The 1970s 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. […]

Changing Times: Demolition of a Gas Station, Coboconk

At one time, Coboconk was home to half a dozen gas stations. Due to changes in technology and consolidation among oil companies from the 1970s onward, that number […]

Overgrown Gas Pumps at the Former Shell Gas Station, Coboconk

As many of Ontario’s privately-run gas stations closed during the last quarter of the twentieth century, derelict buildings and overgrown gas pumps became common sights along the highway. […]

Information Sheet, “This Abandoned Car Is On The Road To Recovery,” Ontario Ministry of the Environment, 1975

By the 1970s many of the thousands of cars which took to the open road between the 1930s and 1950s had been traded in, scrapped, or parked in […]

Full Speed Ahead! Widening the King’s Highway (Highway 35 North)

By 1970, parts of Highway 35 North had become so well-travelled that they required widening. This Ministry of Transportation photo was taken between Norland and Minden, and shows […]

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: […]

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 […]

The Rosedale Motel

The Rosedale Motel was one of several motels which opened for business along Highway 35 North during the 1960s and 1970s. Others included the Mulberry House Motel north […]