This photo contains many interesting details beyond the coast of T.I. Park. Note that you can see the Lake of the Isles, the vast farmlands of Wellesley Island, and even a piece of the Canadian Channel — all before the bridge (1938).
If you have an old photograph, scanning at 1200 dpi (or higher) allows you to “zoom” in to see minute details that might allow you to more accurately date the photo or reveal interesting aspects of history previously unknown.
This photo offers several interesting details (be sure to keep scrolling).
What do you notice?
Not much going on between Crystal and South Bays, though the photo does accentuate the narrowness of the isthmus to Prospect Point. The roof of the South Bay Ice House can be seen on the far left. Though not visible in this photo, winter access to the ice was to the left of the Ice House into South Bay (watch this short movie). Significant marshland occupies where many docks exist today. The Yacht Club Platform would be at to the left of the first boathouse.
The roof lines of the Tabernacle indicate the photo was taken before its collapse from a heavy snow load in 1937. The tower at the front was removed in this time period as well. The water tower, the same one as today, was built after the 1912 fire.
The date for when the T.I. Park Farm was established is sketchy, but the T.I. Park Golf Course opened in 1917, though no sign of it exists in this photo. The Museum has film of Hole 4 from the early 1940s.
An interesting image of the 1912 “Burn Area,” the big building on the far right is the Geneva, rebuilt in 1913. The Pratt, moved from its location along Rainbow Street West between Outlook and Headland, is behind it. Many of the “Bungalow” style cottages built post-fire are present along with the colonial revival along Coast Avenue East. The Victorians in front of the Geneva survived the fire. The horse barns (current site of storage units) are in the upper right.
This close-up is another that allows us to narrow the range of possible dates. Does anything stick out to you? At the cement dock? The TIP Ferry (also referred to as the “Ark”) was built at the Mercier Yards in Clayton in 1928.
Saving the best for last — the most obvious feature of this close-up is the large tent on the green. According to Kleinhans & Jacox, The Redpath Lyceum, one of several Circuit Chautauquas (not always associated with the actual Chautauqua) first visited the Park in 1927. The Museum has a program from the 1931 Redpath Chautauqua.