Other Archives | "Are We There Yet?" Highway-Based Tourism In Kawartha Lakes

A Local Legacy: Vintage “GAS” Sign at the Balsam Lake Park Store Celebrates the Heritage of Highway-Based Tourism in Northwestern Kawartha Lakes

This vintage porcelain sign was originally decorated in Texaco markings. Installed in front of a gas station on Highway 46 west of Balsam Lake Provincial Park in the […]

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 […]

Keeping Kids Off the Road: Gate Separating Falcon Lodge From Highway 46

This gate was used to keep children and pets staying at Falcon Lodge from darting out onto busy Highway 46. “Remarkably as a kid, I took it for […]

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: […]

An Early Motorist Goes Camping at Coboconk

It didn’t take long for outdoor enthusiasts to embrace the automobile! By the 1920s, when this picture was taken in Coboconk, campers were tying canoes to their cars […]

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 […]

“Bingo! I Spy a Hardtop Cadillac!” Car Games Kept Kids Entertained

Games such as Magnetic Car Bingo, manufactured by the Norbert Specialty Corporation, kept young travellers occupied on long road trips. Players were to look out the window of […]

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 […]

Stopping for Gas at the Club Balsam Snack Bar, Rosedale

The Club Balsam Snack Bar was located on the west side of Highway 35 in the village of Rosedale. With its log construction, the snack bar evoked the […]

Ready to Hit the Road Again With Full Stomachs, Courtesy of Kirkfield’s Alexander Restaurant

The Alexander Restaurant, pictured here in the mid-1950s, was located just west of downtown Kirkfield and served both locals and tourists making their way east and west along […]