Earliest History of Barrie, ON

Barrie, ON existed long before Europeans discovered the area. Indigenous peoples had used the Barrie area as the beginning of a portage route between the Kempenfelt Bay of Lake Simcoe, to Willow Creek.  Willow Creek is a tributary of the Nottawasaga River which leads eventually to Lake Huron via the Georgian Bay. Learn more here.

War of 1812

The first Europeans were the British who used the area around Barrie as a supply depot.  The old native portage trail, now called Nine Mile Portage, was used as the military supply line between Barrie and Fort Willow which was located to the west of Barrie.  Learn more about The Trans Canada Trail in Barrie, ON.

The 1800s

Back when Barrie was just a small collection of houses and warehouses in 1833, it was named after Sir Robert Barrie who was a British naval commander.  

A branch of the famous Underground Railroad had a destination in Barrie.  In the 1800s this allowed many American slaves to escape from America and settle the area in and around Barrie.  By 1869, Barrie was growing so fast it was established as the country seat of Simcoe County.

The late 1800s were marked by fires.  Many of the businesses in Barrie depended on fire to operate and it was very easy for fires to get out of hand and burn down the old wooden buildings.