King's Highway 51, commonly referred to as Highway 51, was a designation applied to two separate provincially maintained highways in the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The first instance of this route number was south of Orangeville

Orangeville, Ontario

Orangeville is a town in south-central Ontario, Canada, and the seat of Dufferin County.-History:Before European settlers, Orangeville was thought to be a native hunting ground...

, connecting Highway 24

Ontario Highway 24

Highway 24 is a highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which presently begins at Highway 3 in Simcoe, and ends at Highway 401, in Cambridge. Highway 24 runs in a north/south direction and has been in service since 1927...

 with Highway 10, which was assumed in 1938. This route was renumbered as Highway 24 In 1961. In 1970 a new Highway 51 was assumed, connecting Highway 3

Ontario Highway 3

King's Highway 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3 and historically as the Talbot Trail, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which travels parallel to the shore of Lake Erie. It has three segments, the first of which runs from the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor...

 in Eatonville

Eatonville, Ontario

Eatonville is a neighbourhood in the Etobicoke community of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located west of the area known as Islington, Eatonville is bisected by Highway 427, with the community generally located north of Dundas Street West and south of Rathburn Road...

 with Rondeau Provincial Park

Rondeau Provincial Park

Rondeau Provincial Park is a provincial park in southwestern Ontario, Canada, located on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. There are only two sand spits like this one in all of North America, one in Rondeau and one in Florida. Rondeau was established in 1894 as a response...

. This iteration was decommissioned in 1997 and transferred to what is now the city of Chatham–Kent

Chatham–Kent

Chatham–Kent is a unitary authority in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Mostly rural, its centres of population are Blenheim, Chatham, Dresden, Ridgetown, Tilbury and Wallaceburg. Modern Chatham–Kent was created in 1998 by the merger of Kent County and its municipalities.- History :The former city of...

.

Route description

Highway 51 is a short connector road that served to link Highway 3 to Rondeau Provincial Park. At its southern terminus, the highway began at the entrance gates to the provincial park, proceeding northeast through a small community of recreational cottage

Cottage

__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...

s. The highway exited the park and turned north onto what is now Chatham–Kent Road 15. From here the highway progressed straight north to Highway 3, passing through the community of New Scotland along the way.
Trees continue to line both sides of this section of the highway, with farmland sprawling out beyond that.

History

In 1961, the section of Highway 24 between Highway 51 and Orangeville was renumbered as Highway 136; Highway 51 was renumbered as Highway 24 and the latter signed concurrently

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 with Highway 10 north to Orangeville. On April 9, 1970, the road from Eatonville to Rondeau Provincial Park was designated as Highway 51. This route remained unaltered until April 1, 1997, when it was transferred to Kent County

Kent County, Ontario

Kent County, area 2,458 sq km is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. Population in 2006 was 108,589.The county was created in 1792 and named by John Graves Simcoe in honour of the English County. The county is in an alluvial plain between Lake St...

, now the City of Chatham–Kent. It was subsequently designated as Chatham–Kent Road 15.

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along the most recent iteration of Highway 51. The entirety of the route is located within Chatham–Kent

Chatham–Kent

Chatham–Kent is a unitary authority in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Mostly rural, its centres of population are Blenheim, Chatham, Dresden, Ridgetown, Tilbury and Wallaceburg. Modern Chatham–Kent was created in 1998 by the merger of Kent County and its municipalities.- History :The former city of...

.

{| class=wikitable
!scope="col"|Location
!scope="col"|km
!scope="col"|Destinations
!scope="col"|Notes
|-
|rowspan="2"|Rondeau Park

Rondeau Provincial Park

Rondeau Provincial Park is a provincial park in southwestern Ontario, Canada, located on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. There are only two sand spits like this one in all of North America, one in Rondeau and one in Florida. Rondeau was established in 1894 as a response...

|0.0
|Evangeline Street
|Entrance gates to Rondeau Provincial Park

Rondeau Provincial Park

Rondeau Provincial Park is a provincial park in southwestern Ontario, Canada, located on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. There are only two sand spits like this one in all of North America, one in Rondeau and one in Florida. Rondeau was established in 1894 as a response...

|-
|1.0
|
|
|-
|New Scotland
|3.7
|
|
|-
|Eatonville

Eatonville, Ontario

Eatonville is a neighbourhood in the Etobicoke community of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located west of the area known as Islington, Eatonville is bisected by Highway 427, with the community generally located north of Dundas Street West and south of Rathburn Road...

|5.8
|
|Formerly Highway 3

Ontario Highway 3

King's Highway 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3 and historically as the Talbot Trail, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which travels parallel to the shore of Lake Erie. It has three segments, the first of which runs from the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor...