Towns and Townships

 Bancroft

Bancroft is known as the Mineral Capital of Canada and annually hosts a "Gemboree" for rockhounds. The region around Bancroft has a greater number of minerals than any other area in Canada. This town of 4,000 is the commercial hub of northern Hastings County, and has been recognized as "Ontario's most talented town" for its cultural enterprises.

Population Bancroft................................... 4,089

Bancroft -Dungannon

Dungannon Township amalgamated with the Town of Bancroft in 1999. Large stands of timber and some good farmland drew settlers here in the 1870s. Quarries in Dungannon have been a major source of marble from the Bancroft area.

Carlow/Mayo

The former townships of Carlow and Mayo were amalgamated into one municipality on January 1, 2000. Their Irish names reveal their origins from settlement by Irish immigrants in the mid-1800s. Agriculture, mining and lumbering have been the economic mainstays of Carlow/Mayo.

Population Carlow/Mayo....................... 833

Deseronto

Deseronto was established in 1784 by the Mohawk chief John Deserontyon, also known as Odeserundiye. However, the settlement went through a number of name changes before its inhabitants agreed on Deseronto. When Hugo Rathbun established his sawmill and store at the site in 1848, the post office called the place Mill Point. Later a postmaster named Bowen tried to name the village after himself in 1857, but Bowen lasted only until it reverted to being called Mill Point. John Culbertson, Deserontyon's grandson, was successful in promoting a permanent name change. Mill Point became Deseronto in 1881.

Population Deseronto......................... 1,796