The Gatineau Lakes – one of Canada’s largest cottage lake areas- has also been home to dozens of Hunting & Fishing Lodges for generations. In the Gracefield area, an hour north of Ottawa/ Gatineau, family owned lodges established in the 1930’s were booming in the 50’s & 60’s. However, over the years, they have been slowly closing down – and with it, much of the rich history of the Gatineau.
Some lodges were professional Outfitters used mainly by Americans for hunting & fishing expeditions- complete with guides that lived in the area and knew exactly the best spot for the big catch! These days, as the province of Quebec promotes new fishing areas further north, family operations in the Gracefield that attracted tourists for decades are now being bought out and converted for use by private families. Whitefish Lodge however, on Lac Heney, remains open to the public for fishing as an Outfitter and caters to an American clientele.
In the last 10 years, 6 lodges have closed in the Gracefield area. These include : : Victoria Lodge with 10 cottages on Lac Victoria …. Auberge des pins 10 cottages & Ray Lac 5 Cottages at Blue Sea Lake …. Northfield Lodge 6 cottages and McKeeby Lodge 8 cottages – both located on Lac Heney…. Hazelwood Lodge on Lac St. Laurent.
Hazelwood Lodge on Lac St. Laurent contained another half-dozen cottages. The lodge was purchased by an American family for private use. Victoria Lodge has been bought by another American family from Ohio. McKeeby Lodge was owned by a family from Texas. It was started by a Scottish American Don McKeeby back in the 60’s. He was married to Carmen Lafreniere and raised their family in the Gracefield area.
All of the above lodges played a large part in the history and development of the Gracefield lake region. Over the years, over 40 cottages that were previously rented publicly at reasonable rates have been lost to the Outaouais summer rental market.
McKeeby Lodge has had a bit of a reprieve. It was purchased by former Ottawa City Councillor Peter Harris who re-opened it as Northfield Lodge. The original Northfield Fish & Game Club – the first commercial lodge on Lac Heney – was started by Harris’ Great Uncle Gerald Grace in 1925.The land had been originally owned by Gerald’s father Thomas Grace, who sold it in 1915 to Adolfe Lafreniere. In 1940, once again the land went from Graces to Lafrenieres, when Gerald Grace sold 500 acres at the end of the road on what was then referred to as Little Whitefish Lake – to the Lafreniere family. One of the sons, Gerald Lafreniere operated it for another 50 years before closing. It was frequented by many American tourists for vacations, fishing & hunting. To this day, Gerry Lafreniere talks of the 36 pound Grey Trout ‘touladi ‘ caught in the middle of Heney Lake. It is mounted on the wall of his house which is the original Northfield Lodge .Recently though, Harris has also started selling off the former Mckeeby Lodge cottages which were extensively renovated after the lodge sat empty for over 10 years.
Background Notes :
Gracefield , Quebec is one hour north of Ottawa /Gatineau on Hwy 5 North. It is referred to as the … heart of the Gatineau…. The town was named by Alonzo Wright M.P. in honour of Patrick Grace – who was one the town’s first Mayors in 1864 – and who donated land for the railway station. Patrick died after being struck by a wagon wheel accident in 1898. His cousins Thomas, John & Patrick continued business operations and formed Grace Bros General Merchants. They were young pioneer businessmen in their 20’s when they first arrived to the area in the 1870’s. John was the first Postmaster and store owner in Bouchette; Thomas had one of the first stores in Kazabazua. They eventually operated stores in Gracefield, Bouchette ,Kazabazua and Maniwaki until the 1930’s ; as well as lumber & mining operations.