Sports & Recreation 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: […]

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 […]

Roadside Tourist Camp, Norland

Roadside “tourist camps” began to appear in northwestern Kawartha Lakes during the 1920s and 1930s. Sometimes called “motor camps,” they were informal affairs – often consisting of little […]

The Station Wagon: A Very Versatile Vehicle!

The versatile nature of station wagons made them synonymous with road trips through the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. They could accommodate several passengers with plenty of room to […]

Fun & Frivolity: Coboconk’s Wonderland Dance Hall

Many a Saturday night road trip in northwestern Kawartha Lakes ended at the famous (or infamous!) Wonderland Dance Hall on Highway 46. Opened in 1939 by Nate and […]

Mealtime on Mitchell Lake: The Shallamar Diner

Famed aerial photographer Harry S. Oakman took this image of the Shallamar Diner around 1969. Operated by Ted and Wally Polomski in the late 1960s, Shallamar incorporated a […]

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: […]

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 […]