[4] The first discusses the fact that the Bruce Peninsula is a barrier to water transportation between Lake Huron and southern Georgian Bay.

To avoid a difficult detour to the north, aboriginal peoples developed a portage route across the base of the peninsula.

The second plaque discusses developments in the 1800s, starting with 1855 when "a town-plot was laid out here on recently acquired Indigenous land and named Wiarton, reputedly after the English birthplace of Edmund Head, Governor General of Canada (1854-61)".

Fishing was at its peak in the early 20th century, but suffered from the introduction of the invasive sea lamprey to the upper Great Lakes through the Welland Canal in 1921.

By 1932, the sea lamprey had arrived in Georgian Bay, and, together with the Great Depression, it brought the decline of the fishing industry.

In 1881, the first train arrived in the town as part of Grand Trunk Railway system, for which Wiarton served as its northern terminus, extending to a new wharf in Colpoys Bay constructed in 1882.

An elected mayor, deputy major and three councilors provide the municipal government for Wiarton and the many small villages and communities that comprise the Town of South Bruce Peninsula.

"Council establishes policies and budgets for programs and services delivered by the Town of South Bruce Peninsula."