It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Postcard of guests arriving by steamboat for vacation at the WaWa Hotel in 1910. (digitalarchiveontario.ca)
The region has had a long history of tourism and hospitality due to the numerous lakes and large forested areas. The land was challenging to farm, the soil was sandy with many stones, and by the turn of the 20th Century, the main economic activity of the area had begun to transition from farming to tourism.
With steamboats and rail service, access from the larger cities in southern Ontario became much easier and an increasing number of hotels and private cottages appeared.
In July 1908, the WaWa Hotel opened to guests. It was a large, 100-room summer resort hotel located on Norway Point in Lake of Bays.
On August 19, 1923, it was entirely destroyed by a fire which started in the baggage room. “…a fire in the baggage room quickly spread to the resort’s famous tower, sending flames and sparks over the rooftop. Some of the chambermaids, whose rooms were located in the tower, perished in the fire along with several guests. Eleven people died. The blaze lit up the sky with such brilliance that you could see well enough to pick up a pin on the streets of Baysville,” reads a passage from Susan Pryke’s book, Huntsville: With Spirit and Resolve. The word ‘WaWa’ is said to be the Native Canadian word for ‘wild geese.’
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
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