Tara, Ontario

Tara is an unincorporated community in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie, Bruce County, in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is a designated place and had 1,037 residents and 458 dwellings as of the 2011 census. Tara is in geographic Arran Township and is located on the Sauble River. It has an area of and an urban area that covers.Tara is in the federal electoral district of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound and in the provincial electoral district of the same name.Tara Siding is just to the south of the community on the right (opposite) bank of the Sauble River. It was created in 1855 by the building of the Stratford and Huron Railway (later Grand Trunk Railway; later Canadian National Railway Owen Sound Subdivision; abandoned 1993).HistoryRichard Berford and John Hamilton were the first European settlers to move onto and survey the lots of the future village of Tara in 1851. The opening of the road from Southampton to Owen Sound in 1852 helped the early growth of the community, as the village is located approximately half-way in between the two larger towns. Shortly after, Hamilton opened a hotel, serving the incoming settlers of the surrounding townships. A post-office opened in 1862 with the name, Eblana, however it was changed the following year to Tara, after a town in County Meath, Ireland which served as the seat of Irish royalty. In 1880, the local newspaper, The Tara Leader was first published, and the following year the railroad was built to the community and the first locomotive arrived.