{{Short description|River in Canada}} {{Distinguish|text=River Tay in Scotland}} {{Infobox river | name = Tay River | image = Beckwith Street (former swing bridge, Tay Canal).jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Tay River in Perth | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map_size = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Canada | subdivision_type2 = Province | subdivision_name2 = Ontario | subdivision_type3 = Region | subdivision_name3 = Eastern Ontario | subdivision_type4 = County | subdivision_name4 = Lanark | length = {{convert|95|km|mi|abbr=on}} | source1 = Bobs Lake | source1_location = Lanark Highlands | source1_coordinates = {{coord|44|45|34|N|76|31|21|W|display=inline}} | source1_elevation = {{convert|162|m|abbr=on}} | mouth = Lower Rideau Lake, Rideau River | mouth_location = Port Elmsley | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|44|52|43|N|76|06|46|W|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|125|m|abbr=on}} | progression = {{RRideau}} | river_system = Ottawa River basin | basin_size = {{convert|850|km2|abbr=on}} | mapframe = yes }}
The '''Tay River''' is a river in Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, Canada.<ref name="CGNDB">{{cite cgndb|id= FCVDK|title= Tay River|accessdate=2012-06-08}}</ref><ref name="AOCHighlight">{{cite web |title= Tay River|publisher= Natural Resources Canada|date= 2010-02-04|work= Atlas of Canada |url= http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map?mapsize=750%20666&mapxy=1474340.56997%20-258306.683808&scale=500000&feature_na=Tay%20River&searchstring=Tay%20RIver&layers=fapfeature%20fapfeature%20north_arrow%20other_features%20million_grid%20t50k_grid%20grid_50k_3%20roads%20hydrography%20boundary%20builtup%20vegetation%20populated_places%20railway%20power_network%20manmade_features%20designated_areas%20water_features%20water_saturated_soils%20relief%20contours%20toponymy%20contour%20nodata_ntdb_50k&map_layer%5bnortharrow%5d_class%5b0%5d_style%5b0%5d=ANGLE%20-16.82440141584547&urlappend=%26unique_key%3D0cf41eee849c20c3e910d43484405a42%26map.layer%5Btextzoom03%5D%3DFEATURE+POINTS+1497013.40178+-238235.408074+END+TEXT+%22Tay+River%22+END%26map.layer%5Btextzoom46%5D%3DFEATURE+POINTS+1497013.40178+-238235.408074+END+TEXT+%22Tay+River%22+END%26map.layer%5Blineresultzoom0%5D%3DDATA+fap_rivers%26map.layer%5Blineresultzoom1%5D%3DDATA+fap_rivers%26map.layer%5Blineresultzoom2%5D%3DDATA+fap_rivers%26map.layer%5Barrowzoom03%5D%3DFEATURE+POINTS+1497013.40178+-238235.408074+END+END |accessdate= 2012-06-08}} Shows the course of the river on a topographic map.</ref> It is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Rideau River.
The Tay River watershed, covering a drainage area in excess of 800 square kilometers, is the westmost of the 6 recognized subwatersheds managed by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tay River Subwatershed Report |url=https://watersheds.rvca.ca/subwatersheds/tay-river/subwatershed-report-tay-river |publisher=Rideau Valley Conservation Authority |accessdate=15 July 2020}}</ref>
==Course== This river starts at Bobs Lake and leaves the lake, controlled by a weir, near the community of Bolingbroke in geographic South Sherbrooke Township,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/website/historic_claim_maps/S/South%20Sherbrooke.pdf |title= South Sherbrooke|work= Geology Ontario - Historic Claim Maps|publisher= Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry|accessdate= 2012-06-08}}</ref> part of the municipality of Tay Valley.<ref name="AOCHighlight" /> It heads northeast, passes under Lanark County Road 36, reaches Christie Lake and passes there into geographic Bathurst Township.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/website/historic_claim_maps/B/Bathurst.pdf |title= Bathurst|work= Geology Ontario - Historic Claim Maps|publisher= Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry|accessdate= 2012-06-08}}</ref> It continues northeast, passes under Lanark County Road 6, and divides into two channels; the right channel is known as Scotts Snye. The river then travels through the community of Glen Tay, continuing to Perth. The river splits into two main channels as it flows through downtown Perth. The two channels have recombined by the time it leaves Perth and continues to the Rideau River, which drains via the Ottawa River into the Saint Lawrence River.
