View source for Georgian Bay

{{Short description|Large bay of Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada}}
{{For|the namesake township|Georgian Bay, Ontario}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Georgian Bay
| native_name        = {{native name list|tag1=fr|name1=Baie Georgienne|tag2=oj|name2=Waaseyaagami-wiikwed}}
| image              = Georgian Bay on March 20, 2022, cropped from R2AWF03202022280038, IRS AWiFS.png
| caption            = Taken on March 20, 2022 with [[Resourcesat-2]]
| coords             = {{Coord|45.5|N|81.0|W|type:waterbody_scale:3000000_region:CA|display=inline,title}}
| basin_countries    = Canada
| pushpin_map        = Ontario
| length             = {{convert|190|km|mi|abbr=on}}{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}
| width              = {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=on}}{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}
| area               = {{convert|15000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}
| islands            = 31,000+
| depth              = {{convert|150|ft}} near the shoreline of Cabot Head
| cities             = [[Collingwood, Ontario|Collingwood]]<br>[[Owen Sound]]<br>[[Meaford, Ontario|Meaford]]<br>[[Parry Sound, Ontario|Parry Sound]]<br> [[Wiarton, Ontario|Wiarton]]<br>[[Lion's Head, Ontario|Lion's Head]]<br>[[Midland, Ontario|Midland]]<br>[[Penetanguishene]]<br>[[Wasaga Beach]]<br> [[Killarney, Ontario|Killarney]]
}}

The '''Georgian Bay''' ({{langx|fr|Baie Georgienne}}) is a large [[bay]] of [[Lake Huron]], in the [[Laurentia (bioregion)|Laurentia bioregion]]. It is located entirely within the borders of [[Ontario]], Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the [[Bruce Peninsula]] and [[Manitoulin Island]]. To its northwest is the [[North Channel (Ontario)|North Channel]].

The Georgian Bay is surrounded by (listed [[clockwise]]) the districts of [[Manitoulin District|Manitoulin]], [[Sudbury District, Ontario|Sudbury]], [[Parry Sound District, Ontario|Parry Sound]] and [[Muskoka District, Ontario|Muskoka]], as well as the more populous counties of [[Simcoe County, Ontario|Simcoe]], [[Grey County, Ontario|Grey]] and [[Bruce County, Ontario|Bruce]]. The Main Channel separates the Bruce Peninsula from Manitoulin Island and connects the Georgian Bay to the rest of Lake Huron. The North Channel, located between Manitoulin Island and the Sudbury District, west of [[Killarney, Ontario|Killarney]], was once a popular route for [[steamship]]s and is now used by a variety of [[pleasure craft]] to travel to and from the Georgian Bay.

The shores and waterways of the Georgian Bay are the traditional domain of the [[Anishinaabe]]g [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] peoples to the north and [[Wyandot people|Huron]]-[[Petun]] (Wyandot) to the south. The bay was thus a major [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]]-[[Iroquois|Iroquoian]] trade route. 

==Etymology==
The Georgian Bay has been known by several names. To the [[Ojibwe]], it is known as "Spirit Lake". To the [[Wyandot people|Huron-Wendat]], it is known as Lake Attigouatan. [[Samuel de Champlain]], the first European to explore and map the area in 1615–1616, called it "''La Mer douce''" (the sweet/calm/fresh sea), which was a reference to the bay's [[Fresh water|freshwater]].<ref name = HAC>{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Geoffrey J. |editor=Harris, Cole R. |title=Historical Atlas of Canada |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=1987 |location=Toronto |isbn=0-8020-2495-5}}</ref> It was named "Lake Manitoulin" by [[Royal Navy]] Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen.<ref name="Ketcheson">{{cite web |first=Graham |last=Ketcheson |url=https://pennsylvaniaclub.com/history/documents/bayhistory.pdf |publisher=The Pennsylvania Club |title=History of Georgian Bay |accessdate=November 24, 2022}}</ref> In 1822, after Great Britain had taken over the territory, Lieutenant [[Henry Wolsey Bayfield]] of a Royal Navy expedition named it the "Georgian Bay" (after [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]]).<ref name="Ketcheson"/>

