It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Bigwin Inn Farm barn and double silos across the Muskoka River from the Tannery (Anglo-Canadian Leather Company)in Huntsville, Ontario. (Image: 1920-1968)
Bigwin Inn was opened to the public on June 26, 1920, on Bigwin Island on Lake of Bays. It was built by Charles Orlando Shaw who was a major shareholder of the Huntsville, Lake of Bays and Lake Simcoe Navigation Company and manager of the Anglo-
Canadian Leather Company, the largest maker of sole leather in the British Empire, and the Anglo-Canadain Concert Band. Much of the produce for the Bigwin dining room was grown at the Bigwin Farm, located on land across the river from the tannery (Anglo-Canadian Leather Company), in Huntsville. Fifty Holstein cows provided the milk for cream and butter. The fresh vegetables and dairy products were loaded onto the steamer Algonquin at the steamer wharf. The large concrete barn on the farm was remodelled and is now a commercial building still standing at the corner of Centre Street and Dairy Lane. Charles Orlando Shaw died in 1942. Bigwin Inn closed its doors in 1968. (Muskoka Digital Archives).
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
“The next afternoon we reached Bigwin Inn and stayed there until the next afternoon. I have been in a good many hotels and summer resorts but never in any that delighted me as much as Bigwin Inn. It is a darling spot. The view from “the tower” is as beautiful as any I saw in England or Scotland —- though, alas, it had no charm of history and myth.”
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Selected Journals, v. 3
Journal entry
Sunday, August 12, 1928
In the 1940’s and 50’s, the barn was owned by Muskoka Construction, Lough and Caswell used it as a maintenance shop for all their equipment. Jim Logan now owns it, operating a wine and beer making business along with the rest of the building divided up into rental facilities.
My father Frank Parrott bought the Bigwin Farm (minus the laundry building and land) sometime shortly before the Centre Street bridge was built. It was a quiet neglected little corner of Huntsville then, accessed by Dairy Lane only. After some renovating to the barn, he ran his Heating and Sheet Metal business from there. He also upgraded the farmhouse and rented it out to a young local newlywed couple. But sadly it burned down shortly before they moved in. Later after the bridge went through he built the building that housed the Bunsmaster bakery for a time.
My comment about Brueton Ford somehow ended up on this picture. It was not intended to be here, rather the prior picture from some weeks ago.
Yes, this was the farm alright.
I always wondered where the actual farm fields that served this barn were located as I’ve never seen any kind of sort of plan or aerial view of the operation.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if places like Deerhurst could use some of their land, which was at one time one of the largest and best farms in the area (Farnsworth’s farm) to actually grow some of the produce they use instead of shipping it all in with someone like Strano Foods from “someplace else”.
I appreciate the imagery and story, Allen Markle.
Didn’t know this information or building. Will have a look next time going by.
Good one.
I have seen a few photos of this building plus the Bigwin laundry building that was built closer to the river. The laundry was, at one time Ernie Grace’s machine shop and I worked there when the building was purchased by Wiik and Hoeglund. The company (W&H) also leased the farm building for a while.
The farm was a pretty big operation back in the 20’s; fertile clay-loam ground and lots of sunlight, with the two big silos for storage.
But I got to thinking of the logistics and scheduling required to operate the whole system, as was done by C.O. Shaw.
The Iroquois would dock at Bigwin, open the loading bays and all the empty produce tote boxes, empty creamery and milk cans, as well as the loaded laundry bins would be stowed in the boat. The run would be made to South Portage, where the whole cargo would be transferred to the Portage Flyer.
A mile and a bit later, the exchange of everything would be made from the Flyer to the Algonquin. Steam from North Portage to the laundry dock in Huntsville, where the boat would be unloaded.
The Algonquin was then free to make whatever runs were on the day’s schedule, until it was time to return to the laundry dock. Fresh produce, dairy and clean laundry all stowed away, the reverse run would be made; everything loaded and unloaded as necessary.
There were the passengers and mail as well, but the needs of Bigwin itself were daily. Bigwin opened in 1920 and was touted as one of the world’s best inns, a ‘destination’. But the depression hit hard and in 1930, the crowds didn’t return. Other factors, such as auto transport, spelled the end of the lake steamers.
And, as in the song by Chuck Prophet, Bigwin Inn and the lake boats were a ‘Summertime Thing”. Cars and cottages extended the seasons in Muskoka.
It would be interesting to know if there is someone out there who has a copy of the sailing times for the boats in that decade, 1920 to 1930. I think I read somewhere that the run on our local lakes was called ‘the Sixty Mile Cruise”.
IF my memory serves me correctly, Brueton Ford was on King William Street where M&M’s is now located.
This was Brueton Ford in the 70’s was it not? Home of the Boss 429 Mustang!!