About Bala

Bala is a compact rural community in the township municipality of Muskoka Lakes, District Municipality of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada. It is well-known for the Bala Falls, the source of the Moon River, which flows from Lake Muskoka to the Georgian Bay.

It is considered one of the hubs of cottage country located north of Toronto. Thus, its year-round population of several hundred is increased by thousands of seasonal residents and weekend day- trippers during summer months. It is known as the Cranberry Capital of Ontario, as the province's largest cranberry farms, Johnston's Cranberry Marsh and Former: Wahta Iroquis Growers (closed in 2017), are located nearby. It was once the smallest incorporated town in Canada until it was amalgamated into Muskoka Lakes Township.

Bala was settled by Thomas Burgess in 1868. Thomas Burgess opened a sawmill and store to serve the area's scattered settlers.Thomas Burgess named it after the town of Bala in Wales with which it is officially twinned.

Located on the Canadian Shield it proved unsuitable for farming, and its fortunes declined as logging became less economically viable. Railway connections helped to re-establish the village as a popular location for summer resorts.

In 1914, the town incorporated with Burgess's son as the first mayor, making it the smallest incorporated town in Canada.

Information retrieved from Wikipedia.