Huntsville is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. The area was first settled and founded in 1869 by Captain George Hunt, who built a small agricultural centre there. In 1870, a post office was built and the area was named Huntsville after Hunt, who became the first postmaster. In the following year, the Muskoka Colonization Road reached this area. A water route north from Port Sydney to Huntsville opened in 1877 and a railway route was built by the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway in 1885, which encouraged development and resulted in Huntsville becoming officially incorporated in 1886. The community became an important industrial area in the late 19th century and had several saw, planing and shingle mills, as well as a tannery. Today, the many lakes and hills in the area and the town's closeness to Algonquin Park, combined with its proximity to Toronto, make Huntsville and the Muskoka region a major tourist destination.