1880s
- First dam built
- 1882 First settler George Woodcock. Settled where Stull Camp is today
- 1883 The Central Ontario Railroad line from Trenton reaches Gilmour
- 1899 Camp Corby built.
- Booth Lumber Company, Rathbun Lumber Company, Seymour Lumber Company active in area
1900s
- Rathbun Lumber Company stops logging in area. Employment in logging paid $1 per day
- 1904 “Great Fire”
- 1918 2nd dam built
- 1918 First record of stocking the Lake. 40,000 lake trout
1920s
- 1920 (about) Walter A. Kidd opened Weslemkoon Hotel
- 1923 (after) Woodcock Island renamed Nicol Island
- 1925 Cockeyed Loons started
- 1925 RY Eaton, of T. Eaton family, purchases property in Otter Lake for $82
- Water level raised about 6 feet
- 1927 Telephone service reaches south end
- Land grants from Ministry of Lands and Forests were $20 - $30 per acre
1930s
- 1931 Percy McCrae starts McCrae’s Point
- “In Quest of the Bronze Back”. Short silent movie made to promote fishing on the Lake
- 1935 Walker camp fire
- 1936 Lighthouse built by Wallace and David Grant. It was built as a windmill to generate electricity
- 1937 Lake Weslemkoon Protective Association (LWPA) formed. Map published
- 1938 3rd dam built of concrete
- 1939 Plane crash off Lighthouse. One fatality: RJE Graham
1940s
- 1940 Otter Hill Lodge burns down
- Flashing buoys installed
- Welsers start lodge at Rocky Point
1950s
- 1951 First LWPA newsletter published
- 1952 3rd dam blown out as in wrong location and leaking and 4th and present dam built
- 1952 Lake stocked with Atlantic salmon
- 1952 Post office increases mail delivery to 3 times per week
- 1952 LWPA membership dues $5
- 1952 Dam management transferred from Hydro to Lands & Forests
- 1953-54 Plane crash off Elmardon Island. No fatalities.
- 1955 Late season fatal boating accident in West Bay near McCrae Hunting Camp involving father and son relatives of Percy McCrae.
- 1955 Fire on Honeymoon Island
- 1955 Remains of cottage on Cameron Island torn down and removed by volunteers led by Eugene Heath
- 1956 Garbage dump sites opened in several places in the woods on the Lake
- 1959 Toronto Star Fishing Contest won by Dave Jarrett for largest Large Mouth. Led to increased fishing on the lake for Bass
- 1959 Name change to Lake Weslemkoon Conservation Association incorporated
- 1959 Gun licenses start
- 1959 Junior Loons start
- 1959 Record winter: 6’ snow. -40°F.
- 1959 Lake water safe to drink without any treatment
- 1959 Bulletin boards put up at the marinas
- 1959 22lb lake trout caught
1960s
- 1960 History of Lake started by Norma Nicol
- 1961 Bounty on wolves $35. Black Duck Island rents for $500 for a summer
- 1961 Highway 401 completed to Highway 25
- 1961 Electricity at Caverly’s Landing - already at south end
- 1961 Proposed Highway 62 to Highway 41 through Little Weslemkoon narrows
- 1962 Picnic Island chosen for Meeting Grounds with open air pavilion drawings
- 1962 Radio telephones (CBs) on Lake. 6 stations
- 1963 Newsletter name becomes “The Weslemkooner” (Lasted only one issue)
- 1963 Wooden album cover developed for Lake History
- 1963 LWCA membership dues $8
- 1963 Fish survey
- 1964 FOCA established
- 1965 Weekly dock garbage collection by Ted Carr starts. $5 for the season
- 1963 Bill Smith opens Laundromat at south end
- 1965 Hot showers available at Smiths
- 1965 Spring issue of newsletter says 9 out of 10 forest fires are started by brown beer bottles
- 1966 Crown land lots sold: 150’-165’ by 250’ for $500-$525
- 1966 Al Purdy poem “The Country North of Belleville”
- 1966 Flashing buoys need removed before hunting season
- 1966 The new road started
- 1966 Water pollution becomes major issue
- 1967 LWCA membership due increases to $10
- 1968 Smiths Marina becomes 4 Loons Marina
