John Ferguson is considered the founder of North Bay. He arrived in 1882, on the Lucy Dalton, the first steam locomotive to visit North Bay. Upon his arrival he purchased 288 acres of land, at $1.00 per acre. This land would later become the downtown area. Ferguson sold off most of his land, leaving enough to build his home on McIntyre Street West. He even accidentally gave the city its name. When writing an order for a keg of nails, to build one of the first houses, he quickly wrote that it should be sent to 'the north bay of Lake Nipissing'.
