Byng Inlet

History

Byng Inlet was first established in 1868. The community was named after the English Admiral John Byng who was court-martialed and executed for cowardice in 1757 after “failing to do his utmost” in the Battle of Minorca.

To be fair, Byng’s treatment generated a lot of controversy, with many believing he had made a scapegoat. Byng had gone into battle poorly equipped and with little combat experience. Despite requests and recommendations for mercy and clemency, the execution went ahead as scheduled. Perhaps this was a way for the British government to make amends for what may have been a grave miscarriage of justice.

The small community was located along the Georgian Bay about 70 kilometres north of Parry Sound. It was one of three lumber sites located on both the north and south shores of the actual inlet. The community of Byng Inlet was located on the south shore and identified in early surveys as Mill Location B.

Anson G.P. Dodge started the first mill on the south shore in 1868. In 1872, his company merged with the Page mill on the north side. Various other mergers and consolidations followed. Fires, which were quite plentiful in those days, also destroyed a number of mills.

Early residents included watchmen, storekeepers, blacksmiths, engineers, a lighthouse keeper, cooper and various mill workers. Many were French speaking from Quebec and came with much needed lumbering experience.  By 1883 the village was home to 52 families and included a school, church, store and butcher’s shop. The mill employed 125 people. Unfortunately business directory records can be confusing, largely because the post office moved around between the three mill sites.

Besides the mills Dodge and Pulaski Clarke owned company stores on each side of the inlet. There seemed to be little need for two stores. The two owners eventually merged both stores into one three-storey building located in the actual village of Byng Inlet on the present site of the Sawmill Lodge. Since later accounts mention the company store on the south side of the inlet, it seems likely this was one and the same business. Byng Inlet’s first school, SS, No,1 opened in 1881. It closed in 1893 for unknown reasons but reopened a few years later.

Byng Inlet was in an extremely remote location. There were no roads or railways. Other than horseback, waterways were the only means of entry. Since the Georgian Bay froze during the winter, entry was only possible from spring to fall. To build these mills, they brought the materials in by horse and wagon and/or by steamship and barge.

In 1900 Nelson Holland and Luther Graves, both from Buffalo, NY, formed a partnership that lasted until 1906. Before the creation of the partnership, both Holland and Graves had been barge operators. Holland also briefly teamed up with James Emery where the pair operated a couple of mills.

William Bigwood arrived in the area from Vermont in 1890 first settling in Sudbury. He married Emery’s daughter and likely knew Holland quite well. Plans for the mill appear to have been underway well into the 1890s. Although there are no records on when Bigwood arrived in Byng Inlet, his involvement with the company as early as 1897, is clear. The school reopened in 1897 following a letter from Bigwood to Reverend George Grant, the area school inspector who was located in Orillia. The barges and schooners became part of the new company. The need for them diminished after the arrival of the CPR. 

The company’s original name was Holland and Graves. At the end of 1906, the two partners expanded the partnership to include Byng as managing partner. The two other new partners were Archie Manbert from Toronto and Henry George from Buffalo. They chose the new name of Graves Bigwood, possibly because Bigwood was the public face of the company.

In those days it was customary for companies to pick up some or all of the costs for providing schools, churches, recreational facilities etc. Bigwood suggested the residents, government and lumber company split the costs. The school reopened in what appears to be a new building with George Trask as the first teacher. Interestingly the lumber company did not own that parcel of land until 1899 so Bigwood was clearly planning ahead. In early 1900 he placed an ad in the Toronto Globe looking for a person to run the new boarding house and hotel. Experience and the ability to cook were major requirements.

Due to confusion and overlaps between the three mill settlements, it’s difficult to know which businesses and services operated in each area. The post office for example moved back and forth between the lower, middle village and the upper village (later Byng Inlet Village). According to records, the first post office opened in 1868. This post office was likely in the middle village where one postmaster, Pierre Potvin, owned a store. Similar confusions exist for the business directories, which lists businesses according to their postal rather than their physical location.

Information on the churches is fairly clear. St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (later St. Andrews United Church) existed as early as 1883. The actual date of its construction is unknown. The mill partners donated a parcel of land for St. John the Devine, the Anglican Church built in 1909. Bigwood and his wife were extremely active in the Anglican Church and in all church events. The Roman Catholic Church was located on the north side of the inlet.

