Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.
Orillia Air Services was located on Orillia’s waterfront at the foot of Mississaga Street and provided fuel and repairs to area float planes under the capable management of Harry Stirk.
By 1959, after a fire destroyed the waterfront shop, the Lake St. John Airport was established near Longford. The 230-acre farm property with 1,200 feet of shoreline featured a grass runway as well as docking for seaplanes.
In the early days, the barn was used for a repair shop until more buildings were constructed as shown in this postcard from 1961.
After the fire, the Orillia-Lake St. John Air Services continued to maintain a presence at Orillia’s waterfront for many years, providing flying lessons and charters from a small office located south of the town dock.
Located between Mud Lake and Lake St. John, at the doorstep of cottage country and close to numerous resorts, camps, golf courses and later Casino Rama, the airport continues to be a popular stopover for fuel and repairs.
