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The Bird Mill Power Station and Public
Hydro
This building, originally a one-storey hydro generating station has a
special place in the history of hydro as a public utility in Ontario. Built by
local entrepreneur William S. Shaw in 1892 to supply Bracebridge with
electricity, it drew water from the head race on an adjacent woollen mill owned
by Henry J. Bird. Bracebridge took over the Bird Mill Station in 1894, making it the first
Ontario municipality to own and operate a hydro-electric generating station.
The town has run its own hydro utility ever since. It built a second generating station (still operational) at the foot of the
falls in 1902 and later added plants upstream at Wilson's Falls (1909) and
High Falls (1947). In 1904 the Bird Mill plant became a water pumping station.
Location: Wharf Road.
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The Cowley Fathers at Bracebridge
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 lives to prayer and community
service. The Society began its ministry in Canada in 1927 when three
Cowley Fathers arrived in Emsdale to take charge of the scattered Anglican
missions in Muskoka. They established a monastery in Bracebridge the
following year. At a time when government social programs were limited,
the Cowley Fathers provided essential humanitarian services as well as
spiritual enrichment to Muskoka communities. Declining membership led to
their withdrawal from the region in 1983.
Location: On Sadler Drive north of Maple Street west of Taylor Road, across from
Palmer Crescent.
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The
Bracebridge Public Library
Initial library service began in
Bracebridge in 1874 when the Mechanic’s Institute was formed. Bracebridge
became a free public library in 1901. In 1906, after Andrew Carnegie
promised a grant of $10,000, construction began on a new library building
which was completed in December 1907 and the Bracebridge Public Library
opened its doors in January 1908 with an initial collection of just over
3,800. The Carnegie libraries were
important because they had open stacks that encouraged people to browse
and choose for themselves the books they wanted to read.
Location: 94 Manitoba Street.
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The Founding of
Bracebridge
In 1862 the Muskoka Road, a colonization route built to open this region
for settlement, was completed to the first falls on the north branch of
the Muskoka River. A settlement, including a tavern, a lumber mill and a
store, soon developed and two years later a post office named Bracebridge
was opened. When regular steamship service began on Lake Muskoka in 1866,
Bracebridge became the northern terminus and prospered as the distribution
centre for the region. A court-house and a registry office for the
district were built and by 1871 the village contained four large hotels,
several mills and numerous stores. A developing tourist trade further
encouraged the growth of the community and in 1875 Bracebridge was
incorporated as a Village with over 750 inhabitants.
Location: In n the centre of Memorial Park at the southeast corner
of Manitoba Street and Kimberley Street.
Erected by the Ontario Heritage Foundation,
Ministry of Culture and Recreation.
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George Richardson, V.C. 1831-1923
Private Richardson won the Victoria Cross while fighting with the Border
Regiment of the British Army in northern India during the Indian Mutiny of
1857-59. As part of an attachment sent to dislodge rebels in the hills of the
Kewarie Trans-Gogra district on April 27, 1859, he displayed "determined
courage in having, though severely wounded... closed with and secured a rebel
Sepoy (Indian soldier) armed with a broad revolver". An Irishman by
birth, Richardson came to Canada in the early 1860s. During the 1880s and
1890s he lived on a farm one kilometre southwest of here. He held numerous
township offices, including Reeve of Oakley Township (1895-96).
Location: In Vankoughnet, in a park on the north side at 1193 Vankoughnet
Road
Erected by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Communications.
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Inn at the Falls
The "Main Inn" was originally a Victorian private residence built by
English stonemasons in the mid 1870s. William C. Mahaffy, a land surveyor,
purchased the property some 10 years later. In 1888, he was appointed the first
District Judge of the area and his home and family became an integral part of
the social and economic history of Muskoka. Many distinguishing features of the
old structure have been preserved including the century old fireplace in the
Parlor, with its distinctive "Egg and Dart" design and the carved
wooden banister in the main entrance. The foundation walls of the main inn are
over three feet thick. In 1943, the home was converted to an Inn and has
undergone extensive renovations and mechanical upgrades. The Inn is home to
numerous ghosts, three of whom are affectionately know as Charlie, Sarah and
Bob. They are friendly spirits and tend to keep mostly to themselves. Bob
inhabits the kitchen area, Charlie the upstairs corridors and Sarah can be heard
rustling through the "Carriage Room" on occasion.
