Happy 150th Birthday To The Village Of Sharbot Lake

Dianne Lake | May 15, 2025

May 15 marks 150 years to the day that Matthew Garrett was awarded a Crown Grant from Queen Victoria to purchase 95 acres of property for the sum of $75.00. This property is now the entire village of Sharbot Lake.
Matthew Garrett was born March 21, 1822 in East Chinnock, Sommerset, England and he had 9 siblings. He emigrated to Canada in 1841. He is on the census in 1857 in Grenville, Ontario, 1855 Wheatland New York, USA, 1858 in Lanark, Ontario, 1861 Frontenac Ontario, 1865 in Oso Twp. He met and married Elizabeth Ellen Knox Oct. 29, 1850 and they had eight children.

This land purchase was made one year before the Kingston Pembroke railway line came to Sharbot Lake.

The original village was along the waterfront where the public beach is now. Matthew and Elizabeth owned a boarding house which was located around the present day Belong Restaurant. Part of the purchased land was sold to William Doran in November and December of 1875 ; this property took in what is now the Sharbot Lake Marina, and property to the North East of the village.

Jessie Shibley acquired land and built a hotel on what is now the Medical Centre property to serve the many guests who would arrive on the railway.

Things did not go well for Matthew Garrett in the end.

On November 18, 1876 he was killed in an altercation at the boarding house with some ‘railroaders’..

Jerome Thomson bought property from Elizabeth Garrett in 1877 and by 1894 owned a large part of the present-day village.

The railway came to Sharbot Lake May 8, 1876, bringing with it many families and jobs. Along with the logging industry the little village of Sharbot Lake was booming!

There is a small group of local folks working on the history of the village and plans are to have an open house in May 2026 and the summer of 2026. This will include maps, pictures, displays and history of the railway, churches, schools, stores, and businesses that have been in the village since 1876. We hope to have pictures and land registry information for all the lots in the village.