History runs deep at this park on Lake Couchiching

 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.

Back in 1939, it was simply called the Municipal Auto Camp. Now, it's known as the James B. Tudhope Memorial Park - and for good reason. This parcel of 49.4 acres of land with approximately one mile of waterfront was owned by the Barnfield family in the 1860s.

In 1871, the property was purchased by the Northern Railway Company. In 1921, the railway company sold the property to James B. Tudhope.

Seven years later, Mr.Tudhope in turn sold the land to the town of Orillia, and the next year the town developed the property into a motor camp for tourists. Many Orillians also enjoyed years of camping here, just a short distance from their homes.

In the 1930s, the town built 20 log cabins to be rented to visitors by the week. The cabins were built as part of a municipal make-work project during the Depression.

In 1988, the grounds were closed to all campers and the property was developed into a public park. The town sold 17 of the cabins to the highest bidder that had the resources to dismantle and remove them from the property. Two of the cabins had previously burned to the ground and one had been vandalized. One went to the Simcoe County Museum in Midhurst. Five of them are still located in Ramara and are being used for storage.