Hi My name is Ellie Hamilton and i live here with my husband Al and my son Ryan (my daughter Erin now lives in Burksfalls.)
In 1939 my grandfather Edwin McCoy bought a log cabin on Ripple Lake from a man called Brownridge. At the time, Ripple Lake was called Deep Lake. Back then, there were only three families on the lake: The Spearn family The Heaney family and The McCoy family.
I was five and a half my first summer at Pinecrest Cottage. I am now 78 and I have spent at least some time there every summer.
The weather didn't seem to matter much -- if it rained we went to play pick-up sticks on Mrs. Hunt's veranda (Mrs. Hunts property is now were Jim and Zora Kightley have built their home). If it was cold, we huddled around the wood stove in the kitchen. (The fireplace smoked too much.) The kitchen was so small, four was a crowd. We could wash, dry and put dishes away without moving. If it was sunny we were usually in swimming.
Palette Lake is located in Chaffey Township, formerly known as the Municipal Corporation of the Township of Chaffey, on Lot 13 and part Lot 14 Concession 12 with the southern tip located on the northern portion of Lot 13 Concession 11. It is situated between North Waseosa Lake Road to the south, Hunts Road to the east and Ripple/Palette Lake Road to the west. Palette Lake is home to thirty-nine developed properties. Palette Lake has no public access. It is replenished through numerous springs in and around the lake and by two small tributaries from the hills to the southeast.
At the turn of the 20th century, Ernie worked a 200 acre farm that was a colonization land grant of his father George Norton. This property was at what is now, the corner of Hanes road and Golf Course road.
The map below is from the "Guide Book & Atlas of Muskoka and Parry Sound Districts, 1879". A scan of the entire map of Chaffey is attached at the bottom in PDF format.
Old stories abound about a murder that took place on the west side of Waseosa. The location has been variously given as the Solave farm (the site of present-day Camp Huronda) or the Edwards home. There are varying recollections about the heinous details, even as to how many people were involved.
Once upon a time Jingo Lake Road circumnavigated Jingo Lake. This is clearly shown on an 1879 map of Chaffey Township as well as many resident's property deeds dating from the 1950s. So why is that lake now officially known as Jessop Lake? And is the correct spelling "Jessop" with an "o", or "Jessup" with a "u"? That same map shows two abutting land grants to a Jas. Jessop and a Robt. Jessop, respectively. These are located in the area of Jessup Lane, and in fact, it appears Jessup Lane may well mark the boundary between them -- but it's nowhere near Jessop Lake.
Andrew Solway's (Jim's grandfather) often logged parcels of land for others around Clark Lake and the west side of Waseosa during the 1930's and 1940's. Once logged, the land was seen to have little remaining value and so was often offered as the payment for the logging services. As time passed it came about that the Solway family ended up owning most of the west side of Waseosa from the Marsh (inflow from Clark Lake) all the way down to at least the property now owned by the West family. This would include the original Solway Farm.
The Origin of the Camp Huronda Property at the South End of Lake Waseosa
John Charles Risk began practicing law early in the 1930s. A few years later, in the midst of the depression, he acquired the Waseosa property from a client who was unable to pay his bill in any other way. His sons, from whom this information comes, say that their father told him that it was a time when cash would have been far more welcome than a piece of land.
Your stories.
We want to compile a history of the area and we need your help before it's lost in the mists of time. When and why did Long Lake and Round Lake become Waseosa and Palette? Who originally built your cottage? How many places have hosted Fun Day over the years? What inspired people to form the LWRA in the first place ?
Send your histories in to us at secretary@lwra.net and we'll get them posted up here for everyone to enjoy!