By the late nineteenth century these two modes of transportation made it practical to import and export even bulky commodities, while allowing the region to become a tourist destination.

In 1928, George Allen moved to Fenelon Falls, just as the last log drives made their way down the Trent Waterway and he purchased the old Mickle & Dyment sawmill.

In 1929 the Fenelon Falls Board of Trade planned a spectacular public event that they hoped would help put their community on the map as a tourist destination.

The Village of Fenelon Falls was incorporated in 1874, and after the railroad reached the community in 1876, federal lock construction took place between 1882 and 1887.

John Langton, himself a prominent gentleman, called them “a light-hearted set of dare devils and the greatest rascals and thieves that ever a peaceful country was tormented with.”