This cache has been placed as part of an initiative by the County of Peterborough, its member municipalities, the City of Peterborough and local First Nation communities to celebrate Canada 150+. There are 23 geocaches placed throughout the region showcasing local history.
The geocoin stock has now been exhausted. Please continue to enjoy exploring local history through other geocaches within the Canada 150+ collection.
GC Codes full list: GC74A7F - Payne Murders & First Execution, GC74A76 - Victoria Museum at "Inverlea", GC72PWE - Memengweshii, GC72PWP - Historic Curve Lake Village, GC72PX1 - Old Rail Road Stop, GC72PXA - Hiawatha Church, GC72VFW - Sucker Hunt at "Welbeck", GC74A7Q - Richard Birdsall, GC74A7V - John Deyell, GC74A7Y - Cavan Blazers & Paddy Maguire, GC72VG3 - Balm for her Wounded Heart, GC72VGA - Sedgwick Lime Kiln Park, GC72WDJ - Nepheline Syenite A Global Lustre, GC75D68 - Havelock Public School, GC72WDT - The Brush Factory, GC72VGJ - Sam Edgar Crypt, GC72VGQ - Nelson Brawl at the Keene Hotel, GC75D6H - Lang Grist Mill, GC72VGW - Catharine Parr Traill, GC72WDZ - The Pope Stallion, GC75D5Q - Adam & Eve Rocks, GC74A8B - Going to School on the Oregon Trail.
School Section No. 7 (Deer Bay School) was the last to be created in Harvey Township, due to the sparse population. A wood-frame school house was built in 1898 on 1-acre parcel of land donated by Robert Lyttle with a loan for the construction financed by the local Anglican priest, Reverend Canon (“Father”) J. Hartley for which each of the five families had to repay him $50. This hilltop one-room white frame building had two big wood props braced against it to steady it in a high wind.
The cement block school house here now was built in 1930. In 1940, land was bought from A.L. Reeves to expand the school grounds. The school operated until 1968 when it was sold to the Township for use as a local community centre.
One student, Tilley (Bolton) Ireland, recalls boys being strapped for misspelling a single word, the warm, but difficult, layers of long-johns, knitted socks, and wool coats, and the fun of “bob-sleds” crafted from three apple barrel staves bolted to a long plank that would carry 15-16 children down snowy hills.
In the fall and winter months, the old, winding “tote” or “cadge” road that led past here was used to supply the lumber camps, a staple of the local economy. A lack of dynamite meant that most level and dry path was chosen for the road. This route is said to have become known as the “Oregon Trail” because an early settler imagined the half-day journey between Buckhorn and Burleigh Falls would finally end there. Today’s travelers follow a much smoother and straighter route.
Source:
Brunger, Alan George. Harvey Township: An Illustrated History. Buckhorn, Ont.: Greater Harvey Historical Society, 1992. 155-58, 323-325. Print.