BONNECHERE LAKE HISTORY

Location: Lawrence Township

Origin of the official name Bonnechere Lake:
"Bonnechere was named by accident. Early surveyors thought the lake was connected to Bonnechere River, when in fact it emptied into the Madawaska" (Source: Dawber 1994, 34).

"The lake has no connection with the Bonnechere River but the name may result from a mistaken belief that it had. A map of timber limits drawn in 1871 by Wm. Bell (Bell 1871) shows the name Bonnechere Lake and, on the present Big Porcupine Lake, Muskoka Lake, with a height of land between [ ... ] .Bell's error (if it was such) is remarkable, because Snow (1855), fifteen years before, had correctly identified the lake as draining to Madawaska waters. Snow's name for the lake was Manitoo" (Source: Friends of Algonquin Park (1993) Names of Algonquin: stories behind the lake and place names of Algonquin Provincial Park. Whitney, Ontario: The Friends of Algonquin Park.)

Also Known As:
• Bonchere Lakes (MNR archives)
• Lake Manitou (MNR archives)
• Lake Manitoo (Friends of Algonquin Park 1993)

The above information came from: Discovering the (Hi)story of Haliburton Through Its Lakes' Names by Elinor Whidden, a student report prepared for Trent University- Bioregionalism Course, 1998. From the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research Collection.

On the Haliburton County Community Interactive Map, this lake is named Head Creek. (https://gis.haliburtoncounty.ca/HCWEB/Community).