Tay River

Last updated
Tay River
Beckwith Street (former swing bridge, Tay Canal).jpg
Tay River in Perth
Canada Southern Ontario relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of the Tay River in southern Ontario
Location
Country Canada
Province Ontario
Region Eastern Ontario
County Lanark
Physical characteristics
Source Bobs Lake
 • location Lanark Highlands
 • coordinates 44°45′34″N76°31′21″W / 44.75944°N 76.52250°W / 44.75944; -76.52250
 • elevation162 m (531 ft)
Mouth Lower Rideau Lake, Rideau River
 • location
 Port Elmsley
 • coordinates
 44°52′43″N76°06′46″W / 44.87861°N 76.11278°W / 44.87861; -76.11278 Coordinates: 44°52′43″N76°06′46″W / 44.87861°N 76.11278°W / 44.87861; -76.11278
 • elevation
125 m (410 ft)
Length95 km (59 mi)
Basin size850 km2 (330 sq mi)
Basin features
Progression Rideau River→ Ottawa River→ Saint Lawrence River→ Gulf of Saint Lawrence
River system Ottawa River basin

The Tay River is a river in Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. [1] [2] It is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Rideau River.

Contents

The Tay River watershed, covering a drainage area in excess of 800 square kilometers, is the westmost of the 6 recognized subwatersheds managed by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. [3]

Course

This river starts at Bobs Lake and leaves the lake, controlled by a weir, near the community of Bolingbroke in geographic South Sherbrooke Township, [4] part of the municipality of Tay Valley. [2] It heads northeast, passes under Lanark County Road 36, reaches Christie Lake and passes there into geographic Bathurst Township. [5] It continues northeast, passes under Lanark County Road 6, and divides into two channels; the right channel is known as Scotts Snye. The river then travels through the community of Glen Tay, continuing to Perth. The river splits into two main channels as it flows through downtown Perth. The two channels have recombined by the time it leaves Perth and continues to the Rideau River, which drains via the Ottawa River into the Saint Lawrence River.

The river is 95 kilometres (59 miles) in length and drains an area of 850 square kilometres (330 square miles). [6] A canal connects the river to the Tay Canal, and Rideau Canal systems at Beveridge Bay on Lower Rideau Lake.

Lakes in the Tay watershed

Top of Watershed (above north-south railroad line from Oconto to Tichborne)

Abbott, Barton, Carnahan, Clow, Danby, Duncan, Eagle, Elbow, Leggat, Little Beaver, Little Mud, Long, Miller, Oconto, Scanlin, Spruce, Watson

Middle watershed (between Oconto/Tichborne line and Christie Lake)

Atwood, Beaver, Bobs & Crow, Buck Bay, Burns Pond, Christie, Crosby, Davern, Deer, Doran, Farrell, Green Bay, Lake of the Hills, Little Crosby, Little Rock, Little Silver, Little Twins, Lynn, Mud Bay, O’Brien, Pike, Rainbow, Rock (north), Sucker, Thompson Pond, Victoria, Weatherhead

Below Christie Lake

Andrew, Doctor McLaren, Mills, Mud, Otty, Rock (south), Thoms Mud

History

The Tay River was formed during the retreat of the Champlain Sea after the last ice age. The name given to it by the Mississauga First Nation, who controlled its territory at the time of the arrival of the first European settlers, appears to have not been recorded. They used its territory for hunting, especially in the winter, and likely harvested manoomin (wild rice) on some of its lakes, for instance Christie Lake. Early European settlers called it the Pike River; the name Tay replaced it at some time during the arrival of many Scottish settlers after the founding of the Perth Military Settlement in 1816, doubtless in reference to the River Tay in Scotland. The new name was already clearly established during the construction of numerous mills on the river in the 1820s, and the Tay Canal in the 1830s. [7]

Mills on the Tay, the Tay Canal, and more broadly the resultant access to the Rideau Canal system provided important commercial connections from Frontenac and Lanark Counties to Ottawa and markets beyond, in particular for logging. Dams on the upper Tay created lakes (e.g. Bobs Lake) that were reservoirs of water for the Rideau Canal at the time, and are important to cottagers and seasonal residents today.

Following municipal amalgamation in Ontario in 1998, the river has provided its name to the municipality of Tay Valley, Ontario, even though the municipality neither wholly contains, nor is wholly contained by, the Tay River watershed.

See also

Related Research Articles

Perth, Ontario Town in Ontario, Canada

Perth is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Tay River, 83 kilometres (52 mi) southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County.

Rideau River

The Rideau River is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is 146 kilometres (91 mi).

Lanark County County in Ontario, Canada

Lanark County is a county located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is Perth, which was first settled in 1816. Most European settlements of the county began in 1816, when Drummond, Beckwith and Bathurst townships were named and initially surveyed. The first farm north of the Rideau was cleared and settled somewhat earlier, in 1790. The county took its name from the town of Lanark in Scotland. Nearly all the townships were named after British public and military figures from the era of early settlement.

Drummond/North Elmsley Township in Ontario, Canada

Drummond/North Elmsley is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada in Lanark County. It is situated on the north shore of the Rideau River between the town of Perth and the town of Smiths Falls. It is a predominantly rural municipality. The township offices are located in the hamlet of Port Elmsley.

