Wooden Fishing Net Float

Object/Artifact

-

Town of Wasaga Beach

Fishing Float

Fishing Float

Name/Title

Wooden Fishing Net Float

Entry/Object ID

2020.175.12

Description

Wooden float attached to wooden handle with metal apparatus attached to the bottom

Context

Charlie Eberhardt was one of Wasaga’s early entrepreneurs who moved to the area around 1905. Mr. Eberhardt caught fish and sold them to neighbours and summer visitors. He also operated an ice cutting business. The Eberhardt family lived at the corner of River Road West and Beck Street where Gough’s landing is now. There was a large barn behind their house where the ice was stored; covered with sawdust and woodchips. Part of the original barn was incorporated into the Gough's Landing condo complex when it was built. Ice blocks were cut from Marl Lake and Nottawasaga Bay in the winter to sell to locals and tourists to keep their food cold as refrigerators were not common then. He built a general store located at the northwest end of the Main Street Bridge. He then added a second floor and began renting rooms to tourists and year-round visitors. The top floor of the store eventually became a classroom for students. The Eberhardt family also ferried people up and down the river and across the bay from Wasaga to Collingwood. In later years they operated a taxi business and a miniature golf.

Acquisition

Accession

2020.175

Source or Donor

Eberhardt Family

Acquisition Method

Gift

Dimensions

Height

33 in

Dimension Notes

Diameter of top of weight (cone) is 8", diameter of bottom of weight (cone) is 2.25"