It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Huntsville’s ‘new’ train station, pictured here in 1944, was built in 1924 and replaced the original, two-storey structure that opened in 1886.
Just up the hill to the left is the Bayview Hotel, formerly called Vernon House. At one time, it was used as a boarding house for the Muskoka Wood Company. (Note the stacks of lumber next to the rail line.)
In the foreground is the station wharf where steamships docked to meet the train.
The first passenger train arrived in Huntsville on June 26, 1886. Soon after, the creek between Fairy Lake and Peninsula Lake was dredged to create a canal, opening up the waterway for steamboat travel between the new Huntsville station and the eastern end of Peninsula Lake. In 1905, the Portage Railway opened, connecting Peninsula Lake to Lake of Bays.
Photo: CN Images of Canada Collection; details courtesy of Huntsville: With Spirit and Resolve
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
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Very interesting foto. Lots of memories. The Cameron family lived at 57 Main St. Directly up from the station . That is our house with the light coloured veranda plainly visible.
It was cheap entertainment to go down to the station at 10 pm to watch the “Northland(?) “ come in. We could watch the arrivals and departures. Funny to think of that noe…it was a small town.
Winter saw lots of hockey rinks cleared off near the “ dock”.
One year the river froze without snow and we could skate through the narrows and up into Lake Vernon. A truly marvellous trip in the moonlight.
Yes the foto does stir up lots of very pleasant memories
Thanks for the opportunity. Doug Cameron
What a beautiful picture of what Huntsville was back-in-the-day! A current photograph of this same piece of Huntsville simply wouldn’t match the gentle roadscape, the lovely trees, the spacious residential lots, the pastoral ambiance, the functional train station and the pleasant shoreline. One consequence of densification is this perceived difference between the past and present images of this part of our Town. Current Planning guidelines and oversight will help Huntsville retain the best of its past and address the needs of our growing population. I am confident Huntsville is in good hands. Pictures such as this one help us remember, reflect, rejuvenate, resolve and restore.