Whitewater Region is made up of the former municipalities of Beachburg, Cobden, Ross and Westmeath, which were amalgamated into the current township on January 1, 2001.

An astrolabe bearing the date 1613 and believed to have belonged to Samuel de Champlain was discovered within the township.

The township comprises the communities of: Beachburg, Chenaux, Cobden, Finchley, Foresters Falls, Garden of Eden, The Glen, Grants Settlement, Haley Station, Kerr Line, La Passe, Ledgerwoods Corner, McLaren's Settlement, Meath, Millars Corner, Perretton, Pleasant Valley, Queens Line, Rocher Fendu, Shields Crossing, Snake River and Westmeath.

It was founded by and named after David Beach and became a stop along the Canadian Northern Railway line with a station and grain elevators.

The Canadian Northern Railway does not pass through Foresters Falls, save for at a small intersection outside the town known as Miller's Corners.

A large railway bridge, known to the locals as Black Rock, crosses a gully just beyond Miller's Corners.

The rail track was torn up in the late 2000s but the bridge remains and is now a popular route for ATVs.

Attractions include the Ross Township Museum that is located in the heart of Foresters Falls.

Floating bundles of about 25 pieces of squared timber would be steered toward the upper end of the slide.

Once into the sluice, the bundle of timber would descend at a great speed, emerging undamaged into the river below the rapids.

Main Street has suffered worst from fire, including one in 1913 which destroyed the Cobden Sun building and many historical records.

Large blocks of ice ripped the dam apart and poured over Highway 17, tearing away sections of pavement.

The plant operator, Bill Wall, was stranded in the upper section of his house until flooding subsided.

Council elections in 1949 were dominated by the issue of whether to hold another plebiscite on establishing a waterworks system.

But times were changing quickly—after the war a new council was elected and the next vote was 124–46 in favour and by the early 1950s Cobden had water.

The astrolabe eventually passed to Samuel V. Hoffman of the New York Historical Society in 1942, remaining there for 47 years until it was acquired by the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1989.

Overlooking Muskrat Lake, Cobden Park occupies what is thought to be the spot where Champlain met the Native Chief Nibachis.

Storyland once featured 200 animated characters set in 40 different fairy tale scenes surrounded by a natural woodland environment.

Home to The Champlain Flying Club, the Cobden/Bruce McPhail Memorial Airport is located on Highway 17.

[11] Cobden is the hometown of Susie Laska, former professional hockey player for the NWHL and Robert Wellington Mayhew, the first Canadian ambassador to Japan.

Westmeath is the birthplace of D. Allan Bromley, physicist, academic, and Science Adviser to former President of the United States, George H. W. Bush.