Group Archives | "Are We There Yet?" Highway-Based Tourism In Kawartha Lakes

Robert Wires Reflects on the Future of Highway-Based Tourism In Northwestern Kawartha Lakes

Recorded at the Kirkfield Museum, February 26, 2022 Interviewer: Ian McKechnie Videography: Ekaterine Alexakis Duration: 2:22 Robert Wires sitting in front of white wall. Text on screen reads: […]

Tourists Enjoy Branson’s Gallery in Rosedale

In 1952, the Lindsay Daily Post ran an editorial which urged every town or hamlet in the municipality to open a small museum or other roadside tourist attraction. […]

Camping at Balsam Lake Provincial Park: The Early Years

Balsam Lake Provincial Park opened in 1967 and within five years had become one of central Ontario’s most popular parks. The first campsites were fairly rustic and scarcely […]

Robert Wires Discusses the Impact of Balsam Lake Provincial Park

Recorded at the Kirkfield Museum, February 26, 2022 Interviewer: Ian McKechnie Videography: Ekaterine Alexakis Duration: 1:58 Robert Wires sitting in front of white wall. Text on screen reads: […]

Say Cheese! The Oliver Family Poses for the Camera

The Sunday afternoon drive was a popular activity from the 1920s through the 1960s. Families like the Olivers of Rosedale would make an occasion out of their jaunt, […]

Ready to Hit the Road Again With Full Stomachs, Courtesy of Kirkfield’s Alexander Restaurant

The Alexander Restaurant, pictured here in the mid-1950s, was located just west of downtown Kirkfield and served both locals and tourists making their way east and west along […]

Are There Rooms Available? Kirkfield Lodge Hotel Register, Pg. 112

The Kirkfield Lodge was originally built to accommodate guests visiting Sir William and Lady Mackenzie at their palatial estate on the north side of Highway 46 in Kirkfield. […]

Locals Gather at the Campbell House Hotel, Kirkfield

Until the Kirkfield Inn opened on the same site in 1913, the Campbell House Hotel enjoyed a commanding presence in downtown Kirkfield. Distinguished by dichromatic brickwork and symmetrical […]

Kim Tuckett Remembers Falcon Lodge

Recorded at the Kirkfield Museum, February 12, 2022 Interviewer: Ian McKechnie Videography: Ekaterine Alexakis Duration: 2:51 Kim Tuckett sitting in front of white wall. Text on screen reads: […]

An Early Car Passes Under the Kirkfield Lift Lock

A group of men look on admiringly as a car passes beneath the Kirkfield Lift Lock. Initially bought by the very wealthy, the private automobile had by the […]

Coboconk Sees its First Car: Robert Callan’s Ford Model “T”

Among the first owners of a Model “T” in northwestern Kawartha Lakes were Robert A. Callan and J.E. Jackson, both of Coboconk. The finished cars were brought to […]

Charlie Faulkner and Guests Pose in the Motorboat at Falcon Lodge on Balsam Lake

By the 1950s, tourists were plying the lakes in motorboats. Charlie Faulkner’s cedar-strip boat was powered by a Johnson outboard motor and regularly took Falcon Lodge guests out […]