Kennaway

By Guy Scott

The ghost town of Kennaway lies within the municipality of Dysart et al (Harcourt Township). The Canada Land and Emigration Company purchased a block of 9 townships in Haliburton County in the 1860s. This block included Harcourt Township, just north of Wilberforce. To open up settlement, the Company built a road all the way from Haliburton Village to Elephant Lake: the furthest point east in this block. The road was named the Kennaway Road after a shareholder in the company. A small settlement sprang up along the road between Fishtail and Elephant Lakes. The hamlet was based upon a sawmill, but also included a school and a number of farms. In 1880 it contained 9 farms, 50 people, 15 cattle, 9 sheep, 5 hogs and 2 horses. The community was very isolated; Harcourt and Wilberforce being the nearest centres. With the decline of the lumber industry, the settlement was gradually abandoned. By World War II, the school was closed, there being but 2 students left! The schoolhouse is all that remains today, being preserved as a hunting camp. However, the community is not totally abandoned, the nearby lakes now being filled with cottages.