Stokes Bay is situated on the Lake Huron shore, about halfway up the Bruce Peninsula. In 1882, a log hotel was built at Stokes Bay to provide accommodation for the men building a road up the west side of the Peninsula. The designated town plot around Stokes Bay was originally to be named “Hardwick”, but that town never came to be. Later, settlers decided to name the town “Storke’s Bay after Captain John Storke, the first white man known to sail into the village area; however, when the papers were returned, an error had been made and it was named “Stokes Bay.” Timbering was one of the village’s most popular early industries. In the late 1800s, “there were three stores, two sawmills, a liver stable, a blacksmith shop, a post office, a dance hall and two hotels.” Source: “Benchmarks: A History of Eastnor Township and Lion’s Head”, 1987.