Archaeological evidence suggests that human habitation and use of this site date back thousands of years, and that locally obtained flint was manufactured at the so-called 'flint chipping beds' in the vicinity long before the period of European contact with First Nations peoples in the Great Lakes Basin.

[1] The village was caught up in a series of rather public battles between Canada Company officials, Frederick Widder in Toronto and Thomas Mercer Jones in Goderich.

Heartened by published reports, early in 1851 Robert McBride of Haldimand County travelled to the site and ultimately attempted, with much difficulty, to obtain land at Port Franks.

[1] The tiny population, much maligned by many in the surrounding townships, lived an isolated existence behind rows of sand dunes that made landward access to the site difficult.

The number of seasonal residences increased throughout the first half of the twentieth century and exploded in the post-1945 period with a series of 'suburban' developments including Windsor and Richmond Parks.