Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty, with family roots of more than 100 years in Huntsville
This postcard from Muskoka Digital Archives comes from a private collection and was donated by Ed Terziano. It’s a great photo of the historical Bigwin Inn, Lake of Bays, Ontario. The Indian Head Room, Venetian Terrace, Marine Dining Room, Round Room, Marine and Sun Deck can be seen in the postcard. The date is unknown.
Reverse: Bigwin Island Hotel, Canada’s most distinctive summer resort on the Lake of Bays in Muskoka, Ontario. This view of the Sumaro, comprising the main dining room, the round room, the marine and sun deck, is the centre of entertainment without parallel for this area. For a perfect holiday, Bigwin Inn also offers the ultimate in swimming, sailing, water skiing, tennis, and Bigwin’s famous 18-hole golf course.
Bigwin Inn, designed by Charles Orlando Shaw, opened in 1920. Two years later, in 1922, legendary Canadian golf architect Stanley Thompson designed and built the first 9-hole course for the resort.
For more information, see Bigwin Inn, by Douglas McTaggart, Boston Mills, c1992.
Do you have interesting photos to share of days gone by? We’d love to see them! Email: [email protected]
See more Wayback Wednesday photos HERE.
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Played Bigwin in the 50’s with my dad. I remember paying $4 for a green fee which was 8X what I was paying at Don Valley. I marvelled at how they must have carved these 18 holes out of the Shield pre chain saws and heavy machinery. I recall the postage stamp greens, narrow fairways, and elevated sand box/ railway tie tee boxes. I played it in 1969, the last year of its existence, and had a beer on a Sunday afterwards, which had just been legalized.
I worked at Bigwin in the 1980s. It wasn’t open at the time and a developer had purchased the property. My Father and I worked all summer replacing hot water tanks. Even though, it was run down at the time, you could still see and feel how grand a place it must have been in its hayday.