The following information was kindly supplied by Bruce Taylor:

Capsule History of New Liskeard and Dymond Township

Then original inhabitants of Dymond Township and the original site of the Town of New Liskeard were natives of the Algonquin First Nations, specifically the Wabigijic (Wabie) family, whose traditional hunting territory included Dymond Township. However, by the time the first white settlers arrived in 1891, the natives had abandoned the site.

The Town of New Liskeard was located within the boundaries of Dymond Township, and they share a common history. The first settlers were attracted to the rich farm land of the Little Clay Belt agricultural area of northeastern Ontario. The townships at the north end of Lake Temiskaming were surveyed by the Ontario Government in 1887, but were not offered for sale until 1893, when Crown Lands Agent John Armstrong was dispatched to the area. Although there was no rail access until 1904 when the Tand NO Railway was built, or road access until much later, settlers poured into the area (most aboard the famous steamboat Meteor,) attracted by cheap land. Dymond Township was incorporated in 1901, and two years later, the Town of New Liskeard, which had grown to a population of 150, was incorporated, with John Armstrong as its first mayor.

Dymond Township was primarily an agricultural community, until the 1970s, when a commercial area grew along Highway 11. The Town of New Liskeard, which soon grew to more than 5000 population, became the commercial, industrial, and administrative centre for the area. Because of the strong agricultural base, the area’s economy has been able to avoid the boom and bust cycle of other northern communities that relied on the mining and forestry industries, and has become the attractive, stable, and vital community that it is today. New Liskeard is located 45 minutes Olive the Lake on Highway 11.

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