The Lintonia, the Last Steamer to Offer Regular Passenger Service, Retired in 1931
Steamships began to serve communities in the Kawarthas before railways were constructed. By the late nineteenth century these two modes of transportation made it practical to import and export even bulky commodities, while allowing the region to become a tourist destination. In fact, transportation companies named and branded the region as the Kawarthas in the first years of the twentieth century. However, it would not be long before the large steamship companies like the Boyd Family’s Trent Valley Navigation Company and George Crandell’s line of steamers disappeared.
After 1910, the advent of motor launches and automobiles quickly impacted both railway and steamship lines. Suddenly, people were no longer constrained by the schedules and routes of the transportation companies. To the extent that roads and the waterway were developed, they could decide where and when they wanted to go. Railways were still an economical way of moving freight, but who would take the train if they could drive? Why would you buy a ticket for a steamship if you could drive much faster? How many people would go on a steamship tour, if they could tour around the lake in their motorboat?
As steamers disappeared throughout the Kawartha Lakes region, Sturgeon Point was a notable exception. It was founded as a cottage community by steamship owner George Crandell. Many of its early seasonal residents worked in Lindsay. Though steamships were slower than automobiles, the trip from Sturgeon Point to Lindsay was much shorter via water, than by driving around Sturgeon Lake—especially given the road conditions and vehicles of the 1910s. Captain Charles (Charlie) Gray operated the Lintonia at Lakefield, but soon moved to Sturgeon Point.
The Lintonia left Sturgeon Point at 7 am, stopping at Sandy Point, Greenhurst-Thurstonia and Pleasant Point, so that businessmen could be in Lindsay for 9 am. The return trip departed at 5:15, also carrying freight and mail. The steamer was popular for Sunday School picnics and excursions. Charlie’s wife, Minnie, did the baking to look after the passengers on excursions—for one trip she prepared 27 pies.
By the 1930s, even the Sturgeon Point route was no longer viable. If a passenger could drive, who would buy a ticket for a two-hour steamship commute to Lindsay? When Captain Gray retired in 1931, he became the last steamship operator in the region to offer regular passenger service. The white paddlewheel steamer, which had epitomized Victorian leisure, faded into history. The Gray family, continued to be very important at Sturgeon Point for decades to come. The captain’s son, also named Charlie, helped build or maintain just about every property at the Point. His sister Annie, became the community’s unofficial historian.
