Arran was named after the Isle of Arran at the mouth of Scotland's Clyde River, and was surveyed by George Gould in 1851.  Right at his heels, the first settler, Henry Boyle, opened up the first business establishment, a tavern on the banks of the Saugeen River.  Located north of Burgoyne, the establishment accommodated the settlers thronging to clear the forest and build "a bit of a shanty" to make their claim on the bush lots. 

The three hamlets of Arkwright, Burgoyne and Invermay were going concerns in the late nineteenth century with grain and saw mills, tanneries and stores. 

Both the Saugeen and the Sauble Rivers meander through Arran. Arran Lake Conservation Area is a wonderful, well kept secret for a picnic.

Elderslie Township was named after Scotland's patriot, Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, and was first settled by the Simon Orchard family and shortly after by the Samuel Rowe family.  Rowe built a tavern in 1853, at what is now Paisley, just in time for the great land sale rush in 1854.

The Township of Elderslie expanded north when the Elora Road was built in 1854.  Settlements included Dobbinton, Lockerby, Williscroft and Gilles Hill.

Chesley's first settlers were the Scots who arrived in 1854.  The town began to develop when A. S. Elliot started a small gristmill.  Originally known as Sconeville, the Post Office changed the name to Chesley in 1868 after Solomon Chesley, an official in the Indian Office in London, England.

Fire destroyed every building on Main Street, except for the Doctor's Office and the Post Office.

Paisley was first settled in the spring of 1851 when Simon Orchard built a cedar raft in Walkerton, loaded his family and their personal effects onto it, and floated down the Saugeen River in search of a new homestead.  They settled at the junction of the Saugeen and the Teeswater Rivers, at what is now known as Paisley.  They were joined by Simon's brother-in-law, Samuel Rowe, who later built the first tavern. 

Paisley was first called Mud River.  The Post Office which was established in 1872, changed the name from Mud River to Paisley after a city in Renfrewshire, Scotland where many of the settlers had emigrated from.

With six bridges inside its boundaries and three more nearby, Paisley has been nicknamed the "Village of Bridges".

Tara was founded by Richard Berford, a member of the party that arrived to survey Arran Township in 1851, and was first known as Eblana. The community changed its name to Tara to honour the place where Ireland's ancient kings were crowned.  Tara's first industry was a sawmill built in 1854 by Henry Richards, followed by the addition of a gristmill in 1857.  In 1881 the village was incorporated.