ORILLIA MUSEUM OF ART & HISTORY
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John Thomson and his family were one of the most prominent and influential founding families with their name synonymous with the local lumber industry.
In 1867, John Thomson, a timber merchant in Peterborough, purchased all of Longford Township on the east side of Lake Couchiching for $30,000. In 1868, he founded his sawmilling operation, the Longford Lumber Company.
Thomson also built a canal from the Black River to Lake St. John and a tramway from Lake St. John to Lake Couchiching to transport lumber from his new sawmill on Lake St. John.
These were historical moves as the lumber industry and the area farmers and businesses that supported the industry were critical to the local economy.
In an article published in the Orillia Packet & Times on May 9, 1929 about John Thomson, “Founder of Longford Mills Outstanding Businessman,” J.R. Hale spoke of the critical importance of the lumber industry to the local economy.
He said, “A successful and enterprising lumberman, was, therefore, a man of influence, and one who held the destiny and welfare of the people in his hand.” John Thomson fit this bill.
Hale described Thomson the founder of Longford Mills as a “strong-willed and dynamic personality” and an “outstanding businessman.”
To learn more about the dynamic John Thomson, his family and their lumber empire, click here and join History Committee Chair Trish Crowe-Grande as she explores the early days of one of Orillia’s founding families.
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