Unique Muskoka August

150th Anniversary Feature
the demand. They turned to the Nipissing II,
which had been dry docked since 1914. The
old ship was in bad shape but its 124-foot
iron hull and lower decks were still
sound. Months later, the old side-wheeler
was converted into a propeller steamer and
set sail on July 29, 1925. It was renamed as
the Segwun, which is Ojibway for springtime.
Boom years lasted until the 1920s, but the
world was changing. Cottagers were using
their own motorboats to get around the
lakes. The automobile also gave people a new
form of mobility. Then came the stock
market crash of Oct. 29, 1929, which
triggered the Great Depression. Tourism
crashed in Muskoka as people could not
afford to come north.
In 1958, the Sagamo and the Segwun, the
last two steamboats on the Muskoka lakes,
stopped cruising. The Sagamo was turned
into a floating restaurant but was destroyed
Above: The Sagamo, which had its maiden voyage on June 15, 1907, was 152 feet long and could hold
800 passengers and 26 crew members. It was destroyed by fire in 1969.
Below: The early fleet of the Muskoka and Nipissing Navigation Company in summer drydock.
Photograph: Courtesy of the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society Photograph: Courtesy of the Muskoka Lakes Museum
1874
1881
1885
1887
June 1905
A new dam is
built at Bala Falls,
which makes it possible
to control lake levels
and allows the
Wenonah to navigate
without running aground
or hitting unexpected
rocks.
A.P. Cockburn
incorporates the
Muskoka and Nipissing
Navigation Co., which
has a fleet of six ships
that includes
Wenonah,
Wabamik, Nipissing
and three tug boats.
The Wenonah is
retired to an island
near Walker’s Point
and serves as a house
boat for the Cockburn
family.
The Nipissing II
launches.
A.P. Cockburn dies at
the age of 68.