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.
In 1899 three Rolland brothers and their families moved to Orillia from Gananoque, Ontario.
One of the brothers, Frank, his wife Stephronia, two sons, Harold and George, and two daughters, Violet and Helena, settled in a home at the corner of Colborne and Scott Streets.
Frank was a successful fishing guide on the St. Lawrence River and brought his 21-foot rowing boat with him. He continued his fishing and guide business in Orillia but soon realized he should have a boat livery to expand his business.
He established the Palace Boat Livery in 1900 at the foot of Misssissaga Street on the east side of the Grand Trunk Railway tracks. From this location he continued to guide fishing parties and managed a booming rental business from a large inventory of canoes and row boats.
In 1912, the CPR built a new rail bed along the waterfront. The shoreline had to be filled and extended and the existing boathouses were removed including the Palace Boat Livery.
A new station was built at the bottom of Mississaga Street and within two years the C.P.R. was required to rebuild all the boathouses including a new boat livery for Frank Rolland.
