Alpha Warren Pinch

Settler of township lots: Lot 19, Conc. 10, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this 1 acre lot on Little Hawk Lake at Alpha and Pinch Lanes, east of Little Hawk Lake Road.

Land acquisition: 1934 from The Crown. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 159).

Dates of residency: Lived in Bowmanville - were cottagers

Interesting facts:

Pelham Mulvaney in "History of the County of Peterborough (1884)" wrote: Several of the Stanhope lakes contain salmon trout in abundance, the average weight being about six or seven pounds; but fish of twenty pounds are commonly caught, and they have been captured, according to report, of a weight exceeding thirty pounds. So it is not surprising that in 1912, Warren ‘Pa’ Pinch began coming to Little Hawk Lake to fish, returning for men-only fishing trips for the next 12 years. It took two days by car and several tires to get to Hawk Lake from the shore of Lake Ontario! In 1924 he brought his wife and six children along. In 1931 he built a cottage, known as Fisherman‘s Paradise, at the end of the logging road at Little Hawk Lake on Crown land near a public campground (where Oakview Lodge is now located).

Due at least in part to the beauty of the area, ‘Pa’ Pinch, began buying other property and building cottages on Little Hawk Lake. He had no problem selling these to relatives and friends – including the Fosters, Welburns, Finneys and Moquins. Source: Susan Wilson, “Hooked on Little Hawk: The First Generation,” This Week, July 1990

Read 1990 Times Newspaper articles about the Pinch Family.

First landowner: The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

  • Alpha Warren Pinch, b. 20 Jan 1884, Ohio, USA d. Dec 1964, Sarasota, Florida, (Age 80 years)
  • Ethel F Cooper, b. Abt 1888,  England
  • Chldren:
    1. Edward Cooper Pinch, b. 7 Jun 1911, Bowmanville, d. 8 May 1988  (Age 76 years)
    2. Horrell Oscar Pinch  b. 8 Apr 1913, Bowmanville, d. 25 Jun 2004, New Hampshire, (Age 91 years)
    3. Gerald Douglas Pinch, b. 5 Jun 1915, Bowmanville, d. 1 Aug 1978, Ohio, (Age 63 years)
    4. Elsie Adelaide Pinch  b. 2 Jul 1919, Newcastle
    5. William John Pinch, b. 1 Jul 1921, Bowmanville, d. 10 Sep 1994, Louisiana, (Age 73 years)
    6. Alan Alpha Pinch, b. 11 Nov 1923, Bowmanville, d. 12 Oct 1980, Los Angeles, (Age 56 years)

Photo 1: Thanksgiving 1946

Photo 2. Before Highway 35 was rebuilt in the mid-1930's as a Depression work project, this is what travellers like Ted Pinch had to look forward to. The road was only one lane wide with no room for passing. Turn-offs were provided every so far so that one car cold pull over to make room for the other. The trip from Lake Ontario was a two-day expedition involving up to a dozen flat tires along the way.

Photo 3. The Pinch men on a fishing expedition to Little Hawk Lake. The Pinch me were all avid fishermen. William, Warren and Norman, standing at the back with their father Alpha Omega Pinch, look on as two of Warren's sons, Horrell and Ted, display the latest catch. They started coming to Hawk Lake in 1912; this picture was taken in 1920.

Photo 4: : Driftwood dinosaur built by Warren Pinch located between Oakview Lodge and what used to be called Fisherman’s Paradise (his home). Source: Peter Hewitt's Photo Collection 'Image008_8'

Photo 5: Fishermans Paradise - Warren Pinch dinosaurs all down the road 1940s. Source: Peter Hewitt’s Photo Collection ‘scan017'.

Photo 6: Spirit of Hall's Lake, And How

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