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. […]

Building Tourism and Enhancing Hospitality With the Kawartha Lakes Tourist Association

The Kawartha Lakes Tourist Association ran this advertisement in the Lindsay Daily Post throughout the summer of 1965 to help citizens, politicians, members of the hospitality industry, and […]

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 […]

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 […]

Keeping Northwestern Kawartha Lakes Safe: Provincial Constable William Kennedy (1909-1986)

Provincial Constable William Kennedy was born in 1909, the same year in which the Ontario Provincial Police was formed. Hired by the OPP on August 16, 1937, Kennedy […]

Safety First: The Ontario Department of Highways Urged Drivers to “Try Courtesy” During the Summer of 1937

The Ontario Department of Highways ran a series of newspaper advertisements over the summer of 1937 to raise awareness about responsible driving. The ads used the slogan “Try […]

Business Card Issued by Graham Beach Camp Grounds, Cottages, and Cabins

Chester Graham operated a private campground on Lake Dalrymple, about 20 kilometres northwest of Kirkfield. In addition to camping, Graham offered cottages, cabins, and boats for rent as […]

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: […]

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 […]

Relaxing at Falcon Lodge, Balsam Lake

Lakefront lodges appeared throughout northwestern Kawartha Lakes during the 1940s and 1950s. Most featured a main lodge house surrounded by several smaller cabins. The main house at Falcon […]