Scugog Nature
Why does Lake Scugog look murky in summer?
Its bottom is deep marl, a soft limy mud. The lake is slowly filling in with it, by about 1 millimetre a year.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Durham Region trivia
Fun facts about Scugog
21 facts and quiz questions about Scugog, Ontario. Each one links to its source. A new fact of the day goes live every morning.
Fact of the day
Scugog Quiz
What might the name Scugog mean?
One source traces it to the Mississauga word sigaog, meaning waves leap over a canoe. Others say it is an Ojibwe word for marshy land.
Source: Wikipedia, Scugog
Scugog Nature
Who is the marsh by the Port Perry causeway named after?
Henry Smith Osler, one of the early owners of the land. The Osler marsh covers about 417 hectares of wetland.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Scugog Quiz
About how many people live in Scugog Township?
About 22,500. Port Perry, the largest community and the township's centre, had 9,553 people in 2021.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Profile, Scugog, Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog Quiz
How long has the Port Perry Fair been running?
For more than 150 years. The fair is held every Labour Day weekend.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog History
Who is Port Perry named after?
Settler Peter Perry laid out village lots on Lake Scugog in 1848, on the site of a former Indigenous village. The townsite was named Port Perry in 1852.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog History
Why was a railway built from Port Perry to Whitby?
Local businessmen wanted to ship cargo from the Trent-Severn Waterway on to Lake Ontario. The Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway reached Port Perry in 1872.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog Culture
Where does Theatre on the Ridge perform?
At Town Hall 1873 in Port Perry. The summer theatre festival stages six shows in July and August.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog History
Why did Scugog Island become its own township?
After the 1834 flooding made it an island, it was split from Reach and Cartwright townships to form Scugog Township in 1856. Today's larger township formed in 1974.
Source: Wikipedia, Scugog
Scugog Nature
What grew in the Scugog marshes before the flooding?
Wild rice and cranberries, harvested by the Mississaugas. The flooding after 1834 destroyed much of them.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Scugog Nature
Which streams near Lake Scugog sometimes flow backward?
In dry summers the Scugog River stops flowing out of the lake, and two tributaries, Mariposa Brook and East Cross Creek, flow backward into it.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Scugog Quiz
Which celebrity fashion stylist was born in Port Perry?
Brad Goreski, the stylist and TV personality, was born in Port Perry. TSN sports broadcaster Kate Beirness is also from the town.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog History
Why did settlers tear down the Scugog dam in 1838?
Farmers blamed the stagnant floodwater for fevers. One summer day in 1838 they pulled the dam apart with axes and pitchforks, and no charges were laid.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Scugog History
Where is the home of Port Perry's first settler?
Reuben Crandell built his homestead in May 1821. The house is still in use on King Street, between Prince Albert and Manchester.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog History
What did Peter Perry say goats would do in Prince Albert?
Eat the grass off its main street. Prince Albert was a busy grain town on a plank toll road, but once the railway came to Port Perry instead, the prediction came true.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog Quiz
What in Port Perry is the oldest of its kind in Canada?
Its grain elevator, built in the 1870s after the railway arrived, is the oldest grain elevator still standing in Canada.
Sources: Wikipedia, Port Perry, Wikipedia, Scugog
Scugog Places
Who owns the Great Blue Heron Casino?
The casino and its land on Scugog Island are owned by the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. It opened in 1997 and added a 100-room hotel in 2021.
Scugog Nature
Which fish can you not keep from Lake Scugog?
Walleye. Because their numbers have dropped, there is no open season for them. The lake still draws anglers for bass, crappie, musky and perch, and ice-fishing huts in winter.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Scugog People
Which cartoonist is honoured with a plaque at the Scugog Shores Museum?
Jimmy Frise. The province put up an Ontario Historical Plaque at the museum to mark his place in Ontario's heritage.
Source: Wikipedia, Port Perry
Scugog Quiz
How deep is Lake Scugog on average?
Just 1.4 metres. The lake covers 68 square kilometres and is one of the shallowest lakes in the Kawartha area.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog
Scugog Quiz
True or false: Lake Scugog was made bigger by a dam.
In 1834 William Purdy dammed the Scugog River at Lindsay for his grist mill and raised the water by about ten feet. The flooding turned Scugog Island into an island.
Source: Wikipedia, Lake Scugog