Tay Valley, Ontario Township in Ontario, Canada

Tay Valley is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada, on the Tay River in the southwest corner of Lanark County, adjacent to the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and Frontenac County. The township administrative offices are located in Glen Tay.

Gananoque River

The Gananoque River is a river in Leeds and Grenville United Counties in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river is in the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Saint Lawrence River.

Balsam Lake is a lake in the City of Kawartha Lakes in Central Ontario, Canada. It is in the Great Lakes Basin, is one of the lakes of the Kawartha Lakes, and is at the summit of the Trent–Severn Waterway.

Jock River

The Jock River, known locally as the Mighty Jock, is a river in Ottawa and Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Rideau River. The river is named after Jacques, a French man who drowned in it in the early 19th century, and it was once known as the Goodwood River. The River is supported by a community-volunteer organization known as the Friends of the Jock River.

Big Rideau Lake

Big Rideau Lake is a lake in the municipalities of Tay Valley and Drummond/North Elmsley, Lanark County and Rideau Lakes, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The lake is on the border between the two counties, 72 kilometres (45 mi) to the southwest of Ottawa. It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) long and is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) wide, is much narrower at its northeastern end than at its southwestern end, and is part of the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin. It is the largest lake on the Rideau Canal, which was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2007.

The Clyde River is a river in Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin, is a left tributary of the Mississippi River, and was named after the River Clyde in Scotland.

Kemptville Creek

Kemptville Creek is a stream in the municipalities of North Grenville and Augusta, in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Ottawa River drainage basin, is a right tributary of the Rideau River, and is under the auspices of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

Mississippi Lake is a lake in Lanark County in Ontario, Canada. Ontario's Mississippi River flows northeast and north through the lake. Several small creeks including Cranberry Creek, McCrearys Creek, and McGibbon Creek drain into the lake from adjoining forest and agricultural land. The lake is distinctive for having one side that is part of the Canadian shield, while the other is mostly limestone. The lake is a remnant of the old Champlain Sea, which flooded eastern Ontario at the end of last ice age. The former shoreline of the sea can still be traced inland from the north shore of the lake.

Tay Canal Canal in Canada

The Tay Canal is the portion of the Tay River in the eastern Ontario region, providing a connection between the town of Perth and the Rideau Canal at Beveridge Bay on Lower Rideau Lake. The canal is 9.8 km (6.1 mi) in length and is operated today by Parks Canada as part of their Rideau Canal operations. At the entrance to the Tay Canal are two locks, Upper and Lower Beveridge Locks, which provide a total lift of 7.6 m (25 ft).

Upper Rideau Lake

Upper Rideau Lake is located in the municipality of Rideau Lakes, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Saint Lawrence River Drainage Basin, and geographically the highest lake on the Rideau Canal System.

Geography of Ottawa

This is the outline of the geography of the city of Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Ottawa's current borders were formed in 2001, when the former city of Ottawa amalgamated with the ten other municipalities within the former Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton. Ottawa is now a single-tiered census division, home to 870,250 people.

Bobs Lake is a lake in Frontenac County and Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the St. Lawrence River drainage basin and is the source of the Tay River.

King's Highway 43, also known as Highway 43, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. On January 1, 1998, the entire route was transferred to the county that each section resided in, resulting in the current designations of Lanark County Road 43, Leeds and Grenville Road 43 and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Road 43. Highway 43 ran somewhat parallel to and between Highway 401 and Highway 417 from Highway 7 in Perth to Highway 34 in Alexandria, passing through several small towns along the way. At 154.2 km (95.8 mi), it is the longest highway in Ontario to be decommissioned entirely during the mass transfer of Highways in 1997 and 1998.

Boyne River (Nottawasaga River tributary)

The Boyne River is a river in Simcoe County and Dufferin County in Central Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, and is a left tributary of the Nottawasaga River. The rivers falls within the jurisdiction of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority.

Black Creek is a stream in the municipalities of Tay Valley, Lanark County and Rideau Lakes, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It flows from an unnamed lake in Rideau Lakes to the west shore of Big Rideau Lake in Tay Valley. Big Rideau Lake, on the Rideau Canal, flows via the Rideau River and Ottawa River to the Saint Lawrence River. The stream has a drainage basin of 94 square kilometres (36 sq mi).

Silver Lake (Lanark–Frontenac)

Silver Lake is a lake in Tay Valley, Lanark County, and Central Frontenac, Frontenac County, in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is the source of Silver Lake Creek and is in the Ottawa River drainage basin.

References

  1. ↑ "Tay River". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2012-06-08.
  2. 1 2 "Tay River". Atlas of Canada . Natural Resources Canada. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2012-06-08. Shows the course of the river on a topographic map.
  3. ↑ "Tay River Subwatershed Report". Rideau Valley Conservation Authority . Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "South Sherbrooke" (PDF). Geology Ontario - Historic Claim Maps. Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry . Retrieved 2012-06-08.
  5. ↑ "Bathurst" (PDF). Geology Ontario - Historic Claim Maps. Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry . Retrieved 2012-06-08.
  6. ↑ "Tay Watershed Information". Friends of the Tay River. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
  7. ↑ Watson, Ken W. "The Tay Canal: Past, Present, and 175th". Perth and District Historical Society. Retrieved 15 July 2020.

Sources

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