==Geography==
{{floatbox|[[File:Great Lakes Lake Huron Georgian Bay.png|thumb|left|200px|Main body of the Georgian Bay highlighted on the map of the [[Great Lakes]]]]}}

The Georgian Bay is about {{convert|190|km|mi}} long by {{convert|80|km|mi}} wide.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/230299/Georgian-Bay Georgian Bay (bay, Ontario, Canada) - Encyclopædia Britannica]. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref> It covers approximately {{convert|15000|km2|sqmi}}, making it nearly 80% the size of [[Lake Ontario]].<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Georgian+Bay Georgian Bay - definition of Georgian Bay by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia]. Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131016170814/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/georgian-bay "Nearly as large as Lake Ontario, it is one of the world's great bodies of fresh water."] (Archived from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120718125543/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/georgian-bay the original] on October 16, 2013.)</ref>

The eastern Georgian Bay is part of the southern edge of the [[Canadian Shield]], granite bedrock exposed by the glaciers at the end of the last [[ice age]], about 11,000 years ago. The granite rock formations and windswept [[pinus strobus|eastern white pine]] are characteristic of the islands and much of the shoreline of the bay. The rugged beauty of the area inspired landscapes by artists of the [[Group of Seven (artists)|Group of Seven]]. The western part of the bay, from [[Collingwood, Ontario|Collingwood]] north, and including [[Manitoulin Island|Manitoulin]], [[Drummond Island|Drummond]], [[Cockburn Island (Ontario)|Cockburn]] and [[St. Joseph Island (Ontario)|St. Joseph]] islands, borders the [[Niagara Escarpment]]. Because of its size and narrowness of the straits joining it with the rest of Lake Huron, which is analogous to if not as pronounced as the separation of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan,<ref>"[http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Programs/glscf/hydrology.html Great Lakes Sensitivity to Climatic Forcing: Hydrological Models] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808074846/http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Programs/glscf/hydrology.html |date=2010-08-08 }}." NOAA, 2006.</ref> Georgian Bay is sometimes called the "sixth Great Lake".<ref name="Barry1995">{{cite book |last=Barry |first=James P. |title=Georgian Bay: The Sixth Great Lake |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXYnPQAACAAJ |orig-year=1968 |year=1995 |publisher=Boston Mills Press |isbn=978-1-55046-172-5 |oclc=37863060}}</ref>

If the Georgian Bay were considered a lake in its own right, it would be the fourth largest lake located entirely within Canada (after [[Great Bear Lake]], [[Great Slave Lake]] and [[Lake Winnipeg]]). Considered together with the Georgian Bay, Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes{{clarify|date=March 2025|reason=by surface area? by volume?}} - if the Georgian Bay were excluded, Lake Huron would be the third largest (after [[Lake Superior]] and [[Lake Michigan]], but still ahead of [[Lake Erie]] and [[Lake Ontario]]).

There are tens of thousands of islands in the Georgian Bay. Most of these islands are along the east side of the bay and are collectively known as the "[[Thirty Thousand Islands]]", including the larger [[Parry Island, Ontario|Parry Island]]. Manitoulin Island, lying along the northern side of the bay, is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake. The [[Trent–Severn Waterway]] connects the Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario, running from [[Port Severn, Ontario|Port Severn]] in the southeastern corner of the Georgian Bay through [[Lake Simcoe]] into Lake Ontario near [[Trenton, Ontario|Trenton]]. Further north, [[Lake Nipissing]] drains into the Georgian Bay through the [[French River (Ontario)|French River]]. In October 2004, the [[Georgian Bay Littoral]] was declared a [[Biosphere Reserve]] by [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]].{{clear left}}

==History==
[[File:Tom Thomson - Pine Island, Georgian Bay.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tom Thomson]], ''Pine Island, Georgian Bay'', Winter 1914–16. [[National Gallery of Canada]], [[Ottawa]]]]
Archaeological records reveal an [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Aboriginal]] presence in the southern regions of the Canadian Shield dating from 11,000 years ago. Evidence of later [[Paleo-Indians|Paleo-Indian]] settlements have been found on Manitoulin Island and near [[Killarney, Ontario|Killarney]].

