Washago

By Guy Scott

The village of Washago is located at the head of Lake Couchiching where the Severn River drains the Lake Simcoe watershed towards Georgian Bay. The name Washagomin is Ojibway for ‘green and sparkling waters.’ The waters draining out of Lake Couchiching were green because of the limestone content. But the Severn River turned dark after the silt coming from the Muskoka River merged with the Severn. Washago was a popular native camping site and was a Wendat (Huron) mission before the Beaver Wars of the 1640s. The Severn River has three channels flowing out of Lake Couchiching but they quickly merged into one channel, so the actual site of Washago was on an island. Needless to say, bridges became important in the pioneer era! The actual village site became the head of navigation for steam boats in the pioneer era, accessing traffic from Lake Simcoe to the south, Georgian Bay to the west via the Severn River and Muskoka to the north via the Muskoka River. Since both the Severn River and the Muskoka River were broken by numerous waterfalls, it was canoes only beyond Washago.

The hamlet of Washago was founded in 1853 with the start of steamboat travel from Orillia. The town wharf and storehouses were the centre of town. A saw mill was quickly constructed as well as several hotels to serve travellers. The next important step was the Muskoka Colonization Road which started in in 1859 and commenced at Washago and ran to the Great Falls on the Muskoka River, now Gravenhurst. The road did not follow any township lines like the Bobcaygeon Road did, but rather followed the easiest route north. After leaving Washago, the Road crossed the Severn River several miles north at the spot later called Severn Bridge. High hopes abounded that Washago would become a great road terminus for settlers heading north to the ‘rich farm lands’ of the Muskoka District. The Muskoka Road was successful for about 15 years carrying traffic and settlers from Washago to points further north. But in 1875 the arrival of the railway changed the transportation dynamic in Muskoka. The Toronto-Simcoe-Muskoka Junction Railway eventually worked its way from Barrie to Orillia (1874), then crossed the narrows at Atherley and ran up the east side of Lake Couchiching to Washago and hence on to Gravenhurst. Both Washago and Severn Bridge had stations on the line. But the idea that a railway would bring further prosperity to Washago was wrong. The railway killed the steamboat business and Washago became just another small station on the railway line. Most businesses now bypassed Washago. Even the lumber business began to fade. Washago village declined. In the 1920s, Washago received another blow when the Muskoka Road was rebuilt and bypassed the village. The new road ran west of Lake Couchiching from Orillia through Severn Falls. Washago became a backwater.

One more transportation route figured in village history: The Trent Canal. The last section of the Canal to be completed was the section from Lake Couchiching to Georgian Bay. This section was not started until 1913. The new canal bypassed Washago, using the west channel of the Severn River to Severn Falls. Washago lost another transportation link. Washago had all the trappings of a pioneer village beyond all the transportation links. It contained at least one sawmill and a grist mill. The grist mill served all the local farmers until one was built in Bracebridge later in the 1870s. Hotels were prominent in the early history, serving travellers who came by boat and left by wagon. Several livery stables catered to the road traffic. Lacking good water power sites, the lumber industry never really flourished in Washago. Huge booms of logs passed through the community on their way to sawmills further south. The railway intercepted the later traffic, drawing sawn lumber from mills further north to markets further south. Today, Washago is a sleepy bedroom community. It is part of the Municipality of Severn, which includes Severn Bridge and Orillia Township.