Scott's Boathouse Road

Scott’s Boathouse Road LAKE OF BAYS Scott’s Boathouse Road LAKE OF BAYS Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation Compiled and edited by Penny Thomas and Paul Shoniker 2014. SCOTT’S BOATHOUSE ROAD LAKE OF BAYS Scott’s Boathouse Road is located on the south shore of Lake of Bays, equidistant between Norway Point and Grove Park, off Old Highway 117. This area of the lake has grand vistas and gorgeous wide sand beaches. The area was settled following surveys conducted in the mid 1800’s. In 1868, with the ‘Free Grant and Homestead Act’, the Canadian government opened three million acres of land for development from the Ottawa River to Georgian Bay. In 1878, the road between Baysville and Dorset was scattered with homesteads erected under these grants. Lured by the beauty of the lake country, settlers from all parts of Ontario and Europe took up the offer to clear the land, build a home and remain for ten years or forfeit to the government what proved to be primitive and rocky land. Those who remained loved the country and chose to endure the hardship to survive. Many settlers were discouraged by the rugged, unproductive soil and vacated their claims. In the late 1890’s, tourists discovered the area by the opening of boarding houses such as Grove Park Lodge located three miles east of Norway Point and operated by Mrs. John Robertson. At Norway Point there was another boarding house run by Mrs. George Robertson. At the turn of the century, cottages started to be built along the south shore of Lake of Bays. Grandview Hotel was built in 1901 followed by the Glenmount Hotel next door in 1903. The legendary WaWa Hotel at Norway Point was constructed in 1907 on George Robertson’s Norway Point farm, and was a popular summer destination for tourists. The WaWa was a frame structure with a three storey central building and a two storey wing on either side, accommodating a total of 300 guests. Rising from the centre of the building was a five storey tower crowned by a powerful search light. The interior was panelled in Georgia pine and appointed with luxurious furnishings. The hotel attracted so many visitors that it had to offer sleeping tents to accommodate the overflow. Bigwin Inn started construction in 1911 and opened to the public in June 1920, providing an excellent social and entertainment element to vacationers. Wa Wa Hotel DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROAD LANDER / MORISON COTTAGE In 1907, Peter Brown of the Township of Ridout purchased 71 acres from the Crown for $35.00. In 1922, three gentlemen from Oshawa; Elgin Vesta Lander, Reuben William Millichamp and Colonel William Eric Phillips (a WW1 war hero married to Mary McLaughlin, daughter of Colonel Sam McLaughlin of Parkwood, Oshawa) were looking for a northern retreat to accommodate their common interest of card playing and a summer vacation place for their families. They acquired shoreline severed from the original Peter Brown 1907 land acquisition. When the three card playing gentlemen arrived in 1922, Dorset and Baysville supported a thriving lumber industry. Norway Point and Black Point were also solidly populated. The once treacherous road from Bracebridge to Baysville was somewhat improved. Prior to this, settlers and tourists came to the south shore of Lake of Bays, mostly by water landing at Robertson’s wharf at Norway Point. The travelers would have likely taken the train to Huntsville. The trip from Huntsville to North Portage would be made via the Algonquin. The Portage Flyer railway was constructed in 1905, and linked North Portage with South Portage on Lake of Bays where travelers continued to their destination aboard the Iroquois or Mohawk Belle. While road access to Baysville and eastward gained popularity, the importance of steam boats on Lake of Bays declined. When Messrs.’ Lander, Millichamp and Phillips built their cottage, the vicinity looked different than it does today. The shoreline was full of logs that had separated from the massive log drifts that were intended for the mills in Baysville. The Boothby and later Bailey farm was located to the east. Further beyond was Grove Park Lodge operated by Mrs. J.J. Robertson. To the east of Grove Park, Mr. Molesworth operated an outstanding gift shop at what was Langford Marina. The Morison cottage, built in 1922, is a pre-fabricated, mail order package by Michigan/Toronto-based Aladdin. Between 1906 and 1940, thousands of North American homes were built according to plans sold by mail order companies such as: Aladdin, Eaton’s or Montgomery Ward. Often an entire mail order structure (in the form of labeled timbers) was shipped via train and was delivered, complete with hinges, windows and even kitchen cabinets. Mr. Langmaid, a master carpenter from Baysville (Langmaid’s Island was named after him) constructed the cottage. A