Home > Owen Sound, Ontario

This area of the upper Great Lakes was first surveyed in 1815 by William Fitzwilliam Owen and Lieutenant Henry W. Bayfield. The inlet was named "Owen's Sound" in honour of Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen, the explorer Owen's older brother.

The city of Owen Sound was originally known as Sydenham when it was first settled in 1841 by Charles Rankin . Prior to that the area had been inhabited by the Ojibway people. The city gained its current name in 1851Events January 23 The flip of a coin determines whether a new city in Oregon is named after Boston, Massachusetts, or Portland, Maine, with Portland winning. March 1 Victor Hugo gives speech at the French national assembly and uses the phrase United State and was incorporated in 1857Events January 9 Earthquake at Fort Tejon, California with an estimated magnitude of 7. 9 February 16 The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education. For much of its history, Owen Sound was a major port city, known as the "Chicago of the North". Its location on Georgian Bay gave it access to the upper Great Lakes, and major rail lines moved cargo south from there. Port duties have declined dramatically since the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway allowed shipping directly to the lower lakes and dramatically lowered costs compared to transhipment via Owen Sound. Farming in the local area and tourism are now integral parts of the local economy.

Owen Sound was the hometown of the World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of flying ace Billy BishopWilliam Avery "Billy" Bishop VC, CB ( February 8 1894 September 11, 1956) — Canadian World War I flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, the highest number for a British Empire pilot. Billy Bishop was born on February 8, 1894, in Owen Sound, On and the local airport (Billy Bishop Regional Airport) is named after him. His boyhood home is now a museum dedicated to his life and to Canada's aviation history. The town was also the home of the artist Tom ThomsonThomas John Thomson ( August 5, 1877 July 8, 1917) was an influential Canadian artist in the early 20th century. Jack Pine by Tom Thomson (1916), from Born near Claremont, Ontario, he grew up in Leith, near Owen Sound. In 1899 he unsuccessfully tried to v (buried in the nearby village of LeithThe unincorporated village of Leith named after Leith, Scotland, is located on the eastern shore of the Owen Sound, an inlet on the south shore of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron about 9 km northeast of the city of Owen Sound, Ontario in Canada. It was establi) and the surgeon Dr. Norman Bethune.

The city has an Ontario Hockey League team, the Owen Sound Attack.

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