Carson House - History

The Carson Boys

A few years ago, we had a visit from a man named Ted Carson. He told us that we were living in the home of his great grandfather, D.M. Carson, whose family had owned the house until 1948.

After doing some research at our local library, we discovered that D.M. Carson originally built our house around 1905. Carson was a local lumber entrepreneur and he and his young family came to Parry Sound from nearby Bracebridge, Ontario. During his time in Parry Sound, Carson carved out a name for himself in the local booming lumber business and also gained a notable position of importance in the town.

The Carsons had four sons, three of whom - William, Francis and Gerald - played NHL hockey in the 1920s and 30s. The Carson boys grew up, went to school and played their first games of hockey in Parry Sound.

Bill Carson

Bill "Doc" Carson

William, or Bill, was born in 1900 in Bracebridge and, according to our research at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, he seems to have been the most renowned of the three brothers. In Wing's, History of Parry Sound, it states that, "[i]n 1921, Bill Carson was considered the best junior hockey player in Ontario."

In the early 1920s, Bill went to the University of Toronto to study dentistry. While at the U of T he excelled on the varsity hockey team. In 1926, he joined the NHL's Toronto St. Pats and in 1927, he was a charter member of the new Toronto Maple Leafs. It is actually even rumoured that he scored the first Maple Leaf goal!

In 1928, Bill's contract was sold to the Boston Bruins and he scored the winning goal in the Bruins' first Stanley Cup.

Toronto St. Pats

Unfortunately, his career seems to have been cut short by an arm injury hereceived while with the St. Pats. Although he only played in the NHL for four years, he also spent some time in the American Hockey League with the New Haven Eagles and, in later years, did some scouting as well.

Generally speaking, little is known of Bill's hockey career. We find it strange that in a "hockey town" like ours, a man who was classed among hockey greats like Howie Morenz, Busher Jackson, Ace Bailey, Hap Day and Eddie Shore is virtually unrecognized. During his short career Bill Carson was one of the best and highest paid players in the NHL.

After his career in hockey, Bill returned to practice dentistry, first in Aurora and eventually in Parry Sound. Bill Carson, nicknamed "Doc", died in Parry Sound in May of 1967.

Frank Carson

Francis & Gerald Carson

During our research process, we could find little data on Francis and Gerald Carson other than the statistics available to the public at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. According to these records, Frank began his hockey career with the Montreal Maroons in 1925. He also played for the Stratford Nationals, Windsor Bulldogs, New York Americans, and New Haven Eagles. Then, in 1934, he ended his career with the Detroit Red Wings. He scored forty-two goals and accumulated forty-eight assists in 248 NHL games over the span of nine years.

Gerald started his professional career with Philadelphia of the CAHL in 1927. Over the next ten years he played defense for the Montreal Canadians, New York Rangers, Providence Reds and Montreal Maroons. In over 261 NHL games he scored twelve goals and assisted on eleven.

It appears that all three Carson boys earned Stanley Cup rings. Bill with Boston in 1929, Frank with Montreal in 1926 and Gerald with Montreal in 1930.

We have several pictures of the Carson boys on display in our home as well as a statistical portfolio. We welcome our guests to step back in time and learn more about these local heroes.

Renovating the Carson House

The Parlour

We purchased our modest Victorian house at 33 Church Street in the summer of 1987. At that time the property was in a poor state. The porches were rotting and falling down and the interior needed a complete overhaul. Most of the woodwork inside had unfortunately been painted and the 60 amp service was overtaxed.

Needless to say, over the years we have made extensive renovations. We have stripped the woodwork, revealing beautiful clear grain cedar in all the rooms except the dining room (which is oak). Also, we stripped all the walls of paint and wallpaper and replaced the lath and plaster. We lowered and insulated the ceilings and replaced the face of the fireplace in the living room.

In the mid 90s, we performed a major renovation by removing the back and side porches and building an 18' by 26' one-story addition with a full basement. The basement now houses a one-bedroom apartment. The main floor is a family room and washroom. During this renovation we also remodeled and expanded our kitchen.

The Dining Room

In 1998, we removed the wall between the master bedroom and a small adjoining room to add a dressing area and walk-in closet to the master bedroom. And, finally, in 1999 we renovated the attic and upstairs bath and opened the Carson House Bed and Breakfast for business.