Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, Blue Mountain, Owen Sound, Sauble Beach. All these fairly well known destinations form a line from east to west across the top of south central Ontario. Between Collingwood and Owen Sound, there is Meaford, Ontario.
A quiet town. Meaford still dabbles in the apple orchard industry but has also started to become a home to the retired and a weekend getaway like its neighbours.
After never stopping in this town before, I’ve now paid two visits over the past 3-4 months. The first was during the icy, bitter winter season with cold northwest winds blowing off Georgian Bay. The second was a recent early morning springtime visit for sunrise.
Image galleries below show the same waterfront area in Meaford, Ontario but in drastically different seasons. I do plan to return when summer is in full bloom to get yet another perspective. The video at the bottom of this article is a driving tour through town.
Meaford, Ontario Winter Image Gallery
With any of the photos in the two galleries below, for a larger version simply click on the individual pictures.
High resolution versions of these images and other photos from the same day are available at Dreamstime. Want to earn cash from your own photos? Why not sign up for free with Dreamstime and start submitting now: Become a paid photographer!
Meaford, Ontario Spring Sunrise Gallery
About Meaford, Ontario
Meaford, Ontario is town with a population of around 11,000, located on the shores of Georgian Bay. The town is located 30 kilometres east of Owen Sound, Ontario and 35 km west of Collingwood. If you’re coming from downtown Toronto, it would be a 180 km drive to the northwest.
The Bighead River meets Georgian Bay in the centre of town at Nottawasaga Bay. A short but powerful river, it’s headwaters are just a short distance away at Chatsworth, a town where highways six and ten meet.
Meaford was settled in 1845. It was give its current name in 1865 and incorporated as a town in 1874. it was a boom town in the 1880’s with a dozen general stores and ten hotels.
Famous Canadian artist Tom Thomson was raised in Leith, now part of the community of Meaford. The Tom Thomson trail begins at the site of pretty much all of the above photos, Fred Raper Park. Raper was one of the town’s earliest settlers. The Tom Thomson trail runs from Meaford to Owen Sound.
Perhaps the most famous former resident is Beautiful Joe. This is a dog that was owned by a Meaford man in the 1800’s. The man abused Joe to the point of near death. He was then rescued by a Walter Moore in 1890. Joe recovered and lived a happy end to his life. The dog inspired the 1893 bestselling novel ‘Beautiful Joe‘.
Beautiful Joe, written by Margaret Marshall Saunders, became the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies. More importantly, the book brought worldwide awareness to animal cruelty.
Meaford, Ontario Driving Tour Video
The video below was taken during a January, 2019 visit to Meaford, Ontario. Fred Raper Park was coated in several inches of ice from the spray off Georgian Bay. Following some chilly scenes of the ice and water, we take a driving tour through town.
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