In 2000, the Municipality of Whitestone was formed out of Unorganized Centre Parry Sound District and incorporated by the Parry Sound District Restructuring Commission. The new municipality includes the geographic townships of East Burpee, Burton, McKenzie, Ferrie, Hagerman, and part of Croft, as well as the communities of Ardbeg, Dunchurch, Maple Island, and the village of Whitestone.
A popular attraction was once the Ardbeg fire tower, which was one of the last remaining staffed towers in Southern Ontario until the early 1970s when aerial forest fire detection took over. It stood on a small hill where the road meets the railway.
Communities
The municipality comprises the communities of Ardbeg, Boakview, Bolger, Burton, Dunchurch, Fairholme, Lorimer Lake, Maple Island, South Magnetawan, Sunny Slope, Wahwashkesh, and Whitestone.
Geography
The municipality's vegetation is dominated by white pine trees, and the area is dotted with many lakes, including Wahwashkesh Lake, Shawanaga Lake, Whitestone Lake, Wilson Lake () and Lorimer Lake. The three major rivers are Magnetawan River, Shawanaga River, and Naiscoot River, all flowing west into Georgian Bay.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Whitestone had a population of 1,075 living in 549 of its 1,427 total private dwellings, a change of 17.4% from its 2016 population of 916. With a land area of 923.7 km2 (356.6 sq mi), it had a population density of 1.2/km2 (3.0/sq mi) in 2021.[4]
