Michael’s Bay
History

©Yvan Charbonneau
Michael’s Bay was a small lumbering town built on the former site of an Odawa native settlement that dated back to around 1600. The town got its start after Robert A. Lyon and Associates of Toronto obtained a timber licence covering a 22 square mile limit in Tehkumah Township.
In 1866, the granting of the islands’ first timber licence was controversial partly due to lack of surveys and partly because of political boosting. One associate, D. Lyon of Milton, Ontario, who also happened to be Robert Lyon’s brother, spent two years at Michael’s Bay overseeing the mill’s start up in 1862.
Initially employing 20 men, the mill would grow to produce two million board feet per year by 1868-69, as well as squared timber and lathes. The small settlement grew to include 60 residents that included mill workers, lumbermen, fishermen, a millwright, a carpenter, a lighthouse keeper, three coopers and a blacksmith. Around this time, they extended cutting rights to 120 square miles. They completed the lighthouse in 1871. The firm attempted to increase its limits once again, but this time permission was refused. Debt ridden and unable to continue on, the company’s licence transferred to the Toronto Lumber Co. in 1878.
After the takeover by the Toronto Lumber Co., the business climate seems to have improved. They laid out a town plot in 1879. Production levels were good. The shingle and sawmill were producing 3,500 board feet alongside 20,000 shingles per day. They built a road running 23 miles (about 37 kilometres) to Manitowaning, which reduced travel time to three and a half hours.
In 1882, the newly incorporated Michael’s Bay Timber Co. purchased the Toronto Lumber Company and once again Robert A. Lyon was back at the helm, this time as a manager. Unfortunately, the small timber limit of 37.9 square miles was insufficient to generate long-term profit. By October 1888 the company was suffering from a serious debt load and folded.
In its heyday, during the mid-1880’s, Michael’s Bay was a prosperous place containing an active lumber port, two stores, boarding houses, a hotel, taverns, a bakery, blacksmith shop, school and about 15 frame homes. However once the mill closed, there was nothing left to sustain it. The community, which at one time numbered 150 or so plus a seasonal population sometimes reaching 400, was doomed. Only a sparse population remained by 1900. The post office that first opened in 1872 finally closed in 1916 for lack of use. All that remains today is part of the King Street Bridge and a few foundations and cellars. The area is heavily overgrown.