Southampton is a community on the shores of Lake Huron in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada, and close to Port Elgin. It is located at the mouth of the Saugeen River in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory. The size of the town is 6.44 square kilometres. The permanent population in 2016 was 3,678 but the summer population is higher, due to cottagers and campers spending vacation time in the area. Although the community still has its own post office, and road signs indicating the name Southampton, it is no longer an entity in its own right. In 1998, Port Elgin, Southampton and Township of Saugeen, all along the shores of Lake Huron, were amalgamated to form the Town of Port Elgin-Saugeen-Southampton. On December 17, 1998, the Province renamed the community the Town of Saugeen Shores. The primary employment categories are agriculture, small business, tourism and the Bruce Power nuclear power station which is 40 kilometres away. Southampton is a bedroom community, a retirement destination, as well as a tourist destination. History Long before settlers arrived to the area, Southampton was an important trading area, according to a historic plaque erected in town by the Government of Ontario, titled Fur Trading at Saugeen: The community was originally known as Saugeen by the early residents, by the Canadian Post Office and by Custom House Departments. However, the Crown Land Departments labelled the village as Southampton and the name stuck as the town was incorporated, named after Southampton, the English sea port. The first European settlers of the area, around 1848, were Captain John Spence and William Kennedy, who wanted to establish a fishing company. While it proved unsuccessful, Spence became a sailor and Kennedy joined a search for the Arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin. Nevertheless, in 1851 there were at least a dozen families living in the community. In the same year, the Post Office was established, the first and only in Bruce County for several years. Three years later, a Bank of Upper Canada was built. In 1846, Smith's Canadian Gazetteer describes Saugeen (Southampton) as little more than a pioneer settlement: The pioneers of Southampton wanted the village to become the county town or county seat, as the village held the only Crown Land Department and Post Office in the county. However, the town of Kincardine had a larger population and seemed the strongest rival. Furthermore, Southampton did not have enough population