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For more than half a century, dancers and music lovers have frolicked beneath the moon and stars to the chords that drifted and echoed from Dunn’s Pavillion. For more than a century, tourists, fishermen, and hunters have thronged by horse and buggy, by train, by boat, and by automobile to this picturesque setting that winds around Lake Muskoka and the wide Moon River. Magnificent hotels, quaint stone churches, humble and glorious summer houses — they are all here in one of Ontario’s tiniest towns, the Cranberry Capital of Ontario, Bala.

From the beginning, Thomas Burgess endeavoured to ensure that food and shelter, the two essentials of life, were available in the settlement. He opened a general store, a bake shop, a blacksmith shop, and operated a supply boat. As a responsible and concerned citizen, Burgess devoted his time to local matters. He was instrumental in the settlement of a group of Mohawks, a First Nations band from Oka, Quebec, from 1868 into the 1870s. Chief Louis Sahanatien needed help to transport his people and their goods across the 19 kilometres (12 miles) of trackless forest to the shores of Black Lake in Gibson Township. For many years Burgess voluntarily acted as agent between the Natives and the Department of Indian Affairs. In 1892 he donated land for a church in the community of Bala.

More settlers followed Burgess, and they worked hard to establish their settlement. Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Guy opened a boarding house which later became the Bala Falls Hotel. Mrs. Guy was also responsible for establishing the first educational facility in Bala by teaching in her own home. The families of Ephraim B. Sutton, George Clements, Alfred Jackson, John Board, Thomas Currie, John May, Joseph Spencer, Richard Moore, William Carr, Henry Hurling, and the Hamills were also among Bala’s earliest pioneers.

Bala, at one time, was known as Musquosh Falls. A post office was established here under the name of Muskoka in 1870, but the community was eventually named Bala. Thomas Burgess had, at one time, lived in the Bala Lake district of Wales and, having been impressed by the natural beauty there, he named his community correspondingly.

Rose and Ephraim (fondly known as E.B.) Sutton emigrated from England in 1882 and, on the advice of Mr. A.P. Cockburn and Thomas Burgess, settled in the district and eventually built the Swastika Hotel (now called the Bala Bay Hotel).

The Sutton family moved to the community of Bala in 1899 and opened a general store. In December 1901, E.B. Sutton established contracts for the first telephone line to connect with one operated by the Great North Western Telegraph Company from Bracebridge to Port Sandfield. Sutton also worked as a correspondent to Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, and Orillia weekly newspapers. He was adamant about environmental issues and especially protested against farmers who built barns on slopes that went down to the water, and warned tourists not to use the lakes for bathing.

Fred Sutton, his son, shared some of his memories: “Many were the hardships of which my parents told me. Dad spent much of his time working for Mr. Burgess at Bala. Pioneering was hard on men but harder still on women left so much alone in the bush. Early reading had filled their minds with dread of wild animals and even wilder ‘savage’ Indians. I can just imagine my Mother’s perturbation when, while all alone, a Native called and asked to see the Boss. Mother, of course, said he would soon be in; the man seated himself just inside and said he would wait. Hours later, when Dad returned, it transpired the Indian wanted to borrow a gun. What a quandary! Not wishing to make a bad start by offending a Native, the gun was lent and the folks went to bed thinking they had seen the last of their gun. Morning came, and, lo and behold, the gun and a hindquarter of venison were hanging in the porch.”

Bala Railway Station in August of 1916. A sultry summer eve sees a group in their whites relax while waiting for trip back to Hogtown. As better highways were built to service cottage country north of Toronto, weekend passenger service by both the CPR and CNR was phased out after the Second World War. This particular station was dismantled in the 1970s.

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In 1910 E.B. and Fred built the first three-storey brick hotel in Bala. They named their establishment the Swastika Hotel after the ancient swastika symbol — a symbol for well-being and benediction in the form of a Greek cross with each arm bent at a right angle. The Suttons had purchased the property from Thomas Burgess, who sold it to them on the condition that alcohol would never be sold on the property. They had agreed. Hotel guests were able to stroll the 23-acre site, go horseback riding on the trails located behind the building, go boating, and indulge in the fabulous meals and warm hospitality.

It wasn’t long before the district of Bala supported a number of small farms with cattle and sheep. Bala also had the unique distinction of becoming incorporated as a town in 1914, without ever having had the status of a village. The first mayor was one of Thomas Burgess’s sons, Dr. A.M. Burgess.

Fred Sutton once shared this about Bala: “Tourists and sportsmen had discovered the beauties of this area and created a demand for accommodation. Hotels and boarding houses sprang into being. Muskoka lamb supplied to the resort hotels became so famous for its special appeal to the palate that posh hotels and restaurants in New York City made a feature of Muskoka Lamb on their menus.”

Tourists enjoy a horseback ride at the Swastika Hotel in Bala. This three-storey brick hotel was built in 1910 by E.B. Sutton and his son Fred. The hotel name changed during the Second World War. Today, we know it as the Bala Bay Hotel.

Courtesy of Bob Sutton

Fred also recalled an eccentric character who came to the Swastika Hotel: “In August, 1926, a guest arrived in a Ford Coupe and registered as Captain Venus. He was wearing a Mountie’s hat and claimed to be a member of the Force. He explained the absence of his tunic by saying it was at the cleaners. His personality was likable and conversation interesting. We seated him at my own table and we enjoyed his company.

“During the day he policed the area, controlling traffic, ordering defective cars off the road, and so on. An elderly lady, with her nurse/ companion, happened to be staying at the hotel at the same time. The nurse, probably suffering from boredom and thinking we were having too much fun with the Mountie, persuaded me to move him to their table. He very gallantly squired the lady on canoe trips and walks and, incidentally, borrowed 10 dollars. Late the second day, I was surprised to see two uniformed Mounties at the desk asking for Captain Venus. They were sent to his room and they all went out together a few minutes later. I was on the point of retiring when Venus came in and asked for his bill. Next morning I found he had spent the night in the lock-up.

“We discovered later that he was a mental patient from Whitby, Ontario. Shell-shocked in World War I, he had a fine war record, in fact, among some papers found in his room was a letter from a commanding officer recommending him for the Victoria Cross. His mental quirks caused him to run away from the institution and pose as a person of authority.

“The Toronto Star of September 25th, 1926, reported at some length the story I have just told and another escapade of his at Port Hope, Ontario. There he apparently posed as an officer from the Department of Health; he closed dairies and generally caused havoc with the local Board of Health.

“I rather suspect it was the nurse’s ten-spot that paid my bill.”

Today it is said the Bala Bay Inn is haunted. It may be the ghost of Thomas Burgess, upset that alcohol is now served in his establishment — or it may be E.B., who promised to communicate from “the other side.”

Bala, with numerous shops and parks along the river and bay side, is still a major tourist centre during the summer months. Among the shops there is a very special art gallery, right on the main street of Bala. The owner and operator is Carol News, a member of Wahta First Nations Mohawk community. High quality carvings, paintings, beading, basketry, and some other materials can be had in the gallery.

Each year a major cranberry festival occurs the weekend after Thanksgiving. Local cranberry growers, the Johnsons, offer guided tours of their operation and sell a variety of cranberry products, including their very own cranberry wine. It is truly a learning experience, not to mention a lot of fun, to explore their cranberry marsh. Artisans also arrive that weekend to set up along the main streets and in the arena; here we are, now in the 21st century, and Dunn’s Pavillion is still humming and freshly painted.