Victoria Cross winners, cranberry farming pioneers and legends of the big band era all find a home in Andrew Hind’s latest offering.
Vintage Muskoka is a new book by local historian and documentarian Andrew Hind and it spans the breadth of the region and more than 100 years of local history.
“The book covers…stories as far as Foots Bay and MacTier in the west to Huntsville and Lake of Bays in the east,” says Hind. “In terms of time frame, the two dozen stories cover the range 1860s through to 1960s predominantly, but the echoes of these stories can be heard to the modern day as they helped shape the Muskoka we know and love today.”
Hind has penned many books on local history including Exploring Hidden Muskoka, Muskoka Resorts: Then and Now and Ghost Town’s of Ontario’s Cottage Country. He’s also a regular contributor to local publications like Muskoka Life and Parry Sound Life.
“The research for these stories stretch back decades,” Hind explains. “When I sat down to begin writing this book last winter I turned to my files and pulled out some that I thought were particularly interesting. My files are still bursting to overflowing with material, so I hope to do a sequel one day.”
His research utilized various materials, inlcuding first-person interviews, newspapers, primary and secondary sources and government records.
“Local libraries and museums have always proved of great value – both their collections and excellent staff,” he says.
The result is a vivid cross-section of life in Muskoka as it was in the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the twentieth century.
Entries delve into a wide range of topics, from vintage resorts and steamships to settlers’ stories and early industries, all brought to life by more than 100 images.
Chapters include:
*James and Letitia McCabe, who came to Muskoka in 1869 and founded a humble inn around which Gravenhurst would spring.
*Steamships plied the Muskoka lakes for almost a century, including the hardworking tugs of sawmill operator Charles Woodroffe.
*Calling Vankoughnet home to a military hero who earned a Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour, during the Indian Mutiny.
*For a time, the 21 Club was the place to be in Muskoka, a dance hall that attracted the best acts of the Big Band Era.
*George Mollard was a pioneer in the cranberry industry that is today iconic to Bala.
*Tired of fruitlessly working his bush farm, John Frederick Pain turned his ambition to welcoming summer guests and opened Paignton House, a resort which his family was still lovingly tending to nearly a century later.
Hind says that together, these stories and others like them weave the distinctive fabric of Muskoka’s history.
Vintage Muskoka can be purchased from Birchbark in Bala, Artisans of Muskoka in Huntsville, Hilltop Interiors in Rosseau, direct from the author (email: [email protected]) or from Amazon.
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