Thirty years ago, the Township of Ramara was officially born. But the history of the area goes much deeper.
It's important to remember and celebrate that history, say Ramara Historical Society (RHS) members who are connected through generations to the fertile farm land that lies east of Orillia.
At its recent monthly meeting the society marked a dual celebration: It was the 30th anniversary of the amalgamation of Mara and Rama townships to become Ramara Township in 1994 and it was the 20th anniversary of the RHS, which formed in 2004.
Margaret Mulvihill, one of the event organizers, has lived in the area all her life and is passionate about the history of the area. It runs in the family.
Her father, Charles Healy, was reeve of Mara Township for 11 years and warden in Ontario County in the centennial year, 1967. Mara, at the time, was part of the county to the south. It later became part of Simcoe County.
Healy was the driving force in establishing Mara Provincial Park, Mulvihill explained.
"He went to Queen's Park to convince the parks people to come up and see the waterfront," said Mulvihill, a retired emergency department nurse who worked at Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital for 44 years.
"After Mara opened, the parks people were so impressed they looked around and then opened (McRae Point Provincial Park) because there is such beautiful water," she sad.
Mulvihill was educated at a one-room school house, which was the norm in the day before busing became common.
ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS
At one time, there were 17 one-room elementary schools: Mara had 10 and Rama had seven. Now there are four much larger schools serving students in the area: Rama Central, Brechin Central, Uptergrove Public and Foley Catholic.
Paula Wilson went to School Section (SS) #1 McKinnon, named after Hector McKinnon, a reeve. When Rama Central School opened in 1965, she was bused there.
“I don’t know if you can compare them because things were different. You had one teacher. Eight classes, eight grades. and one teacher in control and they had control of the class," said Wilson.
“She would get the little guys working and then work her way up to the older ones, because they didn’t need as much help.”
Margaret Kehoe went to S.S. #4 in Mara as she lived on a farm close to St. Columbkille Catholic Church. It was a one-room school house until they built an addition on the back for students in Grades 1 to 3.
“It was great because you were in Grade 6 and she was teaching Grade 7 and you got your work done, so I skipped a grade. I went from Grade 6 to Grade 8 because I knew the stuff. I was hearing it. So there were advantages and disadvantages," said Kehoe.
“I don’t know how the teacher did it, but we were much more disciplined students, because you didn’t want it to get back to your parents that you were disruptive in school," said Wilson. "We had great teachers. My teacher was Theresa Heitzner."
Wilson remembers her teacher, Mrs. Stroud, who became the principal of Rama Central; her photo is still displayed at the school.
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES, RAILWAY
There are two national historic sites in Ramara Township: the fish weirs at The Narrows between lakes Simcoe and Couchiching and the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Deanne Toebes, a founding member of the RHS who grew up in the area, said Mara Township lands were first surveyed in 1821 and its first non-native settlers, Patrick Corrigan and family, moved to the area in 1823.
“There were hurdles to overcome. Travel through the many wetlands was a challenge. There were no roads and fledgling townships were not in a position to take on the building of roads," said Toebes.
“After many years, the provincial government stepped in in 1848 and built Centerline Road from the Talbot River to The Narrows. It was not paved, but it was a route that could be travelled in the summer months and after freeze up," she explained.
Then the railways came in.
“At one time, there were four railways operating in the townships from 1870 until being abandoned in the 1990s," Toebes recalled.
Now, there is one CN line open with daily cargo trains.
Farming has always been the No. 1 industry of the region and the RHS honours its agricultural roots.
YESTERYEARS 2025
One of the ways it does that is through its regular Yesteryears events.
“Now that we have put the pandemic behind us, we are in the process of planning Yesteryears 2025,” Toebes explained.
The third Yesteryears Celebration is scheduled for July 26, 2025. The theme is Ramara's castles.
“The theme spotlights the farming roots that many of us share and the barns that we all recognize,” she said.
It's the largest annual event organized by the RHS and they are in need of lots of volunteers to help organize and run the event taking place on the St. Columbkille grounds.
The first Yesteryears event was held in 2014. It was so successful, a second Yesteryears was held in 2017.
“It was by far the largest single event held in Ramara Township history," said Toebes.
The event planned for 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The RHS meets on the third Thursday of every month, from September to June, at the Udney Community Centre at 7 p.m.
For more information about the RHS, visit it website: ramarahistoricalsociety.ca .
