The oral history of the settlement of Canning Lake: Part two of a continuing project

The oral history of the settlement of Canning Lake: Part two of a continuing project

Carter, Andrea

Canning Lake Property Owners' Association Inc
Host contact: Mitchell, Jim

Brunger, Alan
Department: Geography

TP-473

2004

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Canning Lake

Settlement history of Canning Lake
Geography

This project represents the second phase of a project proposed by the Canning Lake Property's Association to chronicle the settlement history of the Lake and concentrates on the oral history of this settlement story. The researcher uses questionnaires and interviews to obtain information about the history of Canning Lake. A literature review examining the settlement of Upper Canada, the Ottawa-Huron Tract, and the Haliburton area introduces the study.

This report is the second phase to chronicle the settlement history of Canning Lake. To focus on the oral history component of this project, two methods were selected, questionnaires and individual interviews. Questionnaires were distributed in October 2003 within the fall newsletter put out by the Lake Association. The interviews were conducted over the phone and recorded to be transcribed. There was no specific time length for the interviews and interviewees were encouraged to speak freely. Both the questions for the questionnaire and the interviews were developed in phase 1 of this project.

Categories for answers were assigned such as previous owners of the property, buildings on the property, their reason for choosing Canning Lake and the date of property purchase. Analysis on the transcripts suggest the reason for choosing Canning Lake mainly comes from family and friend links, teaching community, and minor changes to original properties. Land use practices have only altered slightly and that early times on the lake displayed low population, poor roads, and personal entertainment. These results are the beginning of an interesting analysis which show information from various areas of the lake itself.

Trent University