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

On the Road Again After Taking a Trip Down Memory Lane

Located in the village’s former Presbyterian church, the Kirkfield & District Historical Society’s museum is more than just an exhibit space; it’s a gathering place for the community. […]

Corduroy Roads Made Travelling a Bumpy, Bone-Rattling Experience!

Among the earliest means of transporting tourists in present-day Kawartha Lakes were the dreaded corduroy roads. Fashioned from logs laid side by side through the bush, they were […]

Greetings From Rosedale

This postcard captures the essence of what it was like to drive into the natural beauty of northwestern 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 […]

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. […]

A Shell of its Former Self: What Comes Next for Coboconk’s Abandoned Shell Station?

Built not long after the Second World War, this abandoned two-storey wooden Shell gas station stood well into the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Operated by […]

Walking Towards a Sustainable Future: Highway 46 Becomes the Lakeshore Legacy Trail in Balsam Lake Provincial Park

In an effort to reverse decades of human impact on the natural environment, Balsam Lake Provincial Park has converted nearly two kilometres of the former Highway 46 along […]

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 […]

The Dangers of Excessive Speed: Ontario Department of Highways Advertisement

This dramatic advertisement was developed by the Ontario Department of Highways in 1957 to warn motorists about the dangers of excessive speed. The ad was unique in that […]