Available Real-Estate in Wasaga Beach

In the early 1800s, Wasaga, with its mainly sandy landscape, was considered unsuitable for farming yet had an abundance of trees. This established the area as a prosperous logging industry base for the remainder of the century. Timber was transported to mills via the Nottawasaga River and across the bay to Collingwood. By 1870, John Van Vlack, the first permanent resident, purchased 69 acres. He began to fish commercially, established a shingles mill and opened a general store, becoming the first local postmaster. The area was named ‘Wasaga Beach’ for the Nottawasaga River just as agriculture was beginning to develop on the outskirts. Eventually, millhands and settlers formed a small village until the mid-1880s, when the first hotel was opened, and tourism arose. As the next century began, wealthy vacationers were attracted by the growing number of hotels. By the 1950s, soldiers from nearby Camp Borden and ‘city folk’ would flock to the beach in summer as cheaper accommodations and commercial amenities became available. Although Wasaga is world-renowned as a tourism and cottage-based region, in recent years, there has been a real estate and construction boom, and many year-round residents have joined the growing community.