Among the earliest settlers on the site of Listowel was
John Binning who, tradition has it, became the community's first permanent settler in 1852.
Within four years
D. D. Hay, one of the most enterprising early settlers, had erected a sawmill and a settlement called Mapleton developed.
On June 1, 1856, a post office named Listowel was opened and the community, with a population of 200, contained taverns and a general store operated by
W. H. Hacking.
Ten years later the population had increased to 800 and the settlement became an incorporated Village.
The arrival of a branch line of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway hastened the Village's development and it became a Town with a population of 2,054 in 1875.
