The Muskoka Heritage Place in Huntsville is a gem. We rank it right up there with Upper Canada Village for quality, and definitely recommend it as a must see. From the Museum, with its ever-changing displays about life in early Muskoka, through the winding walkways that take you to the houses, schoolroom, church, blacksmith's shop, general store and the farm animals, there is plenty to do and to see. Kids can try their hand at dipping candles, for instance. As a huge added bonus, the Portage Flyer train is located here. This little narrow gauge train originally ran between North Portage, Peninsula Lake, and South Portage, Lake of Bays -- the Shortest Commercial Railway in the world, at just one mile long. When the train was heavily loaded at North Portage, the men would be asked to step down from the passenger cars and walk up the hill! After the railway closed down, all the rolling stock left the area, but the trains were rescued, brought back to Huntsville, and operate at the Heritage Place. You can truly take a ride back in time on this lovely train, running along the lakeshore out to Camp Kitchen.
On Saturday July 26th, the Muskoka Heritage Place celebrated it's Golden Jubilee, and like everything they do out there, they did it up right. High tea, displays on birds, animals, owls, and a butterfly release, along with Savour Muskoka offerings on the Village Green were some of the highlights.
The Museum is currently hosting a display called "Muskoka Creative" featuring arts and crafts from the pioneer days. As part of this display, there is a section featuring our grandfather, Joseph Tapley, who settled here at Bondi in 1905.
Joe had an illustrious stage career -- in England with Gilbert & Sullivan, and then in Australia and New Zealand with Williamson & Musgrove. By 1901, he had been around the globe, making three separate trips "Down Under" and returning across the U.S.A.
On display at Muskoka Heritage Place are one of his costumes, along with several items from his make-up kit, and photographs.
When ill healthy forced him off the stage (he was told that wine, women and song were killing him... and when you are a Comic Opera Tenor, there is not much else out there BUT wine, women and song... so he needed to change careers) he brought his young bride Elizabeth and their two young sons Douglas and Percy to Muskoka to become farmers. He was a globe trotter, but the rest of the family had never been out of London.
Joe wasn't the only opera star on Lake of Bays. Madam Marcotti used to stay at Port Cunnington, about the same time Joe was settling in. She'd climb to the top of the big hill behind the resort and belt out Italian arias over the lake at dawn.
We miss those days...
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