KAWARTHA LAKES-This is the Bobcaygeon locks circa 1900. “With the water being so high as to run over the banks of the locks it must be spring time in this picture. The steamer in the background is the Esturion. She sailed from Lindsay to Bobcaygeon and in this picture is tied up at the upper wharf.” The Boyd family’s Trent Valley Navigation Company operated this steamer as part of an integrated transportation network. “The Estruion used to come from Lindsay, by Sturgeon Point, where it stopped and would wait from the boat from Fenelon Falls to come down and sometimes exchange passengers. Then it would come to Bobcaygeon, and land at what we call the Upper Wharf. It is just west of where the locks are. That’s where the steamboats from Sturgeon Lake used to stop. That boat used to travel back and forth to Lindsay every day, with a side wheel.” This steamer carried passengers, freight and the mail. Customers wanting to ship something could take their parcel to the company’s office. “Sometimes it was 15 cents for bringing that down.”
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
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N
