Owen Sound 6.04

Owen Sound, the county seat of Grey County, is a city in the northern area of Southwestern Ontario, Canada. . Owen Sound is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay.The primary tourist attractions are the many waterfalls within a short drive of town. Owen Sound is one of the best places to retire in Ontario, according to Comfort Life, a publication for seniors. According to Comfort Life, The Canadian Association of Retired Persons, Yahoo Finance and The Globe and Mail agree with this recommendation.HistoryThe area around the upper Great Lakes has been home to the Ojibwe people since prehistory. In 1815, William Fitzwilliam Owen surveyed the area and named the inlet after his older brother Admiral Edward Owen. A settlement called "Sydenham" was established in 1840 or 1841 by Charles Rankin in an area that had been inhabited by First Nations people. John Telfer settled here at that time and others followed. By 1846, the population was 150 and a sawmill and gristmill were operating. The name Sydenham continued even as the community became the seat for Grey County in 1852.An Ontario historical plaque explains that a First Nations Band, led by Chief Newash had a reserve in the area totaling about 11,000 acres. In 1842 they established the village of Newash which initially contained fourteen log houses, a school and a barn; the population was served by Wesleyan Methodist missionaries. In 1857, the government took over the reserve area and moved most of the inhabitants of Newash to Cape Crocker.