Toney River is located along the Northumberland Strait, between Seafoam and Caribou River, at the mouth of the Toney River. Fishing, farming and lumbering were carried on as the main industries dating back to the early 1800s.

Both the river and the community are said to be named in honor of Captain Toney, a French Acadian trader who adopted the Mi’kmaw way of living and came to be regarded as a chief. He sailed along the coast from Quebec to New England exchanging furs he received from the Mi’kmaq for food and other manufactured goods. The Mi’kmaq sheltered Captain Toney as a member of their tribe so he might avoid the Acadian Expulsion. Captain Toney is reported to have been involved in the signing of the Halifax Treaties in 1761.

An early Mi’kmaq name for Toney River was “Booktowtāgun”, meaning the place where flint stone is found. but today the word is understood and spelled differently (Puktewe’knk).

James Milnes, an Englishman, applied for license to occupy several thousand acres around the year 1803. By December of 1808, he had erected saw mills, several houses and barns, and had hired mechanics from England. He received a grant of the land in 1810 and began shipping timber back to England.