Need a book to read? Here’s a list of books about Ston(e)y Lake!
Upper Stoney Lake: Gem of the Kawarthas (2002)
by: Gordon Berry and Lesley Wootton
ISBN# ISBN 0-9730898-0-6
This book celebrates the Centennial of the Upper Stoney Lake Association: 100 years of cottaging, lake activities and community development. With 240 pages, over 400 pictures and a history of early cottages built before 1920, it covers most aspects of the history of the Upper part of Stoney Lake.
From Burleigh to Boschink (2000)
by: Christie Bentham and Katharine Hooke
ISBN# 1-896219-63-2
A community called Stony Lake covers over a hundred years of history, encompassing the indigenous peoples and early European settlement and cottaging activity up to the present. Family stories, local lore, boats and steamers, recreational opportunities, personalities and environmental concerns are all presented through the writings, the voices and memories of those who were there, and in some cases, still are. Richly supported by rare photographs and other visuals of Stony Lake, this publication will bring delight to many.
This book can be purchased online for your Kindle, Kobo, in a hard copy at Indigo Books, and as a google Ebook.
Sisters in the Wilderness (1999)
The lives of Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill
By Charlotte Gray
ISBN# 0-670-88168-6
Charlotte Gray breathes new life into the lives of two remarkable characters who have become icons in the Canadian imagination. The book brings us a brilliantly clear picture of life in the backwoods of Upper Canada - much of it in and around Stoney Lake during pioneer times. The book includes many references to Stoney Lake including an entire chapter with the title: "A Trip to Stoney Lake".
Available for Kindle, Kobo, and Indigo Books.
a respectable ditch: a history of the trent-severn waterway 1883-1920 (1998)
By James T. Angus
For nearly a century every prime minister, from Francis Hincks, who tried to sell the decaying locks and dams, through John A. Macdonald, who revived the scheme, to Robert Borden, who finally completed it, was caught up in this most persistent public project. But the most important participants were countless little-known Canadians who, for one reason or another, promoted the scheme and doggedly pushed it to a conclusion. This is their story.
Available at Indigo Books.
I Hear a Boat A-Whistlin'!: My Stoney Lake Memories (1992)
by: Nathaway Nan
Memoir by the granddaughter of P.P. Young, founder of the Stoney Lake Navigation Co., of the Young family, Stoney Lake and the steamboats which plied it.
From Campsite to Cottage (1992)
by: Katharine Hooke
Early Stoney Lake. Peterborough: Peterborough Historical Society, 1992.
This short but intriguing book chronicles the early days on Stoney Lake, from the mid-1800s to the 1920s as European lake life developed from simple camping sites to the building of summer cottages. There is a discussion of the early cottagers and styles of cottages as well as local industries such as quarrying, logging, milling and building, proving that life on Stoney was not all fun and games. Ms. Hooke credits the 1883 American Canoe Association regatta at Juniper Island with the development of cottage life on Stoney Lake and the subsequent establishment, in 1896, of the Stoney Lake Cottagers Association. Overall the book presents a lively picture of daily life on the lake. There is a useful bibliography.
Hazy Days in Summer (1991)
by: Garth Duff, 1991.
A short history of Dummer Township centering on the Tedford family. It includes a chapter entitled "Stoney Lake". The appendix includes "Snippets from Stoney" and "Points of Interest on Stoney".
A Question of Murder (1988)
by: Eric Wright
Toronto: Collins, 1988.
In this novel by the Toronto mystery writer Eric Wright, the detective Charlie Salter is investigating an art fraud. The painting in question is of St. Peters-on-the-Rock, Stoney Lake. It is alleged to be a fraud because the cupola in the painting was not added to the church roof until after the artist's death. Charlie interviews the artist's relative, who has a cottage on Stoney Lake. The novel also raises the issue of spelling. The cottager tells Charlie that one clear indication of forgery is the misspelling of "Stoney" as "Stony". As part of his investigations, Charlie travels to Stoney Lake and hires a boat. Cleverly, he manages to combine his investigation with a little fishing! While the Stoney Lake story is secondary to the main plot, it is still fun for anyone with a connection to the lake.
Bellvidere: Fond Reflections of a Stoney Lake Hotel at Crowes Landing.(1987)
by: G. Knox
A reminiscence of the hotel.
Available at the Toronto Public Library.
Kawartha Park By Path and By Paddle (1987)
By: Doris Huffman
Soft cover, 103 pages incl. index; 1987
Kawartha Park is located on a mile of shoreline, partly on Clear and Stony Lakes in the Trent Severn Waterway. Started by Lakefield and Peterborough families in the late 1800s, they soon were joined by people from Toronto and United States. This is a story of the steamboats, regattas, church services and Cottagers Association of Kawartha Park.
The Lunge Hunter: the life and times of alex sharpe (1983)
by John Craig and Nick Nickels
Woodview, Ont.: Homestead Studios, 1983.
This book tells the story of Alexander Sharpe (1846-1937), a colourful Stoney Lake resident. Alex Sharpe was taught life in the outdoors by Handsome Jack Cow, the Indian chief after whom Jack's Lake is named. Alex lived at Gilchrist's Bay, fishing and hunting except in the winter months when he worked in a lumber camp. Much of the book is taken up by a detailed account of Sharpe's murder trial – he killed his young wife's lover. The title of the book comes from Sharpe's lifelong adversary, the maskinonge or lunge, which he hunted all his life.
Available at Trillium Antiquarian Books in Peterborough and the Toronto Public Library.
By The Sound Of Her Whistle (1975)
by: John Craig with illustrations by Fred Craig.
ISBN# 0-88778-117-9
This book reveals the British plan to settle what is now Peterborough and how one of the families migrated to Young's Point and became the prime provider of water transportation to the lakes around Young's Point including Stony (Stoney) Lake. One part of he book discuses the hardships the early Irish settlers faced in the new world. The book also includes information on the History of the Trent-Severn waterway but by far, this book reveals the important part the steamships played in the opening of the Kawartha Lakes for the timber industry and later for the tourists and cottagers
Available at the Toronto Public Library.
Peterborough Land of Shining Waters : An Anthology (1966)
Peterborough: Centennial Committee for the City & County of Peterborough. 1st ed., 1966; 2nd ed., 1967.
A history of Peterborough and Peterborough County with many references to Stoney Lake. Essays of particular interest include "A Still on Eels Creek", "Early Days" (references to Handsome Jack Cow and his brother), "Young's Point" (information about the early steamboats), "Township Reminiscences" (see the section on Burleigh Township), "Early Mills", "A Wonderful Year", "Art and Artists", "Frank Adams, Canoeist" (discussion of the 1883 American Canoe Association regatta at Juniper Island), "County Conservation".
Stoney Lake 1906 Yearbook. Stoney Lake, Ont.: Stoney Lake Cottagers' Association (1906)
"It goes without saying that on all counts Stoney Lake is far and away the most picturesque and attractive of this galaxy of earthly paradises".
This book was probably written as a tourist draw. It sings the praises of the area, with much information about fishing. Includes a list of the cottagers' association executive, the objects and aims of the Association, Regatta rules and programme, and railroad and steamboat timetables. Also includes lots of contemporary advertisements. Illustrated with photographs.
Roughing It In the Bush (1852)
by: Susanna Moodie
This book has an account of her trip, with her family, to the lake in the 1835 time frame.
You can find some used copies on Amazon.