Maryboro Lodge Personality: Belle, Tilly and Kate Abbott

Kate, Belle, and Tilly Abbott, Reverend C.S. Lord, their first guest at Maryboro Lodge, 1913

When James Wallis built Maryboro Lodge, he literally owned the town and so could choose any site he wanted. Ever since, the building has marked the entrance to the Fenelon River from Cameron Lake. By the early twentieth century, the railway had been built through the parkland that had once been part of his estate, but also brought many visitors to the community. The park west of the railway (now the south end of Garnet Graham Park) was the village’s tourist camp. Beginning in 1913, three sisters, Belle, Tilly and Kate Abbott operated Maryboro Lodge as a tourist lodge, with guest cabins and a tennis court on the grounds. These three sisters never married, and many people referred to them collectively as the Misses Abbotts.

The Abbott Sisters were devoted members of Fenelon Falls Baptist Church, and were very proper ladies, which suited many of their visitors. Their first guest was the village’s Presbyterian minister, Reverend C.S. Lord. Belle was remembered for her sense of humour. The Misses Abbotts worked very hard to ensure that their guests enjoyed their stay at Maryboro Lodge—in an era before they had electricity or running water. They had a hand pump for water, did laundry by hand and cooked over a woodstove—particularly in summer, when the lodge was its busiest.

When visitors came to Maryboro Lodge, they often spent time enjoying summer on the porch overlooking the river. To be gracious hosts, the Abbott Sisters often served tea with their homemade cookies. One of their favourite recipes was Gem Gems—two sugar cookies with a jam filling between. They also served lunches and dinners at their lodge. After Kate passed away in 1922, Belle and Tille carried on the business. As they aged, they were very slender ladies who were often quiet and wore proper dresses—which were old-fashioned by the 1950s. At first glance, some younger visitors with a vivid imagination took them to be ghosts.

Belle and Tilly Abbott operated Maryboro Lodge as long as they could manage. When they had to move to Waterman’s Nursing Home in 1958, their nephew Milburn Kelly believed that the building should become a museum, and transferred it to the village on that condition. In 1963, Maryboro Lodge became a museum, which has carried on the Abbotts tradition of hosting tea. As long as she was able, Milburn’s wife, Freda, regularly walked to attend tea at the museum—right up until the pandemic—she was almost 100 years old at the time. In memory of the Abbott sisters, Maryboro Lodge Museum has tea and cookies for visitors. Afternoon Tea, one of the village’s oldest social traditions, is Wednesdays between Canada Day and Labour Day from 1 to 4 pm