local stone mason, most likely James McFarlane of Huntsville, built the fireplace. Mr. McFarlane created the fireplaces at Bigwin as well as many of the fine old Huntsville stone homes. A cottage shed built on the property is now used as a cabin. There was also an icehouse where ice was drawn from the lake during the winter months and packed in sawdust and stored until summer. A pump supplied running water to the modern bathroom in the cottage. There was no telephone in the early post war years. Phone calls were made through a community operator at Grove Park Hotel. The cottage power was serviced by a generator system known as a Delco plant. This was a recent technology in 1922. Delco-Light electric plant in the United States, brought the wonder of electricity to rural areas. With this electric power system that teams with battery and appliance manufacturers, ‘flameless lighting’, ‘running water’ as well as convenient labor saving equipment and appliances, such as the wringer wash machine, were available. It was this modern marvel that E. V. Lander brought to Lake of Bays. The Lander/ Butler cottage to the east of the original Morison cottage was built in 1923 for Reuben Millichamp, by Gordon Robinson of Baysville. The cottage was a replica of the pre-fabricated cottage built the year before. Also in 1923, a two story boathouse with sleeping and card playing space upstairs was constructed. The original, knot-free wood in both cottages remains intact to this day. Coincidentally, also in the summer of 1923, the WaWa Hotel burnt to the ground. The fire broke out in a baggage room after a dance when most of the 240 guests and 95 employees had retired to their rooms. Flames raced up the elevator shaft erupting into the tower. Within 35 minutes, the entire structure was reduced to ashes. Eleven people perished. The Lander family arrived after a full day’s journey from Oshawa. They spent the entire summer at the cottage and relatives visited often, giving the Lander children many memories with not only their siblings, but their cousins. The mornings were spent doing chores with everyone involved in the care and cleaning of the cottage. By mid-day, the sun shone on the property and blissful afternoons were spent swimming, sailing and canoeing. The Lander children all learned to swim on the sand beach. By the time the Lander children were in their early teens, they took their small wooden boat over to Bigwin Inn to hike up to the tower or visit the tea house for ice cream. The Glenmount tea house provides fond memories of cherry coke, the jute box, the nickel slot machine and collecting the mail at the Glenmount Store operated by Mr. and Mrs. Thompson and later by Bessie Martin. Ross Heaney, known as the “chicken man”, was a cottage character. Mr. Heaney drove an old Ford pick-up truck and delivered fresh chicken and Muskoka lamb. Mr. Heaney entertained and scared the young children by killing, plucking and skinning chickens and moving the chicken feet back and forth. Mr. Heaney’s Muskoka lamb and chicken was a true organic delicacy. In the late twenties and thirties, William Langmaid operated a grocery boat which pulled up to docks, allowing cottagers to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Billy Langmaid was the son of the builder of the Morison cottage, and was proprietor of Langmaid’s of Baysville. Every Victoria Day weekend, the families celebrated by lighting up the sky with fireworks, sparklers and rockets. The climax was the burning school house – an event which all the young ones looked forward to. Mr. Morison and Mr. Lander fished, and fried up their catch in a big pan on the beach. Many memorable picnics took place on the beach in front of the cottages. Grown-ups dressed formally and continued to do so in post-war times. Elgin Lander always dressed in a shirt, tie and fedora, even to rake the beach. Evening cocktails required formal clothing – a great contrast to today’s casual ‘anything goes’ attire. Music wafted across the lake from the Dance Hall at Bigwin where the Big Bands played on Saturday nights and C.O. Shaw and the Anglo Canadian band performed on Sunday afternoon. Fifth generation cottagers Susan, Judith and Michael Morison and Pat and Lee Butler remember the grown –ups of years past enjoying boating and swimming in the lake, dances at Bigwin Inn and bridge games. Many years after the last hand of cards was dealt by the three principals, E.V. Lander bought both cottages and boathouse in 1955. Interestingly, Mr. Millichamp sold Bigwin Island to C.O. Shaw in 1910. Millichamp and Reuben Islands are named after Reuben Millichamp. The architecture of the two cottages remain as it originally was in the early 1920’s, with the exception of the enclosure of the front porches that spanned both cottages from east to west.

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