The river is {{convert|95|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} in length and drains an area of {{convert|850|km2|sqmi|-1|abbr=off}}.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.tayriver.org/information.php|title= Tay Watershed Information|publisher= Friends of the Tay River|accessdate= 2012-06-08|archive-date= 2012-06-08|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120608115059/http://www.tayriver.org/information.php|url-status= dead}}</ref> A canal connects the river to the Tay Canal, and Rideau Canal systems at Beveridge Bay on Lower Rideau Lake.
==Lakes in the Tay watershed==
===Top of Watershed (above north-south railroad line from Oconto to Tichborne)=== Abbott, Barton, Carnahan, Clow, Danby, Duncan, Eagle, Elbow, Leggat, Little Beaver, Little Mud, Long, Miller, Oconto, Scanlin, Spruce, Watson
===Middle watershed (between Oconto/Tichborne line and Christie Lake)=== Atwood, Beaver, Bobs & Crow, Buck Bay, Burns Pond, Christie, Crosby, Davern, Deer, Doran, Farrell, Green Bay, Lake of the Hills, Little Crosby, Little Rock, Little Silver, Little Twins, Lynn, Mud Bay, O’Brien, Pike, Rainbow, Rock (north), Sucker, Thompson Pond, Victoria, Weatherhead
===Below Christie Lake=== Andrew, Doctor McLaren, Mills, Mud, Otty, Rock (south), Thoms Mud
==History== The Tay River was formed during the retreat of the Champlain Sea after the last ice age. The name given to it by the Mississauga First Nation, who controlled its territory at the time of the arrival of the first European settlers, appears to have not been recorded. They used its territory for hunting, especially in the winter, and likely harvested manoomin (wild rice) on some of its lakes, for instance Christie Lake. Early European settlers called it the Pike River; the name Tay replaced it at some time during the arrival of many Scottish settlers after the founding of the Perth Military Settlement in 1816, doubtless in reference to the River Tay in Scotland. The new name was already clearly established during the construction of numerous mills on the river in the 1820s, and the Tay Canal in the 1830s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Ken W. |title=The Tay Canal: Past, Present, and 175th |url=http://www.perthhs.org/history/tay-canal-watson.html#history |publisher=Perth and District Historical Society |accessdate=15 July 2020}}</ref>
Mills on the Tay, the Tay Canal, and more broadly the resultant access to the Rideau Canal system provided important commercial connections from Frontenac and Lanark Counties to Ottawa and markets beyond, in particular for logging. Dams on the upper Tay created lakes (e.g. Bobs Lake) that were reservoirs of water for the Rideau Canal at the time, and are important to cottagers and seasonal residents today.
Following municipal amalgamation in Ontario in 1998, the river has provided its name to the municipality of Tay Valley, Ontario, even though the municipality neither wholly contains, nor is wholly contained by, the Tay River watershed.
==See also== *List of rivers of Ontario
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== {{Refbegin}} *{{cite map|url= http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/map/images/pdf/southont/sheets/Map6.pdf|format= PDF|title= Map 6|series= Official road map of Ontario|publisher= Ministry of Transportation of Ontario|scale= 1 : 700,000|date= 2010-01-01|accessdate= 2012-06-08}} *{{cite map|url= http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=6576|title= Restructured municipalities - Ontario map #5|year= 2006|series= Restructuring Maps of Ontario|publisher= Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing|accessdate= 2012-06-08|archive-date= 2020-05-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200511165309/http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=6576|url-status= dead}} *{{cite web|url= http://www.tayriver.org/pictures+maps+charts/Tay_WS-l.jpg|format= JPG|title= Tay River Sub-watershed|publisher= Friends of the Tay Watershed Association|accessdate= 2012-06-08}} {{Refend}}
==External links== *[http://www.rvca.ca/watershed/watershed_planning/tay/tay.html Tay River Watershed - Watershed Planning (Rideau Valley Conservation Authority)] *[http://www.tayriver.org/ Friends of the Tay Watershed]
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Category:Rivers of Lanark County