The name of the Town has Indian origins as do many northern Ontario communities. An article in the Sudbury Daily Star, on Saturday 5, 1963 recounts the various interpretations and evolution of the name.

The name Tresalong was an Indian word meaning “Long Point”. Alexander Henry the first white fur trader to go to Sault Ste. Marie in 1662 spelled it "O’tossalon", which may have been interpreted from the Ojibway. In 1668 the name appears on a map as Tessalons. In 1669 it appears as “R’de Tessalon”, while 1775 saw it as “Pointe aux Thessalons”.

Along with the following story, we found two other interpretations, one being an Ojibway word - "Tessawong", which meant "Something drifting away" a reference to the peninsula that the town was built on. The Indians were said to believe that one day this point would break off and drift out into the lake making it an island. Another native word that has been referenced was "Nagesheun".

Some of the first people to settle in the Thessalon area were of French Canadian and Scottish backgrounds with names like LaFebre, Graham, McLeod, McBains, Cotes and De Geers.

Early in the 1800’s Thessalon was a regular stop for the Northwest fur brigades, who would make camp on what is now called the point, using it as a rest stop for the night before carrying on their way.

The Town of Thessalon was first surveyed by Messrs. Avery and Patton in 1879.

* Another newspaper article makes mention of the Township being surveyed into farm lots in 1876 by Provincial Land Surveyor G.B. Abrey based on a report by Mr. Abrey dated February 1877.

___________________________________________________________