It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Bill Langmaid outside of Miss Nelle’s in Baysville sometime in the 1920s. (Photo: Baysville Heritage Walking Tour).
Excerpt from the Baysville Heritage Walking Tour:
Miss Nelle’s in Baysville has an interesting history. It was built by W.H. Brown in 1872 and became Baysville’s second building but sat empty until 1876 when Captain Marsh opened a dry goods store there. Capt. Marsh also operated a sawmill and boat works at the northern end of the lake, at Marsh’s Falls on the Oxtongue River.
In the early 1920s, William (Bill) Langmaid purchased the business and operated it for many years along with running supply boats on the lake. Needing someone to run the store, he hired Nelle Connelly. At 18, she was his first employee, and while it was rumoured that he was “sweet” on her, nothing concrete came of it. She did nurse him through his later years, however. It is a marvel that Bill Langmaid prospered, as he extended credit to many people and a good portion never repaid. Always the first to offer a helping hand, he was well thought of by all in the village, and no homecoming was complete without a visit to Bill.
In 1966, Miss Nelle acquired the building. Wendy Maynard helped run it for many years as Miss Nelle got older. In 1985, when Miss Nelle reached her one-hundredth birthday she sold the property to Don and Mardy Barker, who converted the old butcher shop into a cafe and swapped out groceries for antiques. Miss Nelle continued to visit, sitting on the patio watching the river. The original woodwork, hewn in the 1870s still exists in this unique building, with its second-floor balcony and awning.
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
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It’s a landmark. That’s for sure!