By 1980, when Ray Carpenter took this picture, the Fenelon Falls beach and adjacent park had long been home to recreational activities such as canoeing, sailing, and swimming. The site had once been a sawmill, and was popularly called "Sawdust Bottom" for all the mill waste that still swirled in the water.

Fishing in the waters below the Fenelon Falls remained a time-honoured pastime when Ray Carpenter captured this view, circa 1980. The yellow line in the upper left of this image forms part of the signage on the Sunoco service station immediately south of the bridge.