Rock Point

History

Lots of history here. The land now known as Rock Point Provincial Park was originally 4 separate parcels. The green parcel (right) was an ammunition depot after the war of 1812. It was installed by the federal government in 1815 just in case the United States ever decided to invade over Lake Erie again. This was closed and sold to the Ministry of Forestry promptly after the depot's construction. The yellow parcel was owned by the Minor family, and was acquired in 1968. This plot was a Jewish retreat camp. The red parcel was originally owned by the Niece Family, and it was the second parcel that the provincial government acquired for the purpose of recreation. The final plot (blue) was owned by the Kinsey Family, and is the only plot never to be farmed. This is why the area around day use 3 and 4 is so wooded, and not a Carolinian plantation like in the north of the Minor or Niece parcels. Anyways, the park opened in 1957, only including 50 sites, all of which on the Minor property and federal land. After the park was expanded and the Niece farmhouse was torn down and replaced by the store, we got Rock Point as we know it today.

Rock Point was named after the peninsula it sits on, likely deriving from the rocky shoreline and 350 million year old fossils it sits on (see spotlight). A fun anecdote is that all of the campgrounds are named after the previous landowners. This obviously not including Lookout Campground which was the first of the bunch.