Havelock is a small community on the Southern Ontario Trans-Canada Route Highway #7 in Ontario. Abut 35 km W of Madoc, and about 39 km E of Peterborough.
Havelock Events
In 1967, the Havelock-Belmont-Methuen Agricultural Society held the first Havelock Country Jamboree, which has since become one of the largest country music festivals in Canada.
Havelock History
The Havelock area was originally inhabited by the Huron-Wendat, and later by the Anishinaabe First Nation.
The first European settlers arrived in the area in the early 1800s. In the early days, Havelock was a busy logging town, with several sawmills and logging camps in the area.
Havelock was officially established in 1862 when the Grand Trunk Railway was built through the area. The railway brought in new settlers and facilitated the movement of goods and products.
In the early 1900s, Havelock became a popular tourist destination for its natural beauty, lakes, and forests. To the north are (from W to E) Round Lake, Belmont Lake, and Crowe Lake, and the south is Seymour Lake, part of the Trent-Severn Waterway, with locks taking recreational boaters past Healey Falls (off Route 50)
Many tourists came to the area for fishing, hunting, and camping. The tourism industry remains an important part of the local economy to this day.
Today, Havelock is a small but vibrant community with a strong sense of history and tradition. The town is home to a number of small businesses, shops, and restaurants, and continues to attract tourists from all over Ontario and beyond.