Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.
In 1885, Captain Charles McInnis had an 85-foot steamer built in Orillia by Mr. G. H. Notter of Buffalo. It was the first steamer built in Orillia and was named the “Orillia.”
Ten years later, J. G. Gidley of Barrie rebuilt the vessel, lengthened it to 116 feet, and renamed it the “Islay” (pronounced Eye-la).
The Islay ran a busy passenger and excursion business and for several years carried tourists to the summer resort also owned by Captain McInnis at Strawberry Island. He ran the steamer wherever he could get passengers with stops in Brechin, Beaverton, Hawkestone and Barrie.
The Islay was licensed for 350 passengers and this excursion by the E. Long Mfg. Co. looks near to capacity and ready to leave from the town dock.
The rebuilt steamer was much heavier than the “Orillia” and kept getting stuck in the mud at The Narrows. With the excursion business coming to a close, the Islay spent the war years beached near the town dock. The vessel served as a skating shelter for several years until it burnt to the water’s edge in 1919.
