Tools / Equipment Archives | "Are We There Yet?" Highway-Based Tourism In Kawartha Lakes

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. […]

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 […]

Making Road Trips Faster and Smoother: An Ontario Department of Highways Crew Spreads Mulch Pavement on Highway 46 near Lorneville

In 1914, a gentleman named George H. Payne wrote a letter to the editor of the Lindsay Post urging municipalities to purchase a grader for use on every […]

Steam Shovel at Work on Highway 35 North, Rosedale

Originally called the Cameron Road, the route running between Rosedale and Minden, Ontario, became known as Highway 35 on April 1, 1937. By the 1940s the section between […]

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 […]

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 […]

Marg Valentine (née Moore) and Bill Simpson Wait for Motorists at Moore’s Service Station, Coboconk

Laurie Moore purchased Coboconk’s British-American service station from Harry Jackson in the 1920s. After Mr. Moore died in 1939, a family friend named Bill Simpson offered to help […]

Margaret Valentine Remembers Her Family’s Service Station

Recorded at the Kirkfield Museum, February 12, 2022 Interviewer: Ian McKechnie Videography: Ekaterine Alexakis Duration: 3:42 Margaret Valentine sitting in front of white wall. Text on screen reads: […]

A Vintage Gas Pump Still Operates at the Balsam Lake Park Store

When Balsam Lake Provincial Park opened in 1967, Highway 46 was re-routed around the park. A Texaco gas station immediately west of the park boundary began serving customers […]

Pumping Gas at Callan’s Shell Station, Coboconk

The Callan family operated a Shell station in Coboconk at the southwest corner of Highway 35 and Highway 46 (later Highway 48) starting in the 1920s. The original […]