Near the churches was the Magnettawan Hotel. Although also described as a dormitory in other sources, a photo of the dining room shows an attractive space, nicely laid out with tablecloths, curtains and pictures on the wall. 

The mill structures included a boat house, boat shed, warehouses, a coal shed, dry kiln lumber shed, ice house and pump house. There was also a band mill, boiler room and a box factory, later converted to a planing mill. A small two and a half storey hospital was located offsite on a small island.

By today’s standards the working conditions were long and grueling. The mill was electrified in the summer of 1900. Daytime workers put in a 10-hour shift and night workers 11 hours. The reason for the longer night shift was to make up for a shorter shift on Saturday night. The mill closed at 4 a.m. on Sunday and reopened at 6 a.m. Monday morning, so as to not interfere with Sunday church services. Otherwise it operated 24 hours a day. The typical practice was to pay older workers more than younger workers. Besides the managerial staff and the doctor, the company also had paid security guards to handle policing.

Their main customers were the US markets, however a large portion ended up at the Canadian General Lumber Company in Toronto. Manbert, George, Bigwood and his brother Frederick operated the company, which appears to have been a retail lumber merchant.

The mill produced as little waste as possible. They recycled sawdust and other debris which they used to fire up the boilers.

Another focus for the company was to provide services to the community. In addition to supplying financial assistance to the school, and land for the Anglican Church, the company operated a company store for all residents. The store was much needed. There were no other stores on south side of the river.

Although Byng Inlet was classified as a lumber camp, it was actually a company town. Besides the institutional and commercial amenities, the company built a group of 105 community homes for workers and their families.

The homes were by no means palatial. They were roughly 800 square foot frame buildings on wooden foundations with 200 square foot back stoops. Indoor plumbing was still a luxury in those days, particularly in a community with existing sewage disposal problems. All the homes had outhouses. There were community pumps and wells for each group of homes. The dwellings were all unpainted but residents were free to add fences, flower gardens and spruce them up in other ways to make them feel like homes.

Besides the houses, there were at least two dormitories and a boarding house for the single men. William Horobetz operated the boarding house.

Byng Inlet’s population is difficult to estimate as there was no breakdown of the populations between the different mill sites. A couple of sources list 5,000 which appears to be wildly inaccurate. Byng Inlet simply did not have the resources to support a population that large. The village’s population was likely in the range of between 200 and 800. The variance depended on how busy the mill was and the number of transient workers.   

Diseases such as cholera and typhoid, typically spread by poor sanitation, were a serious concern in those days. By 1889, unorganized townships like Wallbridge had the authority to appoint magistrates as local health officers. Their authority expanded in 1895 to include supervision of water supply systems and sewage treatment.

By 1901, mill owners had to enforce the Public Health Act on their premises. These requirements included building a hospital and having a doctor on staff, in the event of serious injuries. For the most part, the mill covered the doctor’s expenses, coupled with an employee contribution of .50 cents to $1 per month. There was a further requirement for doctors to inspect the lumber camps to ensure compliance. Smallpox vaccinations were mandatory for all.

The official public health officer was Dr. W.E. George who was located in Thunder Bay. In November 1912 Constable McKnight and magistrate Mr. McMillan reported numerous public health infractions such as outhouse placements being too close to homes, unsanitary removal of chamber pots, and inadequate disposal of animal waste. In early 1913, Dr. George hired the newly-graduated Dr. Hand to be the District Health Officer.

Despite his youth and inexperience, Dr. Hand took his duties seriously. In one instance he had six people charged for ignoring public health orders. McMillan convicted and fined all of them. He had another individual hauled into court. In a third and particularly egregious example, the courts prohibited one family from ever owning pigs again. Their crime was repeatedly ignoring public health regulations.

In 1914 the Graves Bigwood company was the object of public health complaints from Murdoch Watts, the Game and Fisheries Overseer. These included the mill office and doctor’s residence, both of which had indoor plumbing. Water closets, built right on the water, were the major infractions. They all used different sewers, which ran directly into the river.

The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway to Byng Inlet in 1908 finally brought year round transportation to the community. It was now possible to bring in supplies as needed and ship lumber out quickly. The quality of life improved immensely for residents. They could easily travel to Parry Sound for banking, shopping, doctors and dentists. Mail and newspapers arrived daily. As well, residents could finally travel or enjoy visits from friends and family who lived elsewhere. A couple of residents set up stage and sleigh service to transport people to and from the station. Since there was no road access, there were few vehicles in Byng Inlet. Flatcars on rail were the only option.

