Ferguson Highway

The Ferguson Highway was a 260 mi (420 km) long gravel trunk road in Ontario, Canada.

Built between 1925 and 1927 from the city of North Bay to the town of Cochrane, it was created to connect the growing agricultural and mining communities of Northern Ontario with other areas further south.

Several sections of rebuilt local roads were incorporated into the Ferguson Highway, with the final link being completed through the thick forest of Temagami.

Construction of the Muskoka Road began at a portage site at the mouth of the Severn River where a harbour known as Washago was established.

[5] Over the next decade, work progressed on the northward extension of the Muskoka Road through Vernon Lake, Huntsville and the unsurveyed territory north to Emsdale, eventually reaching Burk's Falls in 1878.

[5] In June 1923, Howard Ferguson campaigned to victory, with one of his pledges being the construction of a trunk road from North Bay to the farmland of New Liskeard and the mineral resources of Kirkland Lake and Cochrane.

[6] The fully gravelled North Bay to Cochrane Trunk Road was ceremoniously opened by William Finlayson, the Department of Lands and Forests, on July 2, 1927,[note 1] and named in honour of Ferguson.