MANITOU BEACH
 
Pictures of the amusