Owen Sound - Originally known as the Village of Sydenham in the 1840s and for much of the 1850s, Owen Sound became a town in 1857. Prior to the establishment of the settlement, the area was Saugeen Ojibwa (Anishnaabe) territory. The First Nations name for this area was __________, c. 1___. Further back, ____________.<br /><br />Charles Poulett Thompson, Lord Sydenham, was the origin of the village's name. One of the rivers, first jotted down on a map as the "Garafraxa River", became the Sydenham River. The Pottawatomie River also flows into Owen Sound Bay.<br /><br />A number of former slaves and black settlers lived in Owen Sound in the 19th-century. John Hall, who had escaped slavery in Kentucky, had lived in the Newmarket/Toronto area before moving to Grey County. He and his family moved to the village in the early 1850s, clearing land on the east hill area of the "Pleasure Grounds" (later called Victoria Park). He was Owen Sound's town crier and bellringer.<br /><br />Owen Sound became a busy Great Lakes port, especially when a sandbar obstruction was dredged. The Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway eventually had a narrow gauge rail line to Owen Sound in the 1870s. It soon after became part of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1885, the C.P.R. had a grain elevator built at Owen Sound, and made Owen Sound their fleet headquarters. A second, larger elevator was added in 1897. They were located on the east side of the harbour. They both burned in a Dec. 1911 fire. The port was a place where many immigrants travelled, en route to the west.<br /><br />There was a Grand Trunk Railway station on the west side of town. Eventually there was a Canadian National Railway station. Owen Sound's interswitching bridge at 10th St. allowed for trains to cross the Sydenham River/harbour area. This bridge opened in 192_.<br /><br />Brookeholm (Brooke) was annexed from Sarawak and merged with the town of Owen Sound in 1908.<br /><br />The 19th-century street names were replaced in 190_ by New York-style numerical street and avenue addresses, divided by the Sydenham River into the east side and the west side.<br /><br />Owen Sound achieved City status in 1920. Billy Bishop, VC, flew in the new city's charter.<br /><br />For details about the history of Owen Sound, there is a series of books by Melba Morris Croft. Paul White's book, OWEN SOUND ___PORT CITY also provides some highlights of the city's history. There is also a series of photographic image books from the John James Collection and other vintage image sources that have been published by Foto Art, Owen Sound. For local military history, George Scott Auer's book, SOLDIERS OF THE SOIL: GREY COUNTY GOES TO WAR (2015) provides details about Owen Sound's militia and military contributions.<br /><br />The Grey County Archives has a couple fire insurance map books from the 20th-century that show where various businesses and industries were located in the past.<br /><br />OWEN SOUND ON THE GEORGIAN BAY, 1912, provides an illustrated view of Owen Sound's businesses and personalities and industries. There was a cement industry boom for a while, which quickly disappeared.<br /><br />Owen Sound had a reputation for rowdiness and drinking establishments. One of its nicknames was "Corkscrew City". Canada's first branch of the W.C.T.U. was established in town when Mary Stephens Doyle and other temperance supporters established the Women's Prohibition Society in 187_. Eventually in the early 20th-century, Local Option voting made Owen Sound officially "dry" in 19__. It wasn't until 197_ that it was legal to have a drink in Owen Sound again. The book SAINTS & SINNERS, by Richard Thomas provides details about this theme.