During the period of [[deglaciation]], a succession of prehistoric lakes in the Huron basin caused shoreline advance and retreat. The former shoreline of pro-glacial [[Lake Algonquin]] left behind high ridges which were attractive sites for human occupation. As shorelines retreated, the highly mobile Paleo-Indian groups of the period were able to migrate northward into this new land.<ref name=Lennox>{{cite journal |last=Lennox |first=Paul A. |date=2000 |title=The Rentner and McKean Sites: 10,000 Years of Settlement on the Shores of Lake Huron, Simcoe County, Ontario |journal=[[Ontario Archaeology]] |publisher=Ontario Archaeological Society |volume=70 |pages=16–65 |url=https://ontarioarchaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/oa070_part_2.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|56}} Declining water levels created two distinct lakes in the Huron basin: [[Lake Stanley]] and [[Lake Hough]], the latter of which corresponds to the modern Georgian Bay. Lake Stanley drained into Lake Hough through a spillway. While it is sometimes unclear whether some sites were contemporaneous with shorelines or were located a distance inland,<ref name=Lennox />{{rp|56-57}} sites are geographically temporally stratified in correspondence with water levels. 

{{anchor|McKean site}}{{anchor|Rentner site}}For example, at two sites along Batteaux Creek near modern-day [[Collingwood, Ontario|Collingwood]] adjacent to the south shore of the Georgian Bay, the transitional Late Paleo-Indian{{endash}}[[Early Archaic period|Early Archaic]]<ref name=Lennox />{{rp|55}} McKean site corresponds to the relatively low water ebb of Lake Hough, while the Middle Archaic Rentner site (likely a true shoreline site) reflects the high water levels of the later Nipissing transgression.<ref name=Lennox />{{rp|57}}

At the time of European [[First contact (anthropology)|contact]], the [[Ojibwe]] and [[Odawa|Ottawa]] First Nations, both of whom call themselves [[Anishinaabe]] (plural: ''Anishinaabeg''), lived along the northern, eastern and western shores of the Georgian Bay. The [[Wyandot people|Huron]] (or Wendat) and [[Petun]] inhabited the lands along the southern coast, having migrated from the northern shores of Lake Ontario. Names of islands such as "Manitoulin" (from ''[[Gitchi Manitou]]'', the Great Spirit who left the bay as a source of life for the first people) and "Giant's Tomb" are indicative of the richness of the cultural history of the area. Aboriginal communities continue to live on their territories and practise their cultural traditions.

The first [[Europe]]an to visit this area was likely [[Étienne Brûlé]], who at an age of less than 20, in 1610 was sent to live as an [[interpreter]] trainee with the [[Onontchataronon]], an [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] people of the [[Ottawa River]]. He travelled every winter to live with the [[Arendarhonon]] people of the [[Huron-Wendat Nation]] at the southern end of the Georgian Bay, in the area now called [[Huronia (region)|Huronia]]. Brulé returned to the Arendarhonon the following year. At the same time another young interpreter trainee, a youth remembered only as Thomas, who was employed by the French [[surgeon]] and [[merchant|trader]] Daniel Boyer, also likely made it to Huronia, in the company of the Onontchataronon, another member of the confederacy.

In 1615, Brulé's employer, the French explorer [[Samuel de Champlain]], made his own visit to the Georgian Bay and overwintered in [[Huronia (region)|Huronia]]. He was preceded that summer by a [[Récollet]] [[missionary]], [[Joseph Le Caron]], who would live among the Huron in 1615–1616 and 1623–1624. Another Récollet missionary, [[Gabriel Sagard]], lived there from 1623 to 1634. The French [[Jesuit]] [[Jean de Brébeuf]] began a mission in Huronia in 1626. In 1639 he oversaw the building of the mission fort of Sainte-Marie, Ontario's first European settlement, at what is now the town of [[Midland, Ontario|Midland]]. The reconstructed Jesuit mission, [[Sainte-Marie among the Hurons]], is now a historic park operated by Huronia Historical Parks, an agency of the [[Ministry of Tourism and Culture (Ontario)|Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture]]. Also nearby is the [[Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs|Martyrs' Shrine]], a Catholic church dedicated to the [[Canadian Martyrs]], Jesuits who were killed during [[Iroquois]] warfare against the Huron around the Georgian Bay in the 17th century. The Bay appears on maps of the time as "Toronto Bay".

