page_title: District Municipality of Muskoka
section_title: Settlement
hierarchical_section_title: District Municipality of Muskoka / History / Settlement
caption_attribution_description: On Indian River, Muskoka Lakes, Canada Creator: Valentine &amp; Sons' Publishing Co. Ltd Date: 1910 Identifier:PC-ON 1241 Format: Postcard Rights: Public domain Courtesy: Toronto Public Library You can order order a print or high-resolution copy. This image is available from the Toronto Public Library under the reference number PC-ON 1241This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing. English&#160;| français&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: The District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka or Muskoka, is a regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Muskoka extends from Georgian Bay in the west, to the northern tip of Lake Couchiching in the south, to the western border of Algonquin Provincial Park in the east. A two-hour drive north of Toronto, Muskoka spans 6,475 km². Muskoka has some 1,600 lakes, making it a popular cottaging destination.
  This region, which, along with Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes, and Peterborough County is referred to as "cottage country", sees over 2.1 million visitors annually. Muskoka is an area populated with several villages and towns, farming communities, and lakeside vacation hotels and resorts near to golf courses, country clubs, and marinas. The regional government seat is Bracebridge and the largest population centre is Huntsville.
  Muskoka is geographically located within the Central Ontario region of the province, although it is treated as part of Northern Ontario by some government programs.
  Muskoka is a summer destination for Toronto residents and was the #1 most searched Canadian destination for vacation rentals in 2017.
context_section_description: The passage of the Free Grants and Homestead Act of 1868, opened the era of widespread settlement to Muskoka. Settlers could receive free land if they agreed to clear the land, have at least 15 acres (6.1 ha) under cultivation, and build a 16x20 ft, or 320-square-foot (30 m²) house. Settlers under the Homestead Act, however, found the going hard. Clearing 15 acres of dense forest is a huge task.  Once the land was clear, the settlers had to attack Muskoka's ubiquitous rocks, which also had to be cleared.  Consisting largely of a dense clay, the soil in the region turned out to be poorly suited to farming.
  As news of the difficult conditions spread back to the south, development in Muskoka began to falter, but development of the steamship revived industry.  In a time when the railroads had not yet arrived and road travel was notoriously unreliable and uncomfortable, the transportation king was the steamship. Once a land connection was made to the southern part of the lake in Gravenhurst, the logging companies could harvest trees along the entire lakefront with relative ease.  Steamships gave them the way to ship the harvest back to the sawmills in Gravenhurst.
caption: Steamship on Indian River Muskoka Lakes
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