Big Cedar, Haultain, Woodview and North Burleigh

By Guy Scott

After the Burleigh Road was opened up through Burleigh Township, a number of small settlements sprang up along its route. The largest was Apsley, but there were others as well. In the 1860s, a number of pioneers had settled between Stoney Lake and Big Cedar/Julian Lakes. The communities of Big Cedar and Woodview grew up out of these settlements. There were schools, churches and businesses along the road, although they were not concentrated in any one hamlet. The lumber industry was the biggest source of income, and even the pioneer farmers made extra cash by selling their produce to lumber camps. The original post office was established at the east end of Julian Lake where the Burleigh Road crossed Eel’s Creek. It was called Haultain after the local MPP from Peterborough. Eel’s Creek was the largest watercourse in the entire area, running from Eel’s Lake in North Anstruther into Stoney Lake. It was a shallow, turbulent waterway, but it was a major log driving route. A sawmill was set up at Haultain and a community was born. The Haultain Post Office operated from 1866 to 1962. Today Haultain graces the list of Ghost Towns of Ontario—but wait, there are residents in the area and a waste disposal site!

Woodview is the current post office in the area. It was established in 1951, a late date for a new post office! The entire community in South Burleigh contained three school sections and two churches as well as several businesses. The South Burleigh Dairy Cooperative was formed in 1900 and a cheese factory built. Over 30 farmers supplied milk to the factory, which operated until 1933.

Burleigh Township was surveyed in two distinct sections. The South Burleigh section was a mess, but in the north half of the township it was much better! A number of settlers clustered along the Burleigh Road between Haultain and Apsley. The Road followed the course of Eel’s Creek north to Apsley which was located in Anstruther Township, just north of the Burleigh Township boundary. Due to its proximity to Apsley, there were no post offices or hamlets in North Burleigh, but a grist & sawmill was built on Eel’s Creek halfway between Haultain and Apsley. Most of the farms in Burleigh Township are now abandoned. The lumber industry has shrunk. Tourism is now the biggest industry. All three townships in the municipality of North Kawartha (Burleigh, Anstruther, Chandos) contain a large number of lakes now ringed with summer cottages.