[[Penetanguishene]], the location of an Ojibwe village located at the southern tip of the bay near present-day Midland, was developed as a [[naval base]] in 1793 by [[John Graves Simcoe]], first [[Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada]]. In 1814, during the [[War of 1812]] between Great Britain and the United States, one of the battles was fought in the southern Georgian Bay. On August 17, at the mouth of the [[Nottawasaga River]] near Wasaga Beach, the British [[schooner]] [[Nancy (1789 ship)|HMS ''Nancy'']] was sunk by three American vessels. Several weeks later, ''Nancy'' was avenged when British boarding parties in the [[De Tour Passage Underwater Preserve|De Tour Passage]] surprised and captured two of the three American vessels.

The first nautical charts of the Georgian Bay were made in 1815 by Captain [[William Fitzwilliam Owen]], who called it Lake Manitoulin. Captain [[Henry Bayfield]], who made more detailed charts of the bay, renamed it in 1822 after King George IV. His charts are the basis for those in use today.

The [[Canadian Hydrographic Service]] traces its history back to 1883, when it was originally established as the Georgian Bay Survey, tasked with charting and improving knowledge of the bay after a steamship wrecked there the previous year, killing 150 of its passengers.

Over the years, 32 lighthouses were built on the Georgian Bay. Six of them were designed with limestone towers; these were built in the 1850s and are known collectively as the Imperial Towers. Some of the 32 can be toured by the public, some cannot, and some are accessible only by tour boats or private boat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitgeorgianbay.com/lighthouse-marine.cfm |title=Lighthouse Tour |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2017 |website=Visit Georgian Bay |publisher=Georgian Bay Destination Development Partnership |access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref>

==Legend of Kitchikewana==
[[Image:BeausoleilIslandCedarSprings2004.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The waters between Finger Point and Thumb Point near Cedar Springs, [[Beausoleil Island]]]]
[[Wyandot people|Wyandot]] legend tells of a god called Kitchikewana, who was large enough to guard the whole of the Georgian Bay. Kitchikewana was known for his great temper, and his tribe decided the best way to calm him was with a wife. They held a grand celebration, and many women came. Kitchikewana met a woman named Wanakita here. He decided that this was the woman he wanted to marry, and started planning the wedding immediately after she left. But when she was invited back, she told Kitchikewana that she was already engaged. Enraged, Kitchikewana destroyed all the decorations, running to one end of [[Beausoleil Island]] and grabbing a large ball of earth. Running to the other end, he tossed it into the Great Lakes. Thus, the 30,000 Islands were created. The indentations left behind by his fingers form the five bays of the Georgian Bay: Midland, Penetang, Hog, Sturgeon, and [[Matchedash Bay|Matchedash]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cqsb.qc.ca/svs/434/fnkitchi.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021032140/http://www.cqsb.qc.ca/svs/434/fnkitchi.htm|url-status=dead|title=The Ouendat (Huron) Indian Legend of Kitchikewana|archivedate=October 21, 2007}}</ref> He then lay down to sleep and sleeps there still as [[Giants Tomb Island|Giant's Tomb Island]].

The town of [[Penetanguishene]] now has a large statue of Kitchikewana on its main street, and there is a YMCA summer camp for youth located on [[Beausoleil Island]] named after Kitchikewana.<ref>[http://www.ymcaofsimcoemuskoka.ca/kitchi/summer.htm "Overnight Camp"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308135032/http://www.ymcaofsimcoemuskoka.ca/kitchi/summer.htm |date=2010-03-08 }} on the [[YMCA]] of Simcoe/Muskoka website</ref>

