Bracebridge:

Beatrice Scovell, The Muskoka Story

The original name of Bracebridge was North Falls because of the mighty waterfall around which the community began. George Boyer, in his book, “Early Days in Muskoka” tells us about the renaming of this settlement. In 1864 when the postmaster, responsible for naming postal areas, arrived he was reading a book called “Bracebridge Hall” by Washington Irving and decided that Bracebridge would be a good name for the town. He also gave Gravenhurst its name based on the same book.

The first settlers began arriving in 1859, noting that the foaming torrent of this waterfall was well suited to running saw mills for the fledgling lumber industry, and other mills also began springing up. In 1872, Henry Bird set up his Bird’s Woollen Mills, and helped local land-owners obtain sheep: though primarily sold for meat (Muskoka Lamb became popular throughout Ontario), they produced a finer wool and his business flourished until 1953 when progress overtook it.

Two of Mr. Bird’s structures remain to this day: a storage facility now called Bird Mill sits at the top of the falls and houses the town’s Visitor Information Centre, a fine dining restaurant, and the Chamber of Commerce. On a hill opposite the falls his intriguing octagonal home, Woodchester Villa, is open to the public and features a fenced widow walk and a “dumb waiter”.

Bracebridge became the capital of the new Territorial District of Muskoka in 1868. Dubbed as The Falls Capital of Canada, Bracebridge has no less than 22 waterfalls and in 1894 was the first town in Ontario to have its own hydro generating station.

In 1860, a couple of young men decided to “rough it in the north” for their holiday, and rowed across Lake Couchiching, walked up the Colonization Road to Gravenhurst and set up camp, basking in the wilderness scenery and fishing. The following year they came again, this time with some guests. This was the beginning of the tourist industry. As railways and steamships became the primary means of transportation to this northern wilderness experience, some vacationers asked nearby settlers for accommodation. The idea spread and soon boarding houses, hotels and resorts were available to the increasing number of tourists who would vacation here for weeks and even months in the summer. Many of the fine resorts of today have their beginnings in those early days.

Situated on the Muskoka River, and called the Waterfall Capital of Canada, Bracebridge has 22 waterfalls, 10 trails and several parks, as well as a number of historic sites.

Bracebridge is the capital of the District of Muskoka and has the largest population, other than Huntsville, with 16,000 swelling to almost 23,000 in the height of summer. It has its own hospital, several health professionals, four elementary schools, a high school, and hundreds of stores, including the recently added Wal-Mart Super Centre. It also has several fast-food, casual and fine dining restaurants. Wabora, one of the top ten restaurants in Canada, serves authentic Japanese and Korean food.

Huntsville:

Huntsville derived its name from its first resident: in 1869 Captain George Hunt built a small agricultural centre here and decided to make this logging settlement his permanent home. Within a few years, with locks on the Muskoka River between lakes, the expansion of the railway, and the Muskoka Colonization Road, the area became more accessible. The news of the breathtaking beauty of the area began to spread and vacation resorts sprung up, many of which are still operating and offer the finest in golfing, skiing, and evening entertainment.

With a population of 18,000 that swells to almost 25,000 in the summer, Huntsville sits on the north edge of the Muskoka region on the rugged Canadian Shield. A congenial mix of rural and municipal life, its four lakes that are linked together by canals and locks provide serene fishing and fabulous boating, while many residents enjoy the walking trails and beautiful scenery.

Huntsville boasts many amenities and people as far east as Minden and Halliburton and as far north as Burk’s Falls regularly come to Huntsville for health care, shopping, and casual and fine dining. Huntsville has the largest hospital in the region, several dentists, pharmacies, and other specialties. Home Depot has recently opened a large location at the juncture of Highway 11 and Highway 60 close to the popular Wal-Mart, and the downtown boasts hundreds of other stores and specialty shops. Five Tim Horton’s are located in the area, as well as a myriad of fast-food, casual, and fine dining eateries.

There are five elementary schools in the town, consisting of one Catholic and four public schools. Huntsville High School is also located right in town, as well as an adult education and training centre.

Lake of Bays:

The township called Lake of Bays is named after its major lake. This irregularly-shaped lake is fed by the Oxtongue River. It abounds with bays and inlets, a long peninsula named Port Cunnington, as well as several islands, and has access to over twenty communities.

For over a hundred years this natural landscape of forests, rocks, lakes and wetlands has been a favorite vacation destination. The largest island in the lake is called Bigwin Island, named after Chief Big Wind of Lake Simcoe who established three sacred burial grounds on this island, as well as a summer settlement. It still holds the remains of Bigwin Inn, a major resort that was popular in the early 20th century, and was a major steamship port-of-call from South Portage along with Baysville, Dwight, and Dorset.

Truly cottage country, the population of Lake of Bays swells from a mere 3500 to well over 15,000 in the summer. Lake of Bays operates in conjunction with nearby Huntsville to offer recreational and sporting opportunities.

Muskoka Lakes:

News of Muskoka’s magnificent beauty with craggy cliffs, stately pines and abundant deer and other wildlife drew people from southern Ontario in the late 1800’s. The idea of young men roughing it in the north for hunting and fishing caught on. W.H. Pratt, a successful hotel-owner in New York, heard about it and decided to build the first wilderness hotel at the head of a spectacular lake in 1870. He named this lake and another one nearby after a young friend called Joseph Rosseau, and called his hotel “Rosseau House”. Soon, other grand hotels were built such as Royal Muskoka, Windemere House, and Beaumaris to accommodate the many vacationers who would spend weeks and even months in the summer, travelling to their destinations by steamship.

With its breathtaking beauty carefully preserved and encompassing 80 lakes, Muskoka Lakes has grown to be one of Canada’s major holiday destinations: its population soars from 6500 in the winter to 31,000 in the summer. Muskoka Lakes also provides numerous trails, parks, golf clubs and tennis courts.

The township also has two public schools serving kindergarten to Grade 8 within its wide boundaries, Glen Orchard Public School in Port Carling, and Watt Public School in Utterson.