The Once Upon a Town section presents names of those who were early residents in villages and towns of the Kawartha Region. Some nearby county places may also be covered.

Communities only exist so long as an area is inhabited, for it is people who give life and meaning to the villages and towns that are a natural outgrowth of settlement. The communities of Once Upon a Town are brought to life through those early settler families who resided in this region. The information was extracted from an Ontario 1869 Gazetteer.

Early communities often took their names from families and individuals who first settled thereabouts. Later, as the community developed, the village name might well have been changed to reflect a name collectively chosen by the local residents. Often too, a later name might have been selected to honour some particular person or family who made a significant contribution to the early settlement and growth of the town.