TELEPHONE 843-2033 THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF The Village of Iron Bridge IRON BRIDGE. ONTARIO POR 1HO HISTORY THE NAME The original portion of the Rod & Gun Tavern, where the beauty shop is now located, was called the Algoma Hotel, built in 1880, and operated by Henry Sargeant, Robert Arnill, John McDonald, Joe Filatrault, Clair Milligan, Wm. Hogarth, Jim Brown, Erwin Pascall, and presently Morris Bobyk. The original name of this town was Tally Ho. for it was a meeting place of- the lumberjacks in those years. In the spring the woodsmen would come out of the bush to tally up with their employers for the winter work they had done. This was done with a stick on which cross notches were cut, and then split longitudinally, one half kept by each party, then the date was carved on each portion. In 1886 the Postal Authorities felt the name Tally Ho was rather undignified, and the name of Iron Bridge was suggested. as the construction of the iron bridge had been completed in the same year. The name was adopted and the town has been known as that ever since. THE BUILDING UP OF IRON BRIDGE A few white families ventured up the Mississaugi River, (Indian for "The Big Outlet") looking for a place to settle as early as 1879. A place to cultivate land, build a home and raise a family was needed. In the year 1879, land could be purchased from the crown at 20 cents per acre. Seventeen miles up river was where they settled, it was the happy hunting grounds of the native Indians, but despite this they made the Valley Lands their home and called it Tally Ho. Hardships followed, especially coping with the long cold winters, and the problems of storing goods for the winter months but they survived and made friends with the native Indians. Soon after the Tullochs and Taits became fairly established, the Warnocks, Aliens Nicholsons, Eakets, Gardiners and Forrests followed then to make their home alongside these rugged adventurous pioneers. These people came by boat to Bruce Mines or Blind River, and came up the Mississaugi River or walked through the bush from there to Tally Ho. Then, there were no roads or bridges. The land had been surveyed in 1876 - 1877, and one of the men on the crew was Isaac Nicholson. A few years later, Mr. Nicholson returned with his wife and family CO make his home hero. The Village is build on part of four of these pioneer farms, John Warnock, Robert Arnill, Janices Forrest and Wm. Beharriell