In the year 1878, inventor Thomas Edison received a patent for the gramophone, Ivory soap was introduced to the public, and the Gilbert and Sullivan production HMS Pinafore first entertained audiences.

Closer to home, on Oct. 24 of that auspicious year, Midland was officially incorporated as a village.

If they were somehow able to witness it, today’s residents – with their strange clothing, high-tech gadgets and pollution-belching motor vehicles – would barely recognize Midland as it appeared 130 years ago: dirt roads, horse-drawn buggies, men in top hats, and women in ankle-length dresses.

Lacking high-speed transcontinental travel or instant global communication, life passed at a slower pace; the imminent arrival of a railway line was the big news in Midland.

In Ottawa, John A. MacDonald had just begun his second stint as prime minister of the fledgling nation of Canada. In Midland, more than a thousand people called the village home, and the atmosphere was one of optimism.
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Though an important milestone, the year 1878 does not represent Midland’s true beginnings.

Those can be traced back through countless generations of indigenous residents.

Long before the boots of European explorers ever dented the ground in this area, the Ouendat (or Huron) people had established a sophisticated society here, boasting its own political structure, alliances and traditions.

Where Midland sits today, hundreds and hundreds of years of native life crossed the stage of history. The Ouendat worked the land, conducted long-distance trade and engaged in organized warfare.

Though it would be incorrect to call this time uneventful, recorded history does not pick up the tale until much, much later.

As European activity in the New World extended its reach, increasing contact between the old and new residents was inevitable. The establishment of a permanent French settlement at Quebec in 1608 provided a base for ever-deeper forays into the area that now includes Midland.

The French explorer Samuel de Champlain reached Georgian Bay in 1615. In 1639, the first European community in what we now call Ontario was constructed: Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons. It lasted 10 years before being abandoned by the Jesuit missionaries who had inhabited the palisaded settlement.

European interest in the area, however, never waned. Eventually, the British emerged as the pre-eminent force, acquiring land from the native inhabitants in the latter years of the 18th century, and later establishing a military base at nearby Penetanguishene. It lasted until 1856.
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With all this activity as the backdrop, farming families began settling the Midland area in the 1830s and ’40s.

Known variously as Mundy’s Bay (after early settler Asher Mundy), Hartley’s Landing (after another settler, Thomas Hartley) and Abedar (named by first postmaster Thomas Gladstane in honour of his mother’s hometown in Wales), the burgeoning village was on its way.

Gladstane built a store here in 1871, the same year H. Cook began overseeing the construction of a large, modern lumber mill. In November of that year, the Midland Railway Corporation selected the local harbour as the site for the western terminus of their railway.

Prospects were fair and the future bright. Hoping to capitalize on the impending railway boom, Adolphe Hugel and George Cox formed the Midland Land Company. They bought out numerous farming families, amassing 400 acres of land and later commissioning a survey for a potential city plan.

Growth – in population and industry – continued unabated. A grist and lumber mill was established in 1875, and more than 1,000 residents called Midland home.

On Oct. 24, 1878, Midland was legally incorporated as a village.

As anticipated, the railroad arrived in 1879, ushering in an age of commercial and passenger service to Midland.

The link to larger markets helped spark an economic boom, driven largely by the lumber industry (the town’s sawmills spit out millions of feet of lumber each year).

A grain elevator was built in 1881 and, by 1886, the population had doubled. The thriving little port soon outgrew its village status, and Midland was incorporated as a town on Jan. 6, 1890.
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Anxious to take advantage of a favourable market for enterprise, several prominent capitalists looked to expand their businesses beyond the lumber trade. Shipping, milling and manufacturing became ever more important parts of the local landscape.

Midland was sometimes referred to as the Chicago of the North, referring to its growing prominence as a Great Lakes shipping port.

Industry titan James Playfair was among those who played a considerable role in the town’s impressive growth, most notably in the area of shipbuilding and repair.

The Midland Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., formed in 1916, soon landed a contract to construct three ships for the war effort. The company also made ships for James Playfair Steamship Lines.

The good times seemed as though they would last forever. Through the Roaring ’20s, Midland roared as loudly as anyplace in the country. Two more grain elevators were built, retail businesses sprouted up, and a building boom saw the construction of a hospital, library and YMCA building.

It was not to last, however. The arrival of the Great Depression dealt Midland a devastating blow. The shipyards closed in 1931, and the lumber industry ground to a halt, throwing thousands out of work. Many companies ceased operations or left town.

The Second World War prompted a rebirth in the Midland shipbuilding trade, but that proved relatively short-lived. Labour trouble in the mid-1950s caused the shipyards to close for good.
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The subsequent decades have been marked by countless new faces on the manufacturing scene. Ernest Leitz Canada set up shop in Midland in 1952. RCA, Mitsubishi, TRW, Baytech Plastics and other manufacturers arrived – and in some cases, unfortunately, departed – as the town’s population and workforce continued to grow.

Today, Midland is a far more diverse place than in the time of James Playfair. In addition to an industrial base of at least 30 companies, the town of 17,000-plus residents boasts a vibrant retail sector and, as a gateway to Georgian Bay’s 30,000 Islands, a well-established tourism industry.

Look beyond the business and employment landscape, however, and see that Midland is widely recognized as a safe, friendly, culturally rich community in the midst of one of Canada’s most beautiful regions.

The town’s parks, waterfront amenities, arts community and recreational activities are the envy of many, as are the educational opportunities offered by five elementary schools, two secondary schools and one post-secondary institution.

All this in just 130 years.