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by Gloria
Barrett - Kirkfield Correspondent
Kirkfield has
historic importance; situated astride the lake and portage route from
Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. Kirkfield was a thriving and prosperous
community from the 1880’s to the 1920’s. Its inhabitants had an
important effect on Canada’s history. In the village cemetery are
sound graves of unknown antiquity
In 1615 the first European to cross this site was Champlain
the great explorer. With a party of Huron warriors on their
way to battle the Iroquois, they portaged across from Lake Simcoe to
Balsam Lake, on what came to be known as Portage Road one of the
earliest roads in the province, now City of Kawartha Lakes Road 48.
The area being well
forested at that time with large cedar and pine trees and untouched by
man, Champlain, himself remarked, “All this region is certainly very
fine and pleasant, along the banks and portage it seems as if the
trees had been set out for ornament in most places.” The remnants of
some of this forest can still be seen around Kirkfield.
The first settler on the village site
was Alexander Monroe in 1836, in 1859 Jacob Dixon opened a one-room
log tavern and Silas Smith opened a general store. In those early
years of development there were many enthusiastic, enterprising
individuals working to establish Kirkfield as the focal point of Eldon
Township.
From 1836 to 1895 when Kirkfield was incorporated as a village
many commercial enterprises had been built and by April of 1895 the
surveying for the Trent Valley Canal had begun and by May work
had started with the majority of the canal labourers imported from
other areas, as the Kirkfield area could not begin to supply the
manpower required. Construction on the canal was a boon to Kirkfield
merchants and hotel operators. They relied on Kirkfield as their
supply depot and recreation centre.
Now to talk about
Kirkfield without mentioning something about the most famous of all
residents – the Mackenzie’s is like talking about bread without
butter.
John Mackenzie
and his wife Mary McLaughlin came to Kirkfield in 1836 after living in
Montreal and Toronto, They had three daughters, twin girls; Janet and
Mary-Anne and Maggie and also four sons, Roderick, John, William and
Ewen. It was frowned on for women at that time to work out of the
home; their job was to be strictly a homemaker. The boys established;
flourmills, woolen mills, and a planning, sanding and door mill,
lacking waterpower, all mills at that time had to be run by steam.
The Mackenzie’s were
not content with merely running mills, and quickly expanded their
interests as large grain buyers, dealers in telegraph poles, posts,
and railroad ties and were contractors for the construction of local
railroads.
In 1886, William who
was the most famous by far of the four sons, had become a millionaire
and was in partnership with Donald Mann and started the Canadian
Northern Transcontinental railway system, of which William became
president. They had contracts to build many Railways including the
Canadian Pacific Railway Mountain Division. William also was
interested in street railway electrification in Toronto and Winnipeg
and was instrumental in the beginnings of the now Toronto Transit
Commission. The company was into many things such as Steamship lines,
Life Insurance, Water & Electrical power, banks and companies in Rio
de Janeiro, London England and the U.S.A. but it ran into financial
difficulties securing overseas capital for the railroad division
during the First World War and it brought them to bankruptcy. In 1918
the Canadian government bought the company, at which time its name was
changed to the Canadian National Railway.
From 1896 to 1899 the
Mackenzie’s beautified Kirkfield, with imported trees and flowers from
all over the world. They built St. Andrews Presbyterian Church and St.
Johns Catholic Church. They also built the original public school that
has since burned down. It was rebuilt on its present location and
named after Lady Mackenzie. During their lifetime together in
Kirkfield, they built the beautiful mansion in 1877, an excellent race
stable that trained horses for all over Ontario, and as golf was
William's passion and to make sure it was always maintained in top
shape he willingly financed a grand golf course at the back of his
mansion. William was knighted in 1911 for his work in railroad
construction and charitable endeavours. He died penniless in his
Toronto home “Benvenuto” near “Casa Loma” on December 5, 1923. Because
he was a Protestant he was buried on the Protestant side of the
Kirkfield cemetery.
Margaret Mackenzie a
Catholic, was a marvel for her era, (She might have even been the
first woman for “women’s lib”) living in a “patriarchal” society she
was surprisingly very liberal in her thinking and acutely aware of
business savvy, Margaret Mackenzie’s social graces were married to an
iron will that did not please all who met her, she realized perhaps
before her husband did, that to be acknowledged successful, one must
first create the illusion of success, hence the beautification of
Kirkfield.
In 1895 for example
she ordered six hundred Maple trees planted along the streets of
Kirkfield, some of which still stand today. Giant Norway Spruce still
shade the grounds of the old Mackenzie Mansion and the hills
surrounding the village.
