It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
The Northern steamboat at the Port Sydney dock, taken sometime in the late 1800s.
The Northern was built and owned by Captain Alfred Denton. It was launched in Port Sydney in 1877 and became the first steamer on the north Muskoka lakes. She had a hinged smoke stack so that she could pass under the original Huntsville bridge which did not swing until 1889. The Northern carried passengers and freight to Huntsville and Hoodstown. It was replaced by the Erastus Wiman which was built in 1890. The Northern spent her last days as a tug. She made her last trip in 1893 (The Steamboat Era in Muskoka vol. 1) and was dismantled in 1897. (By Steam Boat and Steam Train).
From Muskoka Digital Archives.
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This comment refers to the steamer ‘Northern’ and not the archway.
In 1876/77, the Denton. Smiley and Co. were building a steamer to run Mary Lake, the Muskoka River, and through the new, provincial built locks to Fairy Lake. From there, on into Huntsville and Lake Vernon. Tedious, jolting rides over poor corduroy roads were about to become a thing of the past.
Capt. Hunt notes in his diary, that he had a part in getting the boat built and under way.
The notes record “To painting spaces for name $.50.”
” On the 18th, 20 and 27th Painting name $8.00″
So a total of $8.50 to put the name on the new steamer. Seems like a good deal. There is also an entry for glazing 3 cabin windows for $.25 and drawing 15 and a half cords of wood for $11.76.
This is all in Capt. Hunt’s notes, so it seems the man was one of many talents. All the first settlers here needed a variety of skills and a span of good luck to establish themselves in Muskoka. Sometimes I’m sure, even that wasn’t enough.
I have read that the the Northern reduced considerably, the cost of shipping into the area. Teamsters were bypassed by shippers, just as the need for the steamers would be threatened by the coming of the railroad.
The life of a steamer was generally a short one. Boats were always struggling to be faster and more powerful; to haul larger tows or bigger cargoes. Most ended their days, stripped of boilers and fittings, a hole in the hull and a place on the bottom of a river or lake.
One notable exception was the ‘Excelsior’. She burned when Huntsville did in 1894. A blaze of glory rather than just fading away.
I can remember when the archway came down. The town of Huntsville used this picture when the present logo was designed.
Congratulations Claude ! Proud to see it directing commerce to the downtown core.
Long live it’s memory and the logo.
When the archway went down, my cousin Peter Harris was on the top of the load that brought it down. Pete’s job was to push up the wires crossing the street and guide them over the load. When the truck approached the archway Peter explained “Oh sh….” and jumped to the ground. The rest is history. Peter lives in Orillia on Peter Street and is 83.
I used this picture to design and build the archway on Centre Street just south of Howland to direct travelers to downtown Huntsville.
The clearances are sufficient to allow all trucks.