Our Early Beginnings

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 It is a pleasure for me, to be asked to give a short history of the Point Clark Boat Club. I guess I may have been chosen to tell our story as I have been a cottager at Point Clark longer than anyone else...87 years to be exact. Also, I am the only living member of the original boat club. 

I would like now to give a short history of Point Clark and how the boat club came to be. As you may know, the lighthouse was built in 1857, 10 years before Confederation. At that time, there were no cottages here. The main road in started from Lake Range Road, down through the bush,

coming in where Courtland Street is now and then down what is now Lighthouse Road. 

My Grandparents, William and Mary Murdie, from Lucknow, built the second cottage in Point Clark in 1913. It was south of the lighthouse on what is now Cedar Trail. 

When I was born in 1935, there were 10 cottages south of the lighthouse. All of them built by people from Lucknow. So south of the lighthouse was called the Lucknow Side. North of the lighthouse on Victoria Road there were 25-30 cottages. Most owned by people from Listowel. 

In the 1920s and 30s, if you were lucky enough to have a boat, it was a flat- bottomed rowboat, which could be pulled up on the beach on cedar rollers. After the war in 1945, many new cottages were built. Some on the beach   

and others on the second row. Also, at this time, boats were getting bigger and the outboard motors heavier. Pulling boats up on the beach became very difficult. Also, the boaters with no beach access could not launch their boats and would have to go elsewhere.  

John Bell from Listowel built his cottage on Victoria Road. He was an interesting guy with personality plus. If you had a project you wanted to succeed, you got John on the committee and success was guaranteed. 

In the winter of 1961, John called a meeting of interested boat owners from Listowel, who had cottages at Point Clark. Joe Burke, Percy Knoblock, the Kaufman brothers and a few others met at the Diana Sweets restaurant in Listowel to discuss the feasibility of constructing a boat club at Point Clark. Hannah Construction of Listowel was hired to start digging. The first year, 1962, the harbour was just a hole in the sand, no walls around it. My dock consisted of 2 outhouse doors on 2 cedar poles. It was not beautiful, but it worked. I think we had about 12 members the first year. Used hydro poles were purchased for the walls and installed bit by bit. We drove in steel fence posts and tied the logs back with wire. We didn't have much time to boat as we worked every weekend reinforcing and expanding the walls. It was not work for us. It was a social time.  

In the 1970s, a gas pump was installed beside the launch ramp. It was operated on the honour system. The pump was removed after 2 years as the books did not balance. 

In the 1980s, used interlocking steel was bought from the Bruce Generating Station. A company was hired to drive in the steel that you now see around the harbour 

Previously, I spoke of John Bell who was one of our founding Members. His daughter Ellen Lowry lives in the family home on Victoria Road. She has worked hard to raise funds for harbour updates. Her Dad John and I treated Ellen like a boy. The boaters will know the big rock at the end of the channel. Ellen still reminds me that John and I left her standing on the widow maker when we went back to the cottage to get materials. 

In 2019, state of the art docks were installed, Also new lights have been installed recently.The Township of Huron- Kinloss has been an active partner over the last years. The parking lot was paved, benches, picnic tables and a children's playground were added. Recently the Township reinforced the outer walls of the Boat Club. The Point Clark Beach Association cleans the beach north of the lighthouse and tends the gardens at the Boat Club.  

The Boat Club has become a focal point for our beach. It is a destination when out for a walk. People gather here to watch the sunset and park here to bring their families to the Beach and Playground. 

Boaters from all over now use the launching ramp.

 It is Truly a Wonderful place along the Lake Huron Shoreline