Settler of township lots: North part lot 13, Conc. 6, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this waterfront lot on Halls Lake at Norm Wallace Lane off Braelock Road.

Land acquisition: 1944 from Allan Hewitt. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 83).

Dates of residency:

Interesting facts:

"Highland Cottages: A labour of love on the south side of Halls Lake" By Dorothy (Wallace) McCord. Read the entire story on the Halls & Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association website

Have you ever wondered about Norm Wallace Lane, and how it came to be named this?  I am proud to tell you that Nor

m Wallace was my father, and together with my mother Violet, built a lovely family resort on the south shore of Halls Lake in the late 1940’s. Their story is one of bouncing back after difficult times, very hard work, perseverance and love for each other and their family.  Although they were newcomers to the area at the time, they made significant contributions to the community and were valued for their commitments to education, church and social activities.

They bought the north half of Lot 13, Concession 6 in Stanhope Township from Allan Hewitt on August 14, 1944, having looked at a number of properties. Some purchases from the crown and the township completed a package of lakefront and forest properties. Violet’s brother Roy Simpson and her cousin Will Martin also each bought lots, which were later sold back to Norman and

 Violet. They kept a diary as they began their Haliburton venture, which is the primary source of the following information.  (Dad later wrote down his memories, which have been compiled into a small book called “Norman Wallace’s Story 1905 – 1998; a selection of memories from Grand Valley to Haliburton”.) 

April 1946: “The spring of this year finds us making a start. With lumber on hand for four small cottages we are prepared to get one cottage built in time to move by June 1st when we are to give possession of our Hazelbrae house to the Moffatts. Until July 1st we have rented the Higgins cottage next to our property (currently the property of the Breretons).

At the time, there was no road from Highway 35 into their property, only a path, but there was apparently a wharf at Buttermilk Falls where a boat could be docked.  On their first foray into the Higgins cabin, they walked from the highway, and expected to use a boat that had been left at the cabin.

April 17, Wednesday: “Left home in Swansea at about 5 am with the car well loaded with various articles; we arrived in Minden and Halls Lake before noon. A fine warm day. We left the car at the road and carried in some food, etc. and Lassie, our cat. Tried to start outboard motor, no luck; rowed to wharf and back with load in boat. Back again and took motor to Harold Archer to start and came back with another load from car. Ate our first meal outside at back.”

During that first spring, which judging by the diary was quite cold and wet,  they describe chinking the logs on the old cabin, going for milk and eggs at Elvin Johnson’s, getting a road permit, arranging to have logs boated in by Thomases and beginning construction of the first cottage (Sunnybrae) by laying logs on stone pile foundations. 

Norm Wallace and his wife Vi, rented a primitive cabin from Edwin Higgins in the early spring of 1946 to live in while Norm started building his rental cottages on the adjacent property to the west, later called Highland Cottages.  In his memoirs, Norm indicated that the cabin was ‘fairly comfortable as long as the fire burned’. Source: Story by Mary Brereton, Halls & Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association website.

Preceding landowner: 

• ? William Welch from The Crown
• 1904 Caleb Davis, north 50 acres
• 1918 Allan Hewitt, north half

Succeeding landowner:

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

• Norman John Wallace, b. 21 Jan 1905, Dufferin, Ontario, d. 25 Feb 1998 (Age 93 years). Buried: Twelve Mile Lake Cemetery
• Violet Mary Simpson, b. 12 Apr 1912, Nova Scotia, d. 10 Jan 1979 (Age 66 years). Buried: Twelve Mile Lake Cemetery

1. Norm and Vi’s house on Highway 35, 1948-49

2. Violet clearing ice for cutting, 1947

3. Inside of Highland Cottages brochure

Photo 4: Highlands Cottages, Norm Wallace. Source: Recollections From Summers at Halls Lake, written by Bob Mills, 2019.

Photo 5: Another Highland Cottages brochure