highway 509 the route may be retraced, returning to Gemmills Road, which is a gravel road just past the general store.

The amount of timber sawn on the Mississippi in the 1880s was 20-25 million board feet per year. When the 1879 fire burned McLaren sawmill's piling yards, 14,000,000 board feet of lumber were lost with a value at that time of $137,000.00. Today, the "price on the log" would be close to 80 cents a board foot and the lumber would have a value of $11,000,000.

13. Golden Maples Farm, 685 Gemmills Road – This sugar camp, owned and operated by Doug and Wenda Wheeler, is open for visitors in maple syrup season - March and April.

14. Site of Gemmill School, 295 Gemmill's Road – Adam Geddes was a student here before he built the mill at High Falls, Dalhousie Lake. When rural schools were consolidated into Maple Grove School in Lanark Village, Gemmill School was closed. It was later destroyed by fire.

15. High Falls Dam and Penstock, High Falls Road climbs from its intersection with Lavant Mill Road. Beyond the gate the site may be reached by foot. Allow 30 minutes for the return walk. – The generating station was built in 1919. The High Falls dam, which originally provided sufficient power to serve Perth, Smiths Falls and Carleton Place, has an eighty foot head of water and the plant develops 3000 horsepower powered by five one-hundred-year-old generators, which were purchased from New York State. At the time of the built, an economic "boom" occurred in the area during which houses were built at the High Falls site for the 200 construction workers. Cottages at the head of Dalhousie Lake were the first to receive power in July 1920. After the opening of the power station, crowds of people came to witness a modern miracle. The original penstock, dismantled only recently, was made of five-inch BC fir.

DALHOUSIE LAKE – is both the name of the lake and the community at the head of the lake. Named for Lord Dalhousie, Governor-in-Chief of Canada from 1819 -1828, the three-mile-long lake was once a summer and winter "highway". In spring and summer, logs were held in the lake before being driven further down the Mississippi towards the mills; in winter, the lake was an ice road for the hauling of hay and pulpwood. As shown by some of the older cottages at the head of the lake, there has been a summer population here since the late 1800's. The community had grist and saw mills, a post office (1903 - 1950) and a store.

Prehistoric artifacts have been found in the Dalhousie Lake area. Several spearheads have been found dated from the Laurentian Archaic period of 5000 - 1000 B.C. As the Laurentian people were the first substantial population of hunters and fishers to live in Southern Ontario, these finds are considered significant. In addition, a pot dated as 1200 to 1300 years old was found along with a skeleton, bows and arrows in a cave near the lake.

16. Geddes Bridge – This cement bridge crossing the Mississippi River at the head of Dalhousie Lake is the fifth bridge to be constructed here. The Geddes family operated mills on the river just a short distance upstream from where it enters Dalhousie Lake. With a steep rock incline of a hundred feet, this was a natural location for a water-power mill. Pioneer Adam Geddes put up a small saw mill and cut logs for lumber for several years at this location. In 1882, he erected a frame building of a fair size and installed grinding stones imported from Scotland. He then operated a sawmill and a grist mill which produced stone-ground flour, cracked wheat, corn and pea meal and animal fodder.

The bridge is named for Adam Geddes' son Walter "Watt" Geddes who served faithfully as township clerk for 52 years and did much clerical work free for the residents of the district, such as preparing wills, deeds and agreements.

17. CENTENNIAL PARK – This beach and picnic site was built on the site of Walter Geddes' old sugar camp. In the early days it was the location of a log driver's shanty and is still known to some locally as "Shantyman's Camp".

18. CLOSS' STORE, Lavant Mill Road at Eldred's Road – The old building has seen better days but at one time was a hub for neighbours and cottagers at the head of the lake. Proprietor Vera Closs was sometimes willing to sell a loaf of her home-baked bread to her favourite customers. The bread was baked in the wood stove and water was carried up to the kitchen from a nearby creek.

19. Crawford Cemetery, Lavant Mill Road – This is the site of the first Presbyterian log church, built on property donated by John Crawford, a staunch Presbyterian, at whose home the earliest services were held. The Crawford cemetery developed around this first church and continued to expand after the new church was constructed in Elphin and the original church was no longer standing. It is a burying ground for some of Lanark Highland's pioneers, including James Millar, who was drowned taking supplies up-river for the re-building of the dam after the Crotch Lake disaster of 1857. Another pioneer buried here is Margaret McKellar, who did not want to miss the pioneer experience. She left Scotland when she was eighty and spent her final seventeen years in North Sherbrooke.

Returning to McDonald's Corners Road completes the tour.