Cameron Rd. And Gull Lake Beach 1930’s

CAMERON ROAD and GULL LAKE BEACH – mid 1930’s

This Real Photo Post Card appears to date to the mid1930’s, and shows the Cameron Road, now Highway # 35, in front of what was then, the Bay View Hotel. It is titled “Gull Lake, Minden, Ont.”

The photographer was standing on the edge of the road, across from the south end of the Main Lodge building. The road surface is gravel, and the scene looks down to Miners’ Bay and towards Horn Point.

The picture was likely taken in the summer, as the foliage is full, and some wild flowers or weeds are in bloom. The grassy area behind the road side shrubbery later became the driveway to the Gull Lake Beach area.Two individuals are enjoying the day in a row boat.

In the distance, the roof of the Horn cottage is visible. Alex Horn was a merchant who owned a textile mill that manufactured woolen goods. His Horn Brothers blankets were a quality product, and have lasted well to the present day. Some purchasers thought that the “HB” emblem on the label stood for “Hudson Bay”!

The Horn family was some of the first permanent cottagers at Miners’ Bay, having first arrived in 1909. While it was as long trip from their home in Lindsay, the family spent a great deal of time at Gull Lake each season for over four decades.

Russ Wunker

April 2019