Navigation Page: In Honour of the Steamers and the Portage Railway
Pictured to the right is the "Iroquois" at South Portage. It was built in 1907, could carry up to 300 passengers, and was the flagship of Lake of Bays. Iroquois would carry passengers from South Portage across the Lake to Bigwin and Dorset.
The "Mohawk Belle" was built from the hull of the "Florence Main" in 1913, and was eventually sold to Bigwin Inn to be used as a freighter. Mohawk would carry passengers from South Portage to Dwight and Baysville. It was submerged behind Bigwin Island at the dry docks, and stayed there for over 30 years. It would become one of the greatest landmarks of Lake of Bays, until it crumbled into pieces when the latest owners of Bigwin Island tried to raise her because it was getting in the way. There are many memories of that wreck, as the deck was covered with initials from people who had docked at the wreck, hoping to grasp a feeling of the steam age, or to just have some fun.
The Portage Railway was the smallest commercially-operated railway in the entire world, and was famed all over the world. Persons arriving in Huntsville by train would board the "Algonquin" which would then proceed through Huntsville, past Fairy Lake and into Penninsula Lake, where it would arrive at North Portage. Passengers would then ride the little train the one mile to Lake of Bays where they would then board one of the steamers.
(more to come)