Dwight Beach Road and Lake of Bays Lane LAKE OF BAYS Dwight Beach Road & Lake of Bays Lane A history of properties of interest documented by the Built Heritage Committee for the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation 2015 DWIGHT BEACH ROAD AND LAKE OF BAYS LANE With the dawn of the 20th century, a small cottage community developed along the north shore of Dwight Bay. The beautiful sand beaches, the clean waters and rarified air, close proximity to the scenic Oxtongue River and Marsh’s Falls; made Dwight Beach Road and Lake of Bays Lane an attractive base for tourist resorts and eventually cottagers. Muskoka’ s fresh air was reknown for its restorative health benefits for those people suffering respiratory health problems and Dwight’s earliest resorts capitalized on the healthy lifestyle to be found here. Before this time, the village of Dwight had only a few family homesteaders (Gouldies, Keowns and Blackwells) who supplemented their subsistence income with logging efforts in winter and hunting guide services and guest accommodations in the Spring, Summer and Fall. However, it was the entrepreneurial genius of Captain George Francis Marsh that set the stage for the 20th century’s transition of Dwight’s economy. Captain Marsh built a saw mill at the foot of Marsh’s Falls on the Oxtongue River in the late 1880’s and later a boat building works, established steamer service on both Lake of Bays and the Vernon-Fairy- Peninsula Lakes chain that focused on the Huntsville railway station. In 1900, Capt. Marsh’s company (The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Co.) obtained a charter to construct a railway between the Lake of Bays and Peninsula Lake. This short narrow gauge railroad replaced the buckboard wagon and stage coach service operated by the Osborne family. When Captain Marsh’s Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Company was reincorporated as the Photo: N. Tapley Huntsville, Lake of Bays and Lake Simcoe Navigation Company (the Navigation Company) a new charter reaffirmed the right of his company to operate and maintain steamships, and to develop “hotels, house boats, boarding houses, cottages and summer resorts” on Lake of Bays. After Captain Marsh died in 1904, The Navigation Company came under the control of C.O Shaw, general manager of the Anglo- Canadian Leather Company in Huntsville, makers of sole leather from tanbark derived from hemlock trees. The S.S. Florence Main (1907) was reconstructed into the Mohawk Belle (1913) and the S.S. Iroquois was added to the fleet of steamboats working Lake of Bays. With the increase in passenger capacity the demand for summer vacation accommodations grew and soon a number of family run hotels opened their doors in Dwight and in particular on Lake of Bays Lane. S.S. Joe at Dwight dock, 1900. Photo from M. Lowe Dwight village was now recognized as a ‘tourist destination’ by both the Grand Trunk Railway and the Navigation Company, such that steamboats called in twice a day to drop off passengers and supplies and pick up guests returning to Huntsville to catch the train south to Toronto. A large dock was built out from Dwight Beach to accommodate the steam boat, and a village of homes and services grew up around the beach; several which will be discussed in this booklet. 1154 DWIGHT BEACH ROAD At the junction of Dwight Beach Road and Dwight Bay Road, in the heart of the waterfront village of Dwight; sits a centenary home that was built by early Dwight resident, Frank Keown for a Mr. Hood, who planned to open a store in the building. The 44 tons of kiln- dried wood used to construct the house was milled across the road at the former Quinn’s Mill. The tongue and groove ceilings, staircase and rails, floors and walls and windows are still original in the home and all the materials were locally sourced. Originally, the house was built on wooden piles sitting on sand, with a dug well at the back of the property. The summer 1154 Dwight Beach Road C 1915 Photo: M. Lowe kitchen and wood storage room at the back of the house is now a kitchen that can be accessed from the dining room and the back yard. There is a wooden hatch into the basement which was once, for access to cool storage in the sand excavated below the house. While the fixtures and furnishings for the store were installed, the events surrounding the First World War did not enable Mr. Hood’s business to open. However, due to an untimely fire which consumed the post office at Gouldie Manor in 1915, this building became an important destination for everyone in Dwight seeking news of the war. For the next year, the Royal Mail was distributed from this location. It is