Geographic location: Lot 11, Conc. 7, Stanhope

Current address: 16941 Hwy 35, Algonquin Highlands

Date range: Mid 1930s to early 1970s

Interesting facts:

Postmasters

• John James Hewitt & his wife Cora May Cumming - 1935 to c.1938 - The small general store/post office with gas pump was destroyed by fire.

• Charles W. Watson - 1940's to early 1950's - The family operated a bowling alley, dance hall, post office, snack bar and general store. The bowling alley, dance hall, post office and storage area were destroyed by fire for the second time in two years in December 1951. The bowling alley and dance hall were very popular, especially with the students at the U of T Forestry School (later the Frost Centre).  A group from the school had been bowling earlier in the evening of the fire.  Mr. Watson said in a newspaper article that they would not rebuild again. 

• Charles Hone and his wife Harriett Drinkwater - about 10 years from 1952 to early 1960s. The Hones had a small snack bar, post office, and rented canoes and rowboats. Charles Hone was also a boat builder and built the wooden boats illustrated in the postcard below of this property. In his later years he became an avid wood carver having some of his pieces displayed in Mexico and Expo 67 in Montreal. Most of his carvings were of animals, birds and images relating to Aztec and Inca figures. He had worked all over South America as a construction engineer for British Railways building the railways through the Andes mountains. This would have been from early 1920’s to the end of WW2. He came to Canada around 1945 and lived in Hamilton working for Otis Elevator Company. He then moved to Halls Lake area in the late 1940’s and eventually ran the post office and store at Buttermilk Falls until sometime in the early 60’s.

• Charles/Elsa Blair - early 1960's to c.1972.

Public access: Yes

Current use: The Buttermilk Falls Resort occupies this property today.

Information source:

The Stanhope Heritage Museum has photos, local newspaper clippings, a map of Boshkung Lake showing its location, and cancellation stamps to verify its existence, as well as the accounts of relatives of former operators and  stories from campers at Camp Calumet who posted their letters home while buying ice cream and other treats at the post office/snack bar add much to the story.

Some information about Charles Hone submitted by his grandson M. Berry.

This post office does not yet appear in the Post Offices and Postmasters database at Library & Archives Canada.

The Lindsay Post, July 3, 1952, a Boskung neighbourhood news column mentioning that Charles Hone is now postmaster at Buttermilk Falls.