The Early Settlers of Grandview Lake
Grandview Lake is a small lake located about 7 kilometers east of Baysville on the north side of Muskoka Road 117. Waterfront lots are accessed from two roads at the north and south, as well as by 117.
The recent archeological history of Grandview Lake began around 11 000 BC, when the last ‘big thaw’ began. The lake was carved out of granite by receding glaciers. The first English pioneers arrived in Dorset and Baysville around 1870. One of the son’s of these pioneers, Harry Salmon, was an early settler of Grandview Lake.
Grandview Lake was initially known as Clear Lake, but was changed in the late 1800s by a developer who developed the land, and divided it into lots, on the west side of the lake on behalf of a Toronto builder. Harry Salmon, who bought a farm across the highway and the land surrounding Grandview Lake for $25.00, initially owned the land surrounding Grandview Lake. Mr. Salmon gave the property between the cottages on the lake and the farm, so that cars would stop driving along the lake in front of the cottages, which was the previous highway to Dorset. The government owned the 60 feet of shoreline in front of the cottages as a road allowance, however all cottagers have bought the land back, and the roadway is now officially closed.
Salmon’s family was originally from Dorset, and he settled on Grandview Lake with his wife Nellie. The Salmon family used the land around the lake mostly for potato farming, and the land across the road for trapping. One expedition lasted three days, as he was chased up a tree by a marten! Harry Salmon was a very kind and helpful man, always willing to help anyone. With long distances and poor roads to Bracebridge or Huntsville, having good neighbours to help was important to the Salmon family. He began to sell off the lots around the lake, and more and more neighbours began to arrive. Many of the original purchasers still live or cottage on Grandview Lake, or have descendants who do.
The community comprising of the Salmon’s home and the property owners they sold to was called Brown’s Brae. A post office was set up in the Salmon’s house, and Harry became the postmaster. The Jones family, who had the first cottage to be built on Grandview, owned the Brown’s Brae Golfways, which was a miniature golf course, driving range, and a cabin to house clubs. It also sold pop and sundry treats. Next to Golfways were the Smiths, with Mr. Bob Smith being the ‘ice man’, harvesting ice from the lake in the winter and delivering ice to all the cottages in the summer. Mr. Smith would also keep an eye on all the cottages in the winter.
The Salmon’s history at Grandview Lake is a family one. Harry Salmon and his wife Effie had 5 children, one of whom, Nellie, moved back to Grandview Lake in 1932 with her two daughters, Joan and Betty. A family activity cherished by all generations was cards. The punishment for not doing chores or fighting with siblings was not being able to play cards, a punishment worse than the dentist for the Salmon family! The tradition of cards lives on with the family today, with the phrase “your deal Myrt.” Harry’s sister Myrtle visited the family once, and she talked so much through the evening, Harry made her deal every desk, without her knowledge. The rest of the family was in on Harry’s antics, and to this day, when someone has to deal the deck, they are handed the cards and told “your deal Myrt.”
Joan, Harry Salmon’s granddaughter, lived in Toronto, but spent her summers at the Salmon home with her three boys. Two properties away, there were three young girls, one of who married one of Joan’s boys, and had two children – Harry Salmon’s great great grandchildren. These children had Grandview Lake on both sides of the family, with their grandfather, Harold Blake Stroud, owning a piece of land two doors over from the Salmon homestead. Harry Salmon and Blake Stroud’s father, also named Harry, were great friends during summers when their extended families were up at the cottage. Harry had known the Stroud’s as they were growing up, and once bought the eldest Stroud daughter, at age 4, 90 black candy balls, a treat she wasn’t allowed!
Harry Salmon has left another noteworthy legacy on the area; when he was off hunting with his beloved dog, Mike, he would often tie a knot in a thin sapling tree. To this day, there are trees scattered across the properties of Grandview Lake with Harry’s knot tied into them.
This article is a compilation of information submitted to the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation in 2013 from Barbara Stroud Allan, as well as a piece written by Phyllis Zelcer titled “God Created Paradise and Called it Grandview Lake.”