Location: 1 Dominion Street, Bracebridge
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Hunt's Hill
This hill on Taylor Road was named
after Alfred Hunt, who served as the Councilor, Treasurer and Reeve of the
village and later as Mayor from 1893 to 1895. During Mr. Hunt’s political
tenure, in 1894, Bracebridge expanded the water system to supply homes and
industries and became the first municipality in Canada to own and operate a
hydraulic generating station as a public utility. In 1925, his home at the top
of the hill was purchased by William Towns and became known as Wiltown Lodge, a
small hotel. As well as the hill itself, the area bounded on the west and north
by the Muskoka River and on the east and south by the rear of the properties on
Woodward and Richard Streets is known as Hunt’s Hill.
Location: Corner of Taylor Road and Bird Lane.
In
2000, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of
Bracebridge, the Bracebridge Historical Society researched and erected
signs identifying areas of historic significance to the town's
heritage. Funding for the heritage signs was provided by the
Ontario Trillium Foundation.
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Muskoka District
Court House
Bracebridge has been a centre for the administration of justice in Muskoka
since it held the first court sessions in the region in 1868. The province
built this court house after Bracebridge became the District Town of the
new District of Muskoka in 1898. It is an early example of a style of
court house built by Frank R. Heakes, who became chief architect in
Ontario's Department of Public Works in 1896.
Location: On the northeast corner of Dominion Street and Ontario Street.
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The Queen's Hotel
The building on this site, known for
many years as The Queen’s Hotel, was built in 1885 by Alfred Hunt, a local
entrepreneur. He owned real estate along Manitoba Street and was a private
banker until 1898. In 1892, William Higgins who owned the hotel at that time,
constructed a large addition that doubled the size of the building. There were
several owners of the hotel until 1944 when it was purchased by the Patterson
brothers and renamed the Hotel Patterson. It was later transformed into a
commercial centre by Al Beverley. Throughout the changes in ownership, the hill
on Manitoba Street in front of this building was always known as The Queen’s
Hill.
Location: Corner of Manitoba Street and Taylor Road.
In
2000, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of
Bracebridge, the Bracebridge Historical Society researched and erected
signs identifying areas of historic significance to the town's
heritage. Funding for the heritage signs was provided by the
Ontario Trillium Foundation.
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The Peterson Road
Muskoka Falls was the western terminus of the Peterson Road, a colonization
road named after surveyor Joseph S. Peterson. Constructed 1858-1863 at a cost
of some $39,000, it stretched about 114 miles between the Muskoka and Opeongo
Roads and formed part of a system of government colonization routes built to
open up the southern region of the Precambrian Shield. Poor soil disappointed
hopes of large-scale agricultural settlement along this road both on
government "free-grant" lots and on the lands of the Canadian Land
and Emigration Company. By the 1870's portions of the route were overgrown,
though certain sections aided lumbering and now contribute to the development
of an important Ontario vacation area.
Location: In Vankoughnet, in a park on the north side at 1193
Vankoughnet Road.
Erected by the Archeological and Historic Sites Board,
Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario.
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Tan Bark Hill
Now part of Quebec Street, the roadway
down this hill to Victoria Street was built in 1886 to provide an alternative
route for wagons travelling down the steep extension to Ontario Street. Given
the name Rosemount Boulevard, the road was also known as tan bark hill because
it was covered with hemlock bark chips fallen from the wagons drawing their
loads of hemlock bark to the Beardmore Tannery. Established in 1877 and located
on the north side of the Muskoka River between Wellington Street and Annie
Williams Memorial Park, for a time the Beardmore Tannery was the largest leather
tanning facility in Canada. It closed in 1923.
Location: Quebec Street.
In
2000, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of
Bracebridge, the Bracebridge Historical Society researched and erected
signs identifying areas of historic significance to the town's
heritage. Funding for the heritage signs was provided by the
Ontario Trillium Foundation.
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Woodchester Villa
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 illustrates the architectural theories of Orson
Squire Fowler, an American author and lecturer who claimed that many-sided
structures provided healthier, more efficient environments for their
inhabitants than rectangular buildings. In keeping with Fowler's views, the
house was solidly constructed of fieldstone and poured concrete and contained
such innovative features as ventilation shafts and a dumb-waiter. It was
officially named Woodchester Villa after the owner's birthplace in England,
but became known locally as the "Bird Cage". Occupied by family
members until 1977, Woodchester Villa has since been restored and is now open
to the public.
Location: 15 King Street.
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