==Settlements==
[[Wasaga Beach]] has now passed [[Collingwood, Ontario|Collingwood]] as the largest town on the bay, not long after Collingwood had surpassed [[Owen Sound]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://population.city/canada/collingwood/|title=Collingwood · Population|website=population.city}}</ref> Owen Sound served for a long time as a shipping and rail depot for the [[Great Lakes#Geography|Upper Great Lakes]]. The towns of [[Midland, Ontario|Midland]] and [[Penetanguishene]] and villages of  [[Severn, Ontario|Port Severn]] and [[Georgian Bay, Ontario|Honey Harbour]] are at the southeastern end of the bay and are popular sites for summer cottages, as are the many bays and islands on the eastern coast. Collingwood, [[Meaford, Ontario|Meaford]], and Wasaga Beach are located at the southern end of the bay, around [[Nottawasaga Bay]]. Owen Sound, [[Wiarton, Ontario|Wiarton]], and [[Lion's Head, Ontario|Lion's Head]] are located on the [[Bruce Peninsula]] along the southern and southwestern shores of the bay, while [[Tobermory, Ontario|Tobermory]] is located at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula on the Main Channel. The passenger ferry {{MS|Chi-Cheemaun}} travels from Tobermory across the Main Channel to [[Tehkummah|South Baymouth]] on Manitoulin Island. [[Parry Sound]], the world's deepest freshwater port, is located on the eastern shore of the bay.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://downtownparrysound.ca/about/#:~:text=Parry%20Sound%2C%20located%20on%20the,Edward%20Parry%2C%20the%20Arctic%20Explorer.|title = About &#124; Parry Sound – Downtown Business Association}}</ref> 

There are communities of summer cottages on the north and east shore and on the adjacent 30,000 Islands. These include areas such as Cognashene, Wah Wah Taysee, [[The Archipelago|Sans Souci]], [[Pointe au Baril, Ontario|Pointe au Baril]] and [[Byng Inlet (Ontario)|Byng Inlet]]. Most of these cottages are accessible only by water.

==Images==
{{gallery|mode=packed|align=center|width=135|height=135
|File:2007.05.17 45 Road Dyers Head Cabot Head Ontario.jpg|Georgian Bay at [[Cabot Head]]
|File:Reed's dump on Georgian Bay.jpg|Reed's dump beach on Georgian Bay near the campsite
|File:Windswept pine on Georgian Bay.jpg|Shoreline of Georgian Bay
|File:Sunset over Georgian Bay.jpg|Sunset over Georgian Bay
}}

==See also==
* [[Canadian Shield]]
* [[Christian Island (Ontario)]]
* [[Royal eponyms in Canada]]
* ''[[True North II]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=[[Shaped by the West Wind: Nature and History in Georgian Bay]] |first=Claire Elizabeth |last=Campbell |location=Vancouver |publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-7748-1098-X}}
* {{cite book |title=The Archaeology of Southern Ontario To 1650 |editor1-first=C. |editor1-last=Ellis |editor2-first=N. |editor2-last=Ferris |publisher=London Chapter, Ontario Archaeological Society |year=1990 |isbn=0-919350-13-5}}
* {{cite book |title=The Georgian Bay: An Account of Its Position, Inhabitants, Mineral Interests, Fish, Timber and Other Resources |year=1893 |first= James Cleland |last=Hamilton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9UOAAAAYAAJ |location=Toronto |publisher=James Bain & Son}}
* {{cite book |title=Historical Atlas of Canada, Volume I: From the Beginning to 1800 |editor-first=R. Cole |editor-last=Harris |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-8020-2495-5}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Markle |first1=Chantel E. |last2=Rutledge |first2=Julia M. |last3=Chow-Fraser |first3=Patricia |date=September 2018 |title=Factors Affecting Coastal Wetland Occupancy for Eastern Musk Turtles (''Sternotherus odoratus'') in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron |journal=[[Herpetologica]] |publisher=Herpetologists' League |volume=74 |number=3 |pages=236–244 |doi=10.1655/Herpetologica-D-18-00002 |jstor=26534577|s2cid=91169298 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Georgian Bay}}

*[http://www.native-languages.org/chippewa.htm Native Languages of the Americas]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220331084205/http://www.tolatsga.org/ojib.html "Ojibwe History"] as preserved by [[Archive.org]] Shultzman, L. 2000. ''First Nations Histories''. Accessed: 2006-03-28.
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Georgian Bay |volume=11 |short=x}}
* [http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/georg/index.aspx Georgian Bay Islands National Park of Canada], on the [[Government of Canada|Government of Canada Site]] {{in lang|en|fr}}

{{Great Lakes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Georgian Bay| ]]
[[Category:Bays of Lake Huron]]
[[Category:Bays of Ontario]]
[[Category:Southwestern Ontario]]
[[Category:Biosphere reserves of Canada]]