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.
The steamer Geneva was built in 1905 by William Thomson of Orillia and Longford and had her maiden voyage on Lake Simcoe that same year.
Licenced for 214 passengers, she was a double-decked steamer 70 feet in length.
In 1907, a single fare from Orillia to Geneva Park was 10 cents. A return fare to Barrie with stops at Geneva Park, Longford, Atherley, Hawkestone, and Shanty Bay took four hours each way and cost 60 cents.
Thomson was the owner of Geneva Park and the Longford Lumber Company and had a “Geneva” office in Orillia under the management of C.J. Atkinson.
Geneva Park was promoted as an ideal spot for excursions and picnic and camping parties. On June 15 1907, the Broadview Boys Camp from Toronto held an open house for guests to celebrate 12 years of supervised camping for boys under 18 years at Geneva Park.
