The first people in the Callander area were of
Ojibwa and
Algonquin descent who have lived around Lake Nipissing for about 9,400 years. Though in history known by many names, they are currently known as
Nipissing First Nation. They are generally considered part of the
Anishinaabe peoples, a grouping which includes the
Odaawaa,
Ojibwe and
Algonquins. In 1610, French explorer
Samuel de Champlain sent a young apprentice,
Étienne Brûlé, to live with the
Huron natives at
Georgian Bay. While en route, Brûlé discovered Lake Nipissing via the La Vase River Portage (approximately 3 km north of Callander) and established a major
fur trading route linking the
Ottawa River with the upper
Great Lakes. Other explorers who used the La Vase Portage were Samuel de Champlain in 1615,
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye in 1731,
Alexander Henry the elder in 1761 and Sir
Alexander MacKenzie in 1802. In 1876, Himsworth Township was surveyed and named after
William Alfred Himsworth. It was divided into North and South Himsworth 10 years later and incorporated at that time. In 1880, George Morrison, a bookkeeper from Oxford County in
Southern Ontario travelled by ox-cart from
Muskoka to Lake Nipissing. There he built a raft and floated his family and possessions across the lake to the south-east bay.
Logging companies had taken interest in the abundant
Eastern White Pine that grew in the area. He was one of its first pioneers and his wife was the first white woman. On June 1, 1881, he opened a Post Office in his general store and named it after his parents'
Scottish birthplace of
Callander. Several years later, the
Northern and Pacific Junction Railway was built through the township, benefitting the local lumber industry. Lumber companies that established mills in Callander included: •
J.R. Booth Lumber Company • John B. Smith & Sons Lumber Company • Payette Lumber Company • Thomas Darling & Sons Lumber Company == Demographics ==