Homes Stats
Homes For Sale: 6
Homes For Lease: 0
Average List Price: $797,948
Area Description
Penetanguishene, sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual (French and English) community has since grown to a population of 9,354 in the Canada 2006 Census, an increase of 12.5 per cent from its 2001 population of 8,316.
The name Penetanguishene is believed to come from either the Wyandot language or from the Abenaki language via the Ojibwa language, meaning "land of the white rolling sands".
The historic naval and military base (now called Discovery Harbour) near Penetanguishene is open to visitors. There are reconstructed buildings from the historic Penetanguishene Naval Yard and two replica sailing ships from the 1812 period, HMS Bee and HMS Tecumseth. The ships no longer sail with passengers but they may be visited in the harbour.
The King's Wharf Theatre located at Discovery Harbour has a programme of popular plays and musicals every summer.
Penetanguishene, along with Midland and Parry Sound, is one of the departure points for Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands boat tours. These leave daily from the town's main dock.
Penetanguishene is home to the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, a maximum security mental health facility.
There are two notable and historic churches located in Penetanguishene. The oldest is St. James on-the-Lines, a small wooden Anglican church built in 1836 to serve the military garrison and civilian population. The most prominent is the large limestone Roman Catholic church named St. Ann's. Originally named "Ste Anne's Jesuit Memorial Church: Canadian National Shrine", it is sometimes referred to today as the "Cathedral of the North". The Church was constructed between 1886 and 1902 by pastor Theophile Francis Laboureau. Laboureau secured major funding for the church from the Bishops of Rouen and Normandy in France as well as the governments of England, France and the United States. As it serves a bilingual Catholic community, services are held in both French and English.