- 1968 South end road paved. Concern over increase in traffic to Lake
- 1969 Russ Massey starts OMC service at Twin Bay Lodge
- 1969 Dick and Dorcas Foster open bakery in West Bay
- 1969 Fire around Twin Bay Lodge
- 1969 Garbage dump sites on Lake officially closed by Lands & Forests
- 1969 Cotter Lake officially becomes Otter Lake
- 1969 Vearl Gunter sells marina to Walter and Bunny McKinnon
- 1969 Water level fixed at 6.2 on gauge
- 1969 Lake trout survey begun by D.McDermott for the MNR to assess by fin clips the date and kind of stocking, and average time to catch a Lake Trout - 2 hours
1970s
- 1970 Fishing licences come into effect
- 1970 20.5lb lake trout, 35” long
- 1971 Cockeyed Loons reactivated after 13 years hibernation by Don Mackenzie. He becomes the Grand Loon
- 1971 McKinnons build new store
- 1971 Sale of crown land curtailed. Lease only
- 1971 LWCA newsletter becomes “The Loon Call”
- 1972 First AGM held at the Meeting Grounds. Leased for $45 per year for 800’ of shoreline behind Dickinson Camp
- 1972 Water judged to be safe for drinking
- 1972 Capital Gains tax starts
- 1972 Fire at Aide camp
- 1972 Fire at Battlegrounds
- 1972 Water Quality Report. Most cottagers drink lake water.
- 1972 Fire at Thompsons on Nicol Island
- 1973 Cottage in Mackie Bay for sale for $15,000
- 1975 Hydro comes to the Lake
- 1978 Burkes buy 4 Loons Marina
- 1978 Proposed road through Otter Lake narrows cancelled
- 1978 $25 fine for shooting or molesting Loons
- 1979 New logo for “The Loon Call” designed
- 1979 Meeting Grounds’ lease is given up due to potential liability issues
1980s
- 1980 Lake passed from Bancroft to Tweed MNR jurisdiction
- 1980 Acid rain becomes an issue
- 1981 “Do not drink the surface water”
- 1981 Purchasing of Road Allowances allowed. $20/m plus $250 deposit by some Townships
- 1982 West Bay cottage for sale $27,000
- 1983 Start of the Otter Lake Regatta
- 1983 McKinnons sell marina to Pigden electricians of Madoc
- 1983 Gypsy moth threat starts most noticeable on Sqaw Point. Peaks in 1986-87.
- 1983 Charlie Aide hired by government to monitor water levels
- 1984 Charlie Aide quits water level management due to frustration and complaints
- 1984 Fire at Al Hoggs
- 1985 Motion passed that MNR to notify Association if water level changed
- 1985 Formal notice from MNR fixing water level at 317.95m with a variance of 15cm
- 1985 LWCA membership $20
- 1988 First Treasure Hunt
- 1988 “The Loon Call” to be published once a year instead of Spring and Fall
- 1988 The Lake is 100% electrified
- 1988 Forest access road proposed and begun north east of Otter Lake
- 1989 Introduction of “Friends of the Lake” $5
- 1989 Burkes sell marina to Edge and Heather Goda
- 1989 New water study started
1990s
- 1991 Ashby-Trent Lake road pushed back
- 1992 Telephone service introduced to Lake
- 1992 Recycling comes to the Lake
- 1994 Treasure Hunt featured in “Cottage Life” magazine
- 1994 Effingham Township begins market value assessments. Base 1988
- 1994 LWCA membership $60
- 1994 Lake 100% telephone service. CB era ends.
- 1995 Environmental Report
- 1995 Craft Show
- 1995 Kim Swim
- 1996 New lake trout restrictions: 33cm - 40cm must be released
- 1997 New bass regulations: possession limit of 6. Lake trout: possession limit of 6
- 1998 Amalgamation of the townships of Kaladar, Anglesea & Effingham and Denbigh Abinger & Ashby into Addington Highlands. No official plan in place.
- 1998 Reports of a high number of break-ins.
- 1998 5-Year Environment Plan
- 1998 The Edington Light erected
- 1998 Membership fees increased to $65 and garbage management passed to Marinas
- 1998 Forest management moved from MNR to industry
- 1999 Association goes online
- 1999 Blue Box removed at north end of Lake
2000