likely, that the famous Group of Seven painter, Tom Thomson used the services of the home when he travelled between Algonquin Park and Huntsville. Years later, his friend, Park Ranger, Bud Callaghan lived in the home for about a decade and three of Tom Thomson’s oil paintings adorned the walls. The treasured paintings were later given to Bud’s son. Frank Keown and his wife Ester purchased this building and made it a home for their seven children. They lived here until the early 1940’s. The home was inhabited several more times before it was purchased by Piers Hemmingsen who has Tom Thomson fishing near log chute photo: enjoyed the history as well as B. Simpson life in this distinct property, since 2002. The home now has a covered verandah fronting Dwight Beach Road, where the views of the beach and all the action can be quietly taken in from a comfortable vantage point. 1001, 1003 AND 1005 LAKE OF BAYS LANE Photo: M. Lowe ASBURY FAMILIES AMONG FIRST RESIDENTS ON LAKE OF BAYS LANE In the early 1900’s, the Asbury families, residents of Lake of Bays Lane, contributed to the commercial and social facets of Dwight. On the sandy shores of Dwight Beach, the first marina, Dwight Boat Livery, was owned and operated by Vic Asbury (1889-1958). It was located on the corner lot, now owned by Vic’s grandson and his wife, Gary and Joanne Wright. Victor Asbury was raised in Dwight, having come to the village in 1903 when his parents purchased the lot from Edmond Goldie for twenty five dollars. The lot was deeded in his mother, Margaret’s name. A homestead was built for the growing family, toward the back of the property; where Vic continued to with his mother and sister. In 1910, he purchased from his brother, Photo: M. Lowe James, a boat rental, building and repair business which continued operating until the 1960’s. This business had been established by James on the adjacent property at 1003 Lake of Bays Lane, where Vaughn Adamson now resides. The rock cribs are still visible in the water in front of her property. Vic married Ethel Robertson (1902-1974) from Oxtongue Lake in 1922, and she became an active partner in the business as well as an important member of the Women’s Association and Dwight Photo: B. Simpson Women’s Institute (DWI). The ladies of the D.W.I. hosted many socials to raise funds for the community and to construct the hall itself which hosted almost every wedding and funeral reception in Dwight, as the only Community Centre in the area. In 1940 they participated in the Tweedsmuir History Projects, recording the history of the village. The couple built a second house, known as ‘the cottage’, closer to lake where Vic’s mother, lived until her death in 1926. Afterward, Photo: G. Wright Victor and Ethel along with their children, moved into ‘the cottage’ and the original homestead was converted into a workshop for the Dwight Boat Livery, leaving two bedrooms intact for additional sleeping space. Gary recalls that the boat business was a thriving enterprise. Large floating docks went straight out from their property, turned 90 degrees to the left and continued in front of what is now 1003 Lake of Bays Lane. The floating docks were towed every fall to the Oxtongue River for safe, winter storage. There were 2 boat houses, a 2 storey building on the beach, and the existing building, which originally sat on the 1st section of dock. The 2 storey boat house burned down in the late 1940’s , and the existing boathouse building, believed to have been built around 1910, was moved off of the dock into its place where it remains today. The homestead was removed and replaced in 2005. 1003 LAKE OF BAYS LANE The home on this property was built by James Asbury, the afore- mentioned boat builder and his wife Mary Ann in 1910. They lived here with their family of six children until moving to Oxtongue Lake in 1943. Arnott and Jessie Adamson purchased this property in 1951. Photo: V. Adamson Now owned by their daughter, Vaughn Adamson since 1980, Arnott and Jessie Adamson maintained the residence for use by family and friends during the summer months. Joe and Phyllis Vale from Newmarket, Ontario enjoyed the use of this cottage for over 50 years while their families of eight children were growing up. Vaughn recalls that the Adamson and Vale children spent memorable summers together learning to swim water ski, paddle, and fish and appreciate the beauties that Dwight and Lake of Bays had to offer. Summer activities included weekly square dances at the Hall, which is now the Dwight Senior’s Centre, ball games in the field at Logging Chain Lodge, impromptu street dances in front of the cottages and tennis on the courts at Pine Grove Inn.