The Durham Road was opened in 1848. It was originally intended to go from Barrie on Lake Simcoe to Kincardine on Lake Huron. David Gibson surveyed the road east of Durham and Allan Park Brough surveyed the road west of Durham in 1848. When the road was eventually gravelled, each landowner along the route was required to give six days work. A day worked by a man and a team of horses counted as two days.

East of Priceville, Gibson's survey diverged from plan to intersect the T&S Road at Flesherton, then it straightened out again toward Singhampton. At Singhampton, the road entered Simcoe County, intersected the Old Centre Road just north of Glen Huron, and followed that road north through Duntroon to Collingwood.

Brough's survey was done in two parts. He started the survey at the mouth of the Penetangore River at what is now Kincardine and surveyed east along the route of Highway 9 until he reached the Greenock Swamp west of the Teeswater River. This swamp was so extensive that he was forced to take the survey further south than he intended. So he went to Durham and began to survey west along the route of Grey Road 4 and Bruce Road 4 past the site of Walkerton to the present Greenock-Brant Township Road. There the road took a sharp turn south for a mile and a quarter to Highway 9 to avoid the Greenock Swamp.

Incidentally, Brough's death illustrates the hazards of frontier life at this time. Brough fell while surveying Bruce Township. His assistant, Latham Hamlin, rushed to the nearest place where he was likely to find a boat, Stoney Island, to find transportation to where he could get medical help. Captain McLeod at Stoney Island told Hamlin that no sailing vessel was nearby but he had a rowboat. So, while Hamlin rushed off to see that Brough was taken by stretcher to the closest point on Lake Huron, what is now Inverhuron, McLeod rowed the rowboat to Inverhuron. Then McLeod and another man took turns rowing Brough to Penetangore (Kincardine). No help was available there so they rowed him all the way to Goderich. Although he was still alive when he reached Goderich, Brough died a day or so later.

The small community of Allan Park on the part of the Durham Road that he surveyed was named for Brough.

Settling on the Durham Road

A person who wanted to take advantage of the free lots available on the Durham Road had to follow a fairly rigorous procedure.

• The settler, in person, had to contact the Crown Lands Agent, George Jackson, at Durham. Jackson would then give the settler a list of lots that were available. This list was a short list because Jackson gave each settler a different list so that settlers were not competing for the same lots.

• The settler would then set out from Durham along the Durham Road with the list and enough provisions for the search. The road at this time was just a blazed trail through the woods.

• After four hours, the settler would come to Buck's Crossing (now Hanover) at the Saugeen River. If the river was low, he could ford across. If the river was high, he would have to walk upstream for a mile to a driftwood dam where he could cross the river. After 1850, he could cross the river using a bridge at what then became Buck's Bridge.

• The settler would then walk along the trail looking for and examining lots on his list.

• On choosing a lot, the settler would return to Durham to register his lot.

• Finally, he would have to fulfil the conditions before he could get the patent for the lot. Within four years, he would have to clear at least 12 acres, erect a dwelling of at least 18 feet by 24 feet, and settle on the lot.