The Cloyne and District Historical Society https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdhs/
In 1888, the Gilmour sawmill in Trenton was said to have the largest cutting capacity in the world. This meant that its demand for logs was huge, but even with its extensive timber rights in the Mazinaw and the Algonquin areas, the mill never ran at full capacity. The intense pressure to keep feeding the mill triggered massive investments in a new transportation technology: a tramway that could lift logs out of one lake and transport them to a different watershed so they could be floated to Trenton.
The Cloyne and District Historical Society https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdhs/
The Gilmour Lumber Company built two tramways to supply its Trenton mill: one in the Mazinaw region and one much further west at Dorset, Ontario. The fates of these investments were vastly different. The Mazinaw tramway, a major engineering triumph in the 1850s, moved logs from Mazinaw Lake to Pringle Lake by means of a lift system and a railway of sorts. It consisted of a jack ladder, powered by steam, to lift logs up a steep embankment from the lake (100 metres long, 35 metres vertically) and horse-drawn carriages to pull the logs along wooden rails until they reached Pringle Lake.
By itself, that sounds like a huge investment, but consider also that the terrain was swampy. This meant that the area had to be built up by hand using earth and stone to elevate the rails above the swamps. The Mazinaw tramway was used as early as the 1850s and continued for about 40 years, a remarkably long run. Its Dorset cousin, built in the 1890s, was not so fortunate, lasting only two years, in part due to a lack of sufficient water supply to operate it.
The Cloyne and District Historical Society https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdhs/
In the second half of the 19th century, the population in the Mazinaw area swelled with loggers and their families. Life was not easy for the women whose husbands were away logging during the winter, but they had the basics – a good community, a school for their children and access to a wide variety of goods from the local general store.
To get a better appreciation of this fascinating era in Ontario’s history, you can visit the Cloyne Pioneer Museum and Archives. There you’ll see a diorama of the Mazinaw tramway and a large model of the old log schoolhouse, which was constructed using two walls of the original schoolhouse. You’ll also enjoy looking at the old photographs covering everything from logging to community life to tourism associated with Bon Echo Provincial Park, less than a 10-minute drive north of the museum.
The Cloyne and District Historical Society https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdhs/
Normally the museum opens in mid-June, but this year the timing is less certain owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. You’ll have to wait to hear about the province’s schedule for re-opening tourist sites. In the meantime, you can browse the on-line collection of old photographs to inspire your future travels.Welcome to the Kingston Association of Museums, Art Galleries & Historic Sites!
We are a not-for-profit professional network and collaborative resource hub supporting the Kingston region's cultural heritage sector.
The Kingston Association of Museums, Art Galleries and Historic Sites, otherwise known as KAM, first emerged 40 years ago as a community-initiated, professional support network to promote public awareness and increase engagement across Kingston’s cultural heritage sites through collective promotional and programming initiatives. KAM is also engaged in supporting its membership through the dissemination of information, sector best practices, and professional development opportunities.
Our members range from federally owned sites with professional staff, to sites which are member-owned and volunteer operated. Some operate seasonally; others are open year round. Many have specialist collections that tell the stories and histories of our communities from local, regional and national perspectives. From its inception, KAM was driven by the ideal that by working collaboratively, despite differences in size, mandates and resources, cultural heritage sites and organizations could quite simply; do better together, improving practice and strengthening their connections within and across communities.
2020 marks our 40th anniversary and we have much to celebrate. As the professional network and resource hub within Kingston’s cultural heritage landscape, KAM is committed to facilitating a resilient, innovative and responsive cultural heritage sector within the Kingston and area community.