She was personally
involved in the 1877 construction of the mansion, bought and managed a
saloon in Donald B.C. although she was strictly against alcohol and
frowned upon it for Kirkfield. She organized, had built and supported
the Catholic area of the Kirkfield cemetery and in 1896 she bought
land on Balsam Lake where she supervised the construction of a
rambling stone and frame mansion, for a summer retreat. She also had
manufactured a 600-foot steam powered yacht called the “Wawinet” for
rides on Balsam Lake for her influential friends. In 1897 Margaret
purchased a magnificent home in the Casa Loma district of Toronto and
called it “Benvenuto” (Italian for “Welcome”) and made it a vision of
wonder and lavish spending.
In 1912 Margaret
convinced William that the old Hotel in Kirkfield that was in
disrepair should be torn down and a new hotel built in its place. She
replaced it with the “Kirkfield Inn”, and furnished it with elegant
imported furniture from Europe. There was a disastrous fire in 1925
and the Inn was burned to the ground.
Margaret and William
because they were Catholic and Protestant married secretly in Lindsay
at the Anglican Church on July 8, 1872, no one from their families
attended the wedding. They had nine children, the most famous of all
was the youngest Grace, she married Count Jacque de Lesseps of the
“Suez Canal builders” fame in 1911 in London England and they had five
children, one of which returned to Kirkfield to attend school at the
Mackenzie manor when it was operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph from
1929 to 1977. Margaret was a staunch Catholic and when she died on
November 29, 1911 she was buried on the Catholic side of the Kirkfield
cemetery, in a grave that would eventually overlook her husbands.
The other famous
contemporary of William Mackenzie was Patrick (Pat) Burns, who was
born in Kirkfield in 1855, and as a young man in l878 went out west to
homestead in Manitoba. Where he became a successful rancher and opened
a butcher shop. As the city grew he turned it into Burns Meat Packing
Company, during l890 and l928 Burns built one of the largest packing
and provisioning businesses in the world. He was one of the original
“Big Four” who organized the first Calgary Stampede and was appointed
to the Senate on July 6, 1931. He married Eileen Ellis in l901 and had
one son who died in l936. Pat Burns died in 1937, just 5 months after
his son.
The remnants of the
Burns homestead north of Kirkfield are still visible today if one
takes a trip across Liftlock Road West.
The lack of cheap,
available fuel soon put the mills out of business, and the Grand Trunk
Railroad was torn up and the station has since burned down. The
Mackenzie’s and Burns have disappeared from Kirkfield now. The race
stables were destroyed by fire; the golf course has returned to its
natural state. The Mackenzie mansion has been bought and sold several
times; it is now a refurbished bed and breakfast, and a wonderful
historic place to hold a wedding or conference.
We have inherited a
new generation, one which cherishes the past history of the village
and has started a Historical Society with its own museum to preserve
the glories of the past. Kirkfield has become a modern forward looking
rural community.
The Kirkfield Lions
Club has built and manages a large hall, rentable for all occasions,
they have along with Lions Clubs International opened a summer camp
for disadvantaged children just east of the village. There is an
active Seniors club of Kirkfield. Community Care of Eldon is an
essential part of the area servicing the hundred of seniors living
here. We have Girl Guides, Boy Scouts/Cubs, a Soccer Association,
Knights of Columbus, and Lady Mackenzie Public School and St. Johns
Catholic School also hold events for the community. The Masons meet in
the original Masonic Lodge building built in 1882 in Victoria Road,
subsequently moved to the existing site in Kirkfield in 1897. They
will celebrate their 125th year anniversary in 2007.
The commercial
line-up includes: a Drug Store/Sears/Post Office, a General store, a
liquor store, a hairdresser, a herbal/flower market garden and
nursery, and a restaurant. Summer time finds the Flea Market and a
small restaurant in the gatehouse of the Mansion open for business. We
have one Doctor at the medical centre and a Nurse Practitioner. The
City of Kawartha Lakes operates a service centre, which includes the
library and fire department.
Kirkfield is no
longer the bustling pioneer village, its lifestyle has changed to
adapt to its present position. Situated on a main highway and in the
heart of the cottage country, and the main gateway to the Carden Plain
natural heritage area, its local merchants now cater to the tourist
trade. There are many people migrating from big cities and building
new homes and summer retreats in the area. Thousand of tourists visit
the village by car and boat each year. They also come to fish and play
on Mitchell and Canal Lakes. They marvel at the magnificent
engineering of the world's second tallest hydraulic lift locks
(approximately two miles north of the village).
Many now believe
with the increasing demand for “a place away from it all”, Kirkfield
is once again beginning to thrive.
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