No records can be found at this point that identify original date of construction or specific owners of the Pines. As such, the information here is anecdotal.

Research into the history of Florence Island does shed light on possible first owner, and subsequent owners from 1879 until present.

Florence Island (originally known as Island ‘F’) * (for full details, see PDF attached below)

 Florence Island was originally part of Francis Forge's land grant of the early 1870’s.

Forge was born in Yorkshire, England in 1838, came to Canada in 1857, and then to Muskoka in the early 1860’s. He acquired 100 acres of the land around Windermere in about 1871, (as did Thomas Aitken and David Fife). 

As part of his grant, Forge was offered what is known now as, Wellesley Island (originally Island ‘G’).  He reportedly turned the offer down, unable to pay the taxes of what would have been about $11 for Wellesley Island. 

The Crown later sold both Wellesley Island (November 11, 1879) and Florence Island (November 19, 1879) to James Edward Smith, of Toronto for approximately $180 ($80 for Wellesley, $100 for Florence).  In 1879 James E. Smith sold ‘Island F” to William J Florence for $500. According to the land registry, William J. Florence sold the island in 1883 to Henry and Harry Logan for $550.

The entire island with building was purchased in 1889 by Charles H Nelson for $400 (that might have been the only time there has ever been a dip in real estate prices in Muskoka!).  Nelson subdivided Florence Island into the 19 lots we see on the map below.

In 1890 Florence Island was sold to Robert Heber Bowes (a Toronto barrister – Smith, Wood and Bowes) for $2000.  It sold again one year later, in 1891, for $1, to John Payne (wondering if this was payment of a debt??).  In 1899 John Payne sold the entire island and building to George Robert Baker for $2000.

The island’s 19 lots remained in George Baker’s hands in their entirety until 1905 when he began to sell off lots and parcels of land to individuals every few years. Baker died in 1921.  The last of his property on Florence Island was sold in 1925, by his widow, Alice Lloyd Harvey.  These distributions are shown in the pages below (colour map and notes)

Additional notes of interest.

1 - Electricity came to the island in 1946.

2 - The longest property ownership to date here on Florence Island is held by the Burton family who have been on Florence Island first as renters, from about 1926 to 1928, and then with the purchase of their property in 1929 – in their family until 2020. (see additional notes below)

3 - Biographical notes on past owners (if known) are included in text boxes shown on the attached PDF, based on my research, and not necessarily absolute or complete.

The map below shows the 19 lots created by C H Nelson in 1889.

Each colour represents the parcels and lots sold off by George R. Baker over a 20 year time period.  The colour code below the map indicates the year each parcel was sold. 

Full document with all details is attached below.