Designed to encourage settlement in what is now the Parry Sound District, the Rosseau-Nipissing Road was authorized by the government in 1864. A survey was completed the following year by J.S. Dennis, provincial land surveyor, and construction began in 1866. Commencing about a mile northwest of Rousseau (now Rosseau), it ran 67 miles northward to the South River, where at its terminus the village of Nipissing came into being. By 1873 the road was open for winter traffic, and two years later was considered negotiable by wheeled vehicles. Although it lost its importance after the railway between Gravenhurst and Callander was built in 1886, most of this pioneer road is still used by local traffic.

Location

On Sparks Street, part of the original route, Magnetawan

Themes

• Communities
• Transportation systems and communications