Lapottie's Point
     It is said that the very first white man to settle in the area was a man of French Canadian extraction. His name was Lapottie. It is believed that he built a small shanty at a point of sand in Horseshoe Bay, which is located just east of what is now called Constance Bay.

     Lopottie remained there for just a short while, during which time he fished, hunted and sold whiskey to the raftsmen who travelled up and down the river during the summer months.

     Nobody knows how long he stayed, but eventually he disappeared leaving his ghost of a habitation sitting on the sand.

     It would be many years before the white man permanently settled in the area - and only as a result of generous land grants provided by the British government. The year was 1824.

     During the winter of 1822-23 the Township of Torbolton was finally surveyed and named after the parish of Robert Burns. At this time, Britain was encouraging ex-officers of the army and navy to settle in Canada.

   Canada Company Land Sale Notice                                                                                           Location of Baird's Grant
     The first man to get a land grant in Torbolton was a Captain Baird who located on Lot 19, concession 4 on May 26, 1824.

     Baird's property straddled the mouth of a bay which eventually was given the name Buckham's.

     The land known as Sandhills was originally owned by these settlers whose lots typically ran right across Buckham's Bay. At that time the land in the Sandhills was considered to be of little value except for the rich crops of blueberries which followed in the wake of the fires which periodically swept the wooded area.

     The first purchase of land in the Sandhills was made by John Buckham. He paid the tidy sum of ten pounds for 200 acres in Lot 15 of the 4th concession - of which 50 acres was located in what is now Constance Bay. Mr. Buckham arrived in Torbolton in May of 1824.

     Buckham was followed by Grierson, Baird, Weir and Slack who purchased land or were given grants in Torbolton.

     By 1834, just thirty farms had been settled in this harsh country - most of them had just two or three acres cleared.

     Progress was slow but steady until 1870. That was the year of the big fire. It was to be the first of many. It had been a very dry summer and the high winds of August whipped a number of small fires into one great fire which eventually swept through the entire Township. When it was over, most of the houses and barns had been destroyed and the cattle were found dead huddled in fence corners. Happily, there was no loss of life. The settlers rebuilt - they were a tough lot!

   Fred Baldwin
     By 1923 the Sandhills was contibuting to the Townships tax base as records show Henry Porteous, Stanley Smith, Thomas Dicks, James Bennie, Charles Weatherdon, William Jackson, James Forward and Frank Thomson all paid substantial taxes - ranging between $4.03 to $6.09 per anum.

     By 1926, Fred Baldwin was already well known in Constance Bay as he had sold property to so many people. Fred had acquired about 800 acres from various speculators and he began to realize the possibility of making the Bay into a summer resort.

     Many people thought Baldwin was a fool - who would want to buy property like this? You couldn't grow anything in sand! But Fred had a vision. He believed that Constance Bay would become a thriving community. He was certainly one of the first and leading developers to come to the area.

     It is a common belief that Baldwin also believed that everyone had a right to enjoy the water and the beach and demonstrated this by leaving a large number of public access lanes when planning his subdivisions. Some folks contend that Baldwin was not so generous but was forced to include these accesses in his plan by the Township. Either way, it is clear that access to the water and the beaches was important to either Baldwin, the Township - or both.