KAWARTHA LAKES- In the late nineteenth century the upper Kawartha Lakes was home to competing steamship networks, notably the Boyd family’s Trent Valley Navigation Company and George Crandell’s line. In that era, for many routes steamships were the fastest mode of transportation, particularly to connect communities that were on the waterway, but not the railway. Going on a steamship vacation or excursion was one of the most commonly marketed Victorian pleasures.
By the time Captain Charles F. Gray built the Lintonia at Lakefield in 1910, times were changing. The large steamship companies that had offered co-ordinated service in the Victorian Era had disappeared, and the first automobiles were motoring into the Kawartha Lakes. Though the roads were rough in that era and breakdowns were frequent, automobiles were faster and much more flexible in the routes that they could reach. The Lintonia was an 82.4 foot long, nine-horsepower, coal-powered screw steamer—a more modern design than the wood burning paddlewheelers that became an enduring symbol of the Victorian era. Though the first motor launches were appearing—which allowed boaters to go almost anywhere on the lakes they pleased, a steamship excursion remained a popular outing in the first half of the twentieth century.
After operating in Lakefield for a couple of years, Captain Gray moved his business to Sturgeon Point. Many cottagers at the Point worked in Lindsay, and the water route across Sturgeon Lake was much shorter than driving all the way around the lake. On the way, the Lintonia stopped at Sandy Point, Thurstonia and Pleasant Point. It left Sturgeon Point at 7 am and arrived in Lindsay at 9 am, in time for Lindsay businessmen to be at work. The return trip departed at 5:15. It carried freight and mail both ways.
In 1914, Percy Skitch took a vacation from working at the Massey Harris Company in Toronto, and while visiting Sturgeon Lake, purchased Thurstonia Park, a seventeen-acre lot that included four cottages. The deal closed about two weeks before the First World War broke out, and he initially worried that this would spell the end of his business. But his associates at Massey Harris were excited to visit Thurstonia, and he had his cottages booked for much of the summer when he left the company in April 1915. The next year he commissioned Jim Thurston to build Swastika Lodge—which boasted 27 rooms, a large dining room, kitchen, store, post office and 56 foot long verandah. Complete by the spring of 1916, it allowed Thurstonia to become a much more popular destination. Percy hosted open air concerts on the verandah featuring singers, dancers, violinists, pianists and elocutionists. This accommodation was renamed Thurstonia Lodge when its original name took on a new, disturbing meaning during the Second World War.
In the first half of the twentieth century, many families travelled to the Kawarthas to stay at a hotel or lodge. Around 1920, the Canadian Pacific Railway ran special weekend trains to carry visitors from Toronto, stopping at Dunsford. To carry visitors to the lodge, Percy operated a bus. Though the train was the most convenient way to travel long distances, excursions on steamers like the Lintonia and Stoney Lake remained a popular way to visit the community. Visitors enjoyed fishing and swimming in Sturgeon Lake. Many youngsters imagined myths about the “Indian Treaty Rock” that was located near the hotel.
As Captain Gray was retiring from operating the Lintonia in 1931, Thurstonia had become established as a destination. Increasingly, visitors were coming by car or train, rather than by steamer, though excursions to the site remained popular events. As the decade wore on, it became well known as the site of the Greenhurst Pavillion, which was just south of Thurstonia Lodge. Earnscliffe Lodge also became a popular destination.
As the years passed, Thurstonia Park was subdivided to create cottage lots. When Percy Skitch purchased the site in 1914, there were four cottages, but by 1966 there were more than 400. After the Second World War, the Greenhurst Pavillion was established as the community’s primary attraction, as huge crowds gathered to hear famous bands and dance. Thurstonia increasingly became a community of private cottages, as ever more families spent the summer at their own cottage or waterfront home, rather than going to stay at a lodge for a couple weeks. Though there is still a government dock, the days of steamers stopping at Thurstonia to serve the visitors at the Lodge has become a distant memory.
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by Glenn Walker.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to: [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
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