KAWARTHA LAKES-The original Bobcaygeon locks, built in the 1830s, were located below (east of) the current swing bridge. The advantage of this arrangement was that the waterpower was available for the saw and grist mill that were then located on either side of the river. The disadvantage was that with the higher water level under the bridge, there was less clearance for boats. This meant that the bridge had to be swung more often, which would hold up traffic. These locks had stone walls and wooden gates, which required maintenance. As lift locks were built at Peterborough and Kirkfield at the turn of the century, concrete was introduced as a building material.
By the early twentieth century, Boyd’s sawmill had long since moved to the Little Bob Channel and subsequently closed, and the village’s water power was being used to make electricity. New locks were constructed above the bridge and “the walls were made out of concrete, between 1920 and 1922. And then around 1968 the locks were changed again. Now they have hydraulic electric gates on them, before that they had wooden gates.” Before the electric gates were installed, the locks and the swing bridge operated with hand cranks, and local kids enjoyed helping the local lockmaster to turn them.
Courtesy Maryboro Lodge
“One night when I was working for Mr. [Earl] Gordon in my spare time on a Sunday night, we had to go to Lindsay and dug up a boat that had sunk. And we pulled the water out of it and I had to sit on the boat to keep the pump going while he was pulling it. We had to pull it to town, and we came down by the locks and we had to open the locks ourselves because after 7:30 the lock people had gone, and we had to open those locks and you had to stand there and crank the doggone thing and open the doors out the other end and let the water out of the lock and get the boat out again.”
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 1N0
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