“WITH REGARD to the quality of timber, there must have been something about the atmosphere that made logs last longer. The logs of the barn that was built to store hay in 1884 on the Hart farm, were still perfectly sound when they were constructed into cabins in 1919.”
- Mabel Brook, October 1960
“SARAH Lyon (Nat’l officer of Y.W.C.A. and Katie Kendig) also came early. They were New Yorkers and spent the summer. They had a cottage on “Fifth Ave.” (top of the hill) – in flagpole area. They busily read and typed thru the day.”
- Gerry Livingston, Billie Bear guest, August 1982
“WE ARE quartered in a cabin just like this perched on a hillside overlooking the lake. The scene is wonderful. We are very warm & cozy; just couldn’t be more comfortable.”
- Postcard addressed to Miss Jessie Sime, signed “Mabel and Marshall,” September 28, 1936
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“Camp Billie Bear Log Cabins” (Brother and Lyon’s Den), postcard dated September 28, 1936 (Barb Breda) |
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“Main Street,” looking towards the Lodge, 1977 (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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More trees shaded Main Street in this picture, taken at the end of the summer in 1968. The pine directly in front of Three Bears is no longer there. (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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THE TWO CABINS built with logs from Andrew Hart’s hay barn, now called Algonquin and Huntsman, were the first to define a path that became known as “Fifth Avenue,” in reference to the New York guests who occupied them for many years, and later “Main Street.” These cabins took on the names of early guests and were renamed, along with most of the others, for the 1960 season, probably because the older names no longer held the same significance. |
The Hughitts (Fred and his sister Caroline) on porch of Brother (Algonquin) cabin, c. 1920 (Billie Bear Photo Archive, J. Pearson Hill Collection) |
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Brother (Algonquin), with fuel for the woodstove, c. 1940 (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Matthews photo) |
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Algonquin in 1973 – bathrooms added in the 1950s made the original tiny cabins larger. (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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Lyon’s Den (Huntsman) and Brother (Algonquin) were rented for most of the summer by Sarah Lyon and Kate Kendig, colleagues at the national office of the YWCA in New York City, who became fixtures at Camp Billie Bear until the late 1950s. Kate died in the fall of 1956, and the following summer, the last Sarah spent at Billie Bear, she gave a small bench on which was carved “Lyon’s Den” to her friends Jean and Reg Dowsett, whose cottage was along the Billie Bear Road. While Sarah’s gesture might seem presumptuous today, it indicates the proprietary feeling early guests, many of whom returned for years, held for “their” cabins. In the early years, some guests had in fact contributed to building the cabins that became their regular billets during their stay. |
Main Street and Lyon’s Den (now Huntsman), 1948 – the corner of Brother (Algonquin) is at left (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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Huntsman on a rainy day in early September 1968 – guest Jeff Davis on porch (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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“Main Street” path in 1973 (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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While the name “Lyon’s Den” is easily explained, “Brother” is more uncertain. According to Mabel’s daughter Betty, this cabin was named for Caroline Hughitt’s brother Fred; both Caroline and Fred were guests from Auburn, NY, beginning at least as early as 1916. |
The original side entrance and loft window of Three Bears are visible at left in this photo of Alter from the 1930s or 1940s. (Barbara Paterson Collection) |
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Three Bears, colourized postcard c. late 1920s. Three Bears once had an outside door for each room, with a dormer on the east side of the cabin. (Peter Ham) |
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“August 1926” – group on steps of Three Bears (Billie Bear Photo Archive, J. Pearson Hill Collection) |
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The two other log cabins on “Main Street” were built later, Three Bears in 1921 as the family home of Mabel, her husband Norton Hill, and their infant daughter Mary Elizabeth (Betty). The largest of the early log cabins, it had an additional side entrance and a loft. Three Bears is one of the few cottages to retain its original name, chosen (no doubt by Mabel) to represent the three Hills. |
Three Bears, 1973 (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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Three Bears, fall 1970s (Shelley Sproule) |
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Photographs suggest that Alter (today’s Arrowhead) was built in 1926 or early 1927 between Three Bears and Brother. The Alter family from Pennsylvania is the origin of the cabin’s name – Norton’s brother J. Pearson Hill married Isabel, one of the Alter girls, and moved to the United States. |
Guests Zoe and Eric Green on the porch of Alter (Arrowhead), 1948 (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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Winter photo of Alter cabin (Arrowhead), 1930s or 1940s. Promotion of winter tourism in the 1930s – spearheaded by Gordon Hill of Limberlost – inspired many lodges to remain open, but staffing and transportation problems during the Second World War eventually took their toll on the effort. (Barbara Paterson Collection) |
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Alter (Arrowhead) at left and Lyon’s Den (Huntsman) at right, August 1959. Brother (Algonquin) is in centre, behind tree. (Billie Bear Photo Archive, Gertrude Davis Slide Collection) |
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Sources |
Billie Bear Documents Archive, Brochure Collection; Reservation Charts 1949-1966, 1969, 1971-1972; Mabel Brook, “Early Sinclair Had Many Settlers,” Huntsville Forester, October 20, 1960; Gerry Livingston, letter to Barb Paterson, August 1982; Betty Schielke, interview with Leo Serroul, June 1994; Postcard, September 28, 1936.
Corcoran, Olive, conversation September 2004.
Dowsett, Bill, conversations 2004 and 2005.
Paterson, Barbara, conversations 2004 and 2005.
Research Committee of the Muskoka Pioneer Village, Pictures from the Past: Huntsville, Lake of Bays (Erin, ON: Boston Mills Press, 1986). |
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