The two-storey frame railway station was located on Station Road. Besides the station, the CPR erected a water tower, two section houses with attached kitchens and a shared privy, two tool houses, a bunk house, pump house and a privy for the station which also had no plumbing. Between 1911 and 1914 they added a freight shed, coaling plant and a shed. The coal docs were located on the north shore in what is now present day Britt. The railway’s arrival finally put an end to the seasonal packet steamer service that had served the community since 1868. Regularly scheduled steamer service was over as of March 1917.

Besides the station, railway buildings and a few company homes, Station Road was also home to the school, a one and a half-storey hall and a small jail that presumably served as the drunk tank. The court was located in Parry Sound.

The two churches and the school were generally host to most community social events. These included Easter concerts and fundraising activities. Music and singing was typically provided by local residents. The United Church held annual bazaars. Mrs. Bigwood actively participated in many of these events, especially when it came to fundraising for the Anglican Church.   

Recreational activities included the poolroom, owned by William Horobetz, and the Royal Theatre, which opened sometime before 1915. The Royal Theatre so popular the owners enlarged the building in 1917. The main floor had a centre aisle plan with seating on each side. The projection room was on the second floor.

In addition to the mill workers, Byng Inlet was also home to a handful of commercial fishermen. Fishing season took place from May 1 to September 29. Typical catches were whitefish, lake and shoal trout and pickerel. After boxing the fish and packing them with ice the fishermen shipped them out, first by steamer and later by rail.

On the downside, mill fires were quite common, especially during the latter 19^th century. Coupled with the lack of fire-fighting equipment, they frequently resulted in complete destruction of the entire operation. Byng Inlet’s first major fire took place on June 30, 1891 resulting in total destruction of the Anson Mill. It was not rebuilt.

A second major fire took place on May 20, 1912 when the Graves Bigwood Mill burned. That resulted in the loss of 55,000 feet of lumber and 5,000,000 pieces of lathe. Estimates for the financial loss were in the range of a quarter of a million dollars, which translates into roughly $7 million in today’s money. Although the mill reportedly had boiler-driven fire pumps, it is not known whether they were incapacitated by the fire or if they were added afterwards. Whatever the case, the company rebuilt the mill in 1913 and it was back in operation.

The last and final major fire occurred on August 15, 1922 resulting in the loss of the planing mill, attached powerhouse and several railway box cars. Estimates for the financial loss were between $175,000 and $200,000. There seemed little point in rebuilding the planing mill.

Of the original partners, Holland and Graves had both passed away by 1920. William Bigwood suffered a serious stroke one year after the fire. He only made a partial recovery and was never able to return to work again. He passed away in 1927 at the age of 64. Henry George also passed away sometime in the 1920s and Manbert in 1933. The loss of the founding partners, along with depleted lumber supplies led to the closing of the mill in 1927. The hospital likely closed shortly afterwards, with the building lasting until 1932.

Byng Inlet suffered the misfortune of being completely sustained by a single industry. Following the closure of the mill, a mass exodus was almost immediate. The final service at the Anglican Church took place on May 1, 1931. They demolished the building the following year and sold the property in 1946. The church donated the furnishings to the Cowley Fathers. The United Church lasted a little longer. After being unable to meet their financial and revenue targets the church closed, likely in 1936. William Horobetz acquired the property. The two churches maintained cemeteries that were adjacent to each other, both now abandoned.

Following the death of her husband Archie, in 1933 Alice Manbert sold off much of the mill properties and the company homes to Byng Inlet residents. William Horobetz picked up five properties plus he did a few land swap deals with the churches. He went on to build the Sawmill Lodge, opening a grocery store and post office on the ground floor.

The completion of Highway 69, finally made Byng Inlet accessible to the rest of the province. By then it was much too late to save the community. The school continued to operate until 1966-67. Students then transferred to Britt on the north shore.

Today a few people continue to call Byng Inlet home. The Graves Bigwood company, which bought so much success to Byng Inlet, was finally dissolved sometime in the 1950s.  The Sawmill Lodge, built ty William Horobetz so many years ago, remains open for fishing enthusiasts and vacationers offering accommodations, boat rentals and fishing supplies.