Haileybury
Little Claybelt Homesteaders Museum
Millionaire’s Row, Haileybury
Train Station Museum 34 LAKELANDBOATING.COM A U G U S T 2 011
Located just south of New Liskeard, Haileybury is a small community with a big story; its historical attractions make it my favorite town on Lake Temiskaming. Best of all, everything is within walking distance of the lake. Tie up your boat at the marina and set out on foot to explore the town. The town of Haileybury began as a post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, established in 1873. Twelve years later, Charles Cobbold Farr, a chief agent of the company, was commissioned to define the Ontario-Quebec border between the head of Lake Temiskaming and James Bay. Farr was so struck by the beauty of the lakeshore that he purchased a stretch of land, built a cabin and laid the foundations for the settlement to follow. He named this village Haileybury after an exclusive public school, Haileybury and Imperial Service College, he attended in Hertfordshire, England. Farr encouraged settlement in the area, penning his own promotional pamphlet in an effort to attract new settlers. Marketed to settlers as prime agricultural land, Haileybury had only a handful of residents until the discovery of large silver deposits in neighboring Cobalt in 1903. During the Cobalt Silver Rush, Haileybury became a “bedroom community” for many mine owners who built a row of stately homes, nicknamed “Millionaire’s Row,” that stretches along the waterfront on Lakeshore Road. The Great Fire of 1922, considered one of the worst disasters to befall the area, virtually destroyed the growing community. Approximately 90 percent of the town was decimated, leaving only Millionaire’s Row and a few other neighborhoods intact. The fire’s devastating effects are explored in the Haileybury Heritage Museum (575 Main Street, hhmuseum@onlink.net). Haileybury is best known as the “Home of the Hardy Boys.” In 1926, Leslie McFarlane, a local newspaperman, saw an ad for an experienced fiction writer being sought by the Stratemeyer Syndicate of New Jersey. After a few books in the Dave Fearless line, McFarlane was invited to start a new series called The Hardy Boys. He wrote the first 20 or so books through the 1930s and ’40s under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon. They became the best-selling boy’s books of the generation, though sadly McFarlane received no royalties and remained anonymous. Though he received little recognition in his day, the Heritage Museum honors McFarlane with an exhibit of his life and writings. In addition, the home in which McFarlane penned his timeless youth mysteries still stands. We spent the night ashore in Haileybury at Leisure Inn (509 Ferguson Ave, leisureinn.net), a pleasant motel located near the waterfront with 16 rooms, including free high-speed internet, complimentary use of a barbeque, and an expansive patio. It’s a great blend of comfort and value.