Located deep in the heart of Bruce County, Paisley is a river town where the Teeswater and the Saugeen converge.  Long before European settlers brought their rafts of household goods downstream from Walkerton, the Saugeen had been a travel route from the interior of central Ontario to the waters of Lake Huron.

In 1851, Simon Orchard and Samuel Rowe selected the meeting of two rivers as a choice site for a village, naming it Paisley after a town in Renfrewshire, Scotland.  As it grew into an industrial centre, the power of Paisley’s twin rivers ran seven mills producing everything from lumber to livestock feed.  

Today known as Bruce County’s Heritage Village, Paisley is packed with gracious homes, a century- and-a-half old. Visitors can stroll along the Heritage Walk, photograph the 1876 Town Hall and the unique firehose tower and then visit the five-storey Paisley City Mill, now restored as a fascinating shop.

For those who choose to paddle one of Ontario’s major waterways, Paisley is an excellent put-in spot for canoeing the Saugeen River. Three outfitters provide all the equipment and guidance you need.  And each year, the area’s agricultural past comes alive with the Bruce County Steam and Antique Show and the annual fall fair.

Fun Fact

David Milne, one of Canada’s outstanding landscape artists, was born on a farm near Burgoyne in Saugeen Township and raised in Paisley.  Milne, who was an official Canadian war artist during the First World War, painted the Bruce County countryside.  Today, his paintings can be found in many of the nation’s major galleries.  

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