Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners' Association

The Forgotten History of Lake Kennisis

The saga of the settlement on Lake Kennisis is one of frustration and bankruptcy as investors slowly came to the realization that the hard granite of the Canadian Shield would never become sustainable agricultural land. Not until the completion of the road from West Guilford in the 1940s made possible the creation of vacation property did the area attract many people. Most of acreage remained the property of the successive owners of the original block until cottage development began after the Second World War. Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve Ltd. bought the remainder of the property exclusive of the lakeshore of Big and Little Kennisis Lakes in 1962.