Browse Items (44 total)

One of the finest octagonal houses in Ontario, this impressive building was erected in 1882 by Henry James Bird, a prosperous local woollen manufacturer. In its unusual design it illustrated the architectural theories of Orson Squire Fowler, an…

This pioneer squared-timber church, one of the few remaining examples of its type in Ontario, was begun in 1872 and completed the next year. Following the surveys of Stephenson Township in 1862 and 1871 and the extension of the Muskoka Road to the…

During the late 1860s a small agricultural settlement, founded largely through the efforts of Captain George Hunt, developed here. In 1870 a post office called Huntsville was established and the following year the Muskoka Colonization Road was…

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist was founded by an Anglican priest at Cowley, England in 1866. Bound by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, members of the order devote their livers to prayer and community service. The Society began its…

The first steamboat on the Magnetawan River was the 34-foot “Pioneer”, built in 1879 for service between Magnetawan and Burks Falls, a distance of 20 miles. In 1886 a lock was completed at Magnetawan, enabling steamer service to be extended an…