Orillia Ontario in Colour Photos: Saving Our History One Photo at a Time

Publisher Marketing: Orillia is located in Central Ontario between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, 135 kilometres (84 miles) north of Toronto. Both lakes are part of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Travel north on Lake Couchiching, then through three locks and the only marine railway in North America leads to Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. Travelling south-east across Lake Simcoe, through many locks (including two of the highest hydraulic lift locks in the world) eventually leads to Lake Ontario. From either of these Great Lakes one can connect to the St. Lawrence and then to the Atlantic Ocean. The history of what is today the City of Orillia dates back at least several thousand years. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of fishing by the Huron and Iroquois peoples in the area over 4,000 years ago. The site of an Ojibwa reserve from 1830 to 1838, Orillia subsequently prospered as an agricultural and lumbering community. Early history of the area includes visits from Samuel de Champlain nearly 400 years ago, in the early 17th century. The following century, fur traders and explorers travelled the area extensively. Due to logging and rail links with Toronto and Georgian Bay, Orillia became a commercial centre and summer resort in the mid-1800s. William Tudhope opened a blacksmith shop in 1864 at Andrew and Colborne Streets. By the end of the century, William's son James headed the Tudhope Carriage Company as part of a conglomerate of businesses. In 1866, Thomas Mulcahy launched his mercantile career in dry goods with the opening of his California Store. Mulcahy and his sons were responsible for the construction of many of Orillia's dwellings and commercial buildings. Andrew Tait was the President of the Huntsville Lumber Company. Tait was a major employer and said to be Orillia's first millionaire. Orillia was founded as a village in 1867 and incorporated as a town in 1875. In Stephen Leacok's 1912 book Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, Orillia was used as the basis for the fictional town known as "Mariposa." The book was based on Leacock's experiences in the town and the city has since the book's release attempted to mimic the fictional location in as many ways as possible. Orillia is known as the "Sunshine City." The Stephen Leacock Museum is a National Historic Site in Orillia. William E. Bell's 1989 novel Five Days of the Ghost was set in Orillia with many readers recognizing popular local spots, including the Guardian Angels Catholic Church, the Samuel de Champlain statue in Couchiching Beach Park and Big Chief Island in the middle of Lake Couchiching. Orillia is also known as the birthplace of Gordon Lightfoot. During World War II, Orillia produced munitions and aircraft parts at plants that later began manufacturing equipment for the mining and pulp and paper industry. Orillia was incorporated as a city in 1969. Today, Orillia is as popular a vacation spot as it was a century ago and proudly celebrates its heritage by working hard to preserve historic properties in the downtown. It owns three of the most prominent and attractive 19th-century buildings in the core - the landmark Orillia Opera House, the Sir Sam Steele Memorial Building and Central Public School.