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Killaloe and the BeaverTail

August 31, 2015 by Glenn 13 Comments

BeaverTail in Killaloe, Ontario – Birthplace of BeaverTails

Q: What’s the difference between a BeaverTail and a Timbit? …
A: You can eat a BeaverTail without removing your mitts.

…….

East of Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario there is a road sign with at least two strange names and one odd claim-to-fame on it … Village of Killaloe – Birthplace of BeaverTails. We can’t resist a good Canadian place name come-on so we turned off Highway 60 to get the story.

Killaloe BeaverTails roadsign

Killaloe, Ontario, Canada, Birthplace of the BeaverTail
…….

In the early 19th century the lure of free land and the vision of a new life brought Irishmen, Germans and Poles from Europe and French Canadians from the east to this very rugged region of rocks and forests. It was a hard place to start over but logging and subsistence farming kept the settlers alive through terrible winters.

Killaloe covered bridge

The covered bridge in Killaloe
…….

Along the banks of Brennan’s Creek, when beaver tails meant something very different, mills were built so that water power could grind wheat into flour and saw logs into lumber. The settlement was named after Killaloe, County Clare in Ireland. (pronounced “Kill A Loo”). At the height of the lumber industry in Ontario, the opening of the Ottawa-Arnprior & Parry Sound Railroad in 1894 turned Killaloe into a busy receiving and shipping centre.

Killaloe post office mural

Wall mural on the post office building in Killaloe
…….

In the early 1970s, the community welcomed another wave of settlers to the hills around Killaloe – the Hippies. The Hooker family was part of this new generation of disenchanted individualism and in 1973 they settled on their newly-purchased 90 acre woodlot. Grant and Pam Hooker helped organize the first Killaloe Craft & Community Fair, a three-day gathering of music, crafts and theatre. It was at this fair in 1978 that they first started serving old Grandma’s family recipe treat – the cinnamon and sugar pastry that we now know as BeaverTails.

Killaloe BeaverTails store

This is where you get BeaverTails when you are in Killaloe, Ontario.
…….

Today BeaverTails Inc. is a going concern with over 100 outlets across Canada and the BeaverTail has become part of the Canadian food lexicon along with butter tarts, poutine and, of course, Timbits.

BeaverTails Queues-de-Castor

And in Québec it’s Queues-de-Castor… BeaverTails !
…….

Filed Under: Canada, Canadian Places, Canadian Things

Comments

  1. Cheryl says

    September 8, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Great article. Love these little stories. Made me hungry!

    Reply

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