It was not a romantic ending fate dealt the elegant Ida Burton. The last side-wheeler to ply its trade on the waters of Lake Simcoe, she deserved better.
In the mid-1800s, before railways and roads spread across central Ontario, waterways were the nation’s highways. Travel was economical, quick, and relatively comfortable aboard steamships criss-crossing Lake Simcoe ferrying mail, freight and settlers to outlying settlements.
James Lindsay and Martin Burton, local industrialists in Allandale and Barrie, had a hand in the Northern Navigation Company, whose fleet steamed across the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe. In 1865, they began construction of their latest vessel, the Ida Burton, which they named for their beloved mother. She measured about 110 feet in length and, with powerful new engines, could sustain a pace of 24 km/h.
The Ida Burton was the only side-wheeler ever built in Barrie.
For nearly a decade, from 1866 to 1875, the Ida Burton left Barrie — where rails ended — with passengers, cargo and mail destined for Muskoka. First stop, Orillia, and then full speed ahead across the length of Lake Couchiching for connections with Northern Railway at Washago.
Additionally, the Ida Burton would criss-cross Lake Simcoe, connecting communities large and small, carrying passengers and all manner of goods.
The Ida Burton was also hired for private functions. Parties, complete with musical entertainment, were often the highlight of the summer social season. Oftentimes, the booze would flow freely on these cruises. In a time when the temperance movement was gaining pace, a cruise aboard the Ida Burton represented a way to indulge away from prying eyes.
Such heady days could not last forever. Roads improved and railways snaked north. Operators tried to make a living offering luxury cruises to tourists, but competition was fierce. Less than two decades after the launch of the Ida Burton, railways had stretched their web from Toronto to Gravenhurst. With its primary income gone, it was only a matter of time before the Ida Burton went to a watery grave.
The inevitable came in 1876, when the ship, stripped of machinery, was unceremoniously sunk along the Orillia shoreline.
Though the once-elegant side-wheeler ended up as foundation for a wharf, it will always be known as the pride of the Lake Simcoe fleet.
