Rosseau was a navigation centre
THE GEORGIAN BAY BEACON S5 Thursday, September 9th, 1976
The first known public passenger service to Rosseau was operated by William Sirett, around 1867. Mr. Sirett rowed his large boat to and from Port Carling, every day, to pick up mail, passengers and freight.
In the late 1860's, the Waubamic became the first steamer to ply the waters of Lake Rosseau. She was a small vessel of only seven tons, which was brought over the rapids at Port Carling on a series of rollers.
Another of the early steamers, Wenonah (or the first born daughter in Indian language), was confined to Lake Muskoka between 1866 and 1871. After the locks were built at Port Carling and the channel was cut between Lake Joseph and Lake Rosseau, at Port Sandfield, it plyed all three Muskoka Lakes.
With the expansion of the Rosseau area population, evidenced by the appearance of private summer homes in the 1880's, the need for a bigger and better transportation system became apparent. Larger and faster boats were built, and names like the Nipissing, the Muskoka and the Islander, became well known. The steamers would leave Rosseau just before 7.00 a.m. and return in the evening.
The rise of the summer population also made it necessary to bring more
families living on islands. This created the supply-boat era, during which the steamers would travel as floating general stores packed with all types of merchandise. One of these boats, the Constance, was operated out of Rosseau by the Little Brothers, General Merchants.
A slow decline in the
steamboat era in Muskoka began in the 1920's. The expansion of railroads, roads and the coming of the "great depression" contributed to the end of the era. There would be one last flourish.
In the early 1920's, a 100 mile cruise was established by the Muskoka Navigation Company as a tourist attraction. The company also
opened a Natural Park, on Lake Joseph, as a target for these cruises. The steamer Sagamo left Gravenhurst daily during July and August and met the steamer from Rosseau at Port Carling. This rendevous enabled tourists from any of the lakes to visit the park.
The big decline in the steamboat business came
after World War II. As the great tourist lodges burned and the improved highway system brought cottagers into the area, the need for tourist and freight boats declined further. Only the Sagamo and the Segwun remained on the lakes between 1951 and 1958. The summer of 1958 was the last during which the steam whistle called across the waters of Lake Rosseau.
HISTORIC SHORELINE:This early photograph of Rosseau, which was taken from the boathouse on Pratt's Point, shows the buildings of
the Monteith Hotel on the left. Byview Cottage on
the right, and two of the steamers which used to ply Lake Rosseau. The steamer on the left is the Nipissing. The identity of the other boat is not
known. Henry Ditchburn's boatworks is in the