Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Another beauty of Huntsville’s Main Street.
We love old photos of Huntsville’s Main Street. In this photo, Main Street certainly looked like a very busy place. There was even an airconditioned bowling alley at the time, as well as what looks like a Kodak camera shop before digital photography took over.
What else can you spot? When do you think this photo was taken?
See more Wayback Wednesday photos HERE.
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Ralph Cliffe says
Look at all the parking we had on main street. Nice wide road before the experts improved the downtown.
Probably before the Hwy 11 bypass was built.
Anna Bertelsen says
We arrived in Huntsville May 1960 and the picture sure looks like what I remember.
Remember the great shopping we had, not need to go somewhere else. Miss that, seems we have mostly restaurants, not much shopping for clothing and no shoe stores. Sometimes I miss the earlier years when life was simple.
Brian Tapley says
Like Ralph, I do notice the much greater amount of parking and yet, nobody seems too crowded on the sidewalk.
I think I saw a comment somewhere in which the person suggested a set of stop lights at the intersection that has recently gained a fancy crosswalk. It totally eludes me what the reasoning was to place this crosswalk on the opposite side of the intersection from where the sort of quasi, unofficial crosswalk has been for 20 years (by the Royal Bank). This might be a good idea. Two of the fancy stainless posts are already in place for the crosswalk so maybe they could do this for less than half a million dollars.
This way all 4 directions would get crosswalk advantages and turning onto main street would be a lot easier. Main street traffic is already so slow it would not matter to add another stop light.
I have a friend who has just returned from a driving trip in Portugal. He says that in the countryside there they have a system so that whenever a stop light sees a car coming it turns red to stop it for a short time. Thus if you see a green light in the distance you can be assured it will be red for you when you get there.
This is done to slow traffic and make the pedestrians safer they say. It seems to work he says.
Digital photography, if you really work at it has advantages. My granddaughter goes out to take pictures of butterflies and comes back after an hour or two with over a thousand pictures. One would never have done this with film! She then sorts them and comes up with some really good pictures and tosses the rest.
On the other hand, I despise those idiots who go on holiday with suitcase size tablets and hold them up like placards to take a picture, thus depriving nearly everyone else in the crowd of any view at all. Very thoughtful these people.
I’ve also heard it said that people taking pictures like this describe it as “I love taking shaky, off focus pictures of events that I will never look at or show to anybody ever again”. And this is a pretty common effect of digital photography too.
DAVID WALKER says
The newest vehicle is the 1960 Chevrolet so no older than that.
Allen Markle says
Not that great a car aficionado, but is that a ’61 Plymouth Fury edging on to Main from West street North? That street is gone now, and I find that the Fury was terminated in 1978. A mean machine back in the mid 60’s. Everybody knew the street led to Huntsville Planing Mills. Very important place for my Dad and for me back then.
I can see Byers and Campbell’s, two of the three drug stores on Main Street, as well as Peter’s and Macdonald’s restaurants. Lots of us ordered ‘pine floats’ (a glass of water and a toothpick) in those places, back when money was a bit tight. As long as one of us had a cash order, we would be tolerated. Just so long as we didn’t loiter.
Winger’s Studio is just poking in on the right, then the bowling alley, where you could watch Carl Gortmaker (?), all six and a half feet of him, break pins. The jewelry store you can see was owned by Russ Ireland. Bought a ring there myself. Way down the street was Brigg’s, Ruby’s, Wardell’s and Boyd’s. Some few I can recall and I’ve shopped in them all.
I’m sure there a few of the ‘townies’ who can recall the names of most of the businesses along the street, and know that in front of every one of those stores was one or two parking spots. Overstay your nickel and you would end up with a ‘ticket’ under your wiper. Not so much now. I’m sure most people have seen the Beemer looking for parking in ‘Tombstone Territory’, aka Kent Park. Easy make that mistake. Hard to maneuver around the boulders and a bit of a puzzle to exit. As the town has grown, parking on Main has been on a diet.
A councilor said he couldn’t understand why people want to park on Main in Huntsville, but folk will park and walk for miles in some southern malls. What else is there to do in some southern malls? In Muskoka we offer a lot of other things to do. And those southern malls and cities have their own councilors to worry about the things that happen there. We need our councilors to deal with stuff here.
I miss where I grew up, but realise things have and will change, just as I have. That sure doesn’t mean that I like what has been done to Huntsville. It hasn’t been or isn’t all good.
But I like to see all these old photos. My guess for this one is 1961, From back in the day when I didn’t mind walking up hills and then coasting down.
Darryl Leavey says
I think in the line of traffic moving away, ahead of the 57 Chev it looks like the tail light of a 61 Ford.
DAVID WALKER says
Just to be pedantic I believe the car edging into the street on the left is a 59 Buick.
As often the case comments are most interesting.
Lee Marshall says
I grew up summering on Pen Lake (Springsyde). I also was a camper and councilor at Swallowdale on Fairy Lake. I spent loads of time in town. This pic is from the very early 60s. We’d head to Huntsville by water in our old Duke and tie up at the government dock. We used to call a water/toothpick combo a ‘lumberjack soda’ as opposed to a ‘pine float’.
Huntsville’s original MacDonald’s and Peter’s were a treat. (Plus the Tasty Freeze (Cream) when driving.) Mom always took me to the old Eaton’s store on Main for back to school clothes in later August. And heading south Thanksgiving weekend we’d stop at Parker’s and load up 9n boxes of bread to freeze for the winter.
I miss the Iroquois and the Portage Flyer when they were still in operation. (I know the train is now at Pioneer Village.) I barely remember the Algonquin. I still have a warm spot in my heart for Huntsville although, to be accurate here, it pretty much use to shut down on Wednesday afternoons.
Ken Eadie says
I find Huntsville Doppler articles informative and interesting reading–especially Wayback Wednesday. I enjoy Muskoka history and Huntsville in particular, because it is where I grew up. Allen Markle did a great job listing numerous businesses in one section of the photo “Main Street Huntsville”. It was a bustling community and downtown in the early 60’s and I would like to add some names as I recall them.
South Side: McIlroy Insurance, Perentesis’ Restaurant, Alf Harper’s Menswear, Parrot’s Plumbing, Steadman’s (once A&P), The Village Shop (once LCBO), Huntsville Hardware (now flower shop), Shell to Fina Service Station, Dr. Davies Med. Bldg, Dr. Rogers’ Dental Clinic, Law Office (once The Bookcase).
North Side: Beubes Ladieswear, Muskoka Auto Parts, Huntsville Forester, Metcalf Smoke Shop, Latour’s Leather and Shoe Repair.
Strange!! I cannot remember where I put my TV remote or why I went to the kitchen, but I recall so many great owners/staff at the Mom and Pop shops along our friendly downtown streets.
P.S Allen–Huntsville Planing Mill was on King Street (LOL!!!!), best regards–Ken
Allen Markle says
Hey Ken; Wrong car. Wrong street! Jean Reynolds corrects me all the time about the street. Jeez! Maybe I should give this up and do something else with my time.
But you mention Metcalf’s Smoke shop. Was in line there once. Back when we smoked. Lots of people waiting. A little kid “Hey Mistered” me. He was a little small for cigarettes and I wondered if he was with someone in the line. But he didn’t seem to be.
“Yeah. Can I help you?”
” Can you tell me what time it is?”
“Sure. There’s a clock right there over the counter.”
“I woodna’ asked you if I could tell time.”
Wanted to do that kid an injury. There were snickers in the line, some grateful I suppose that they hadn’t been asked.
‘Beavertails” is where Huntsville Hardware and the florists once were. Haven’t been back for a spell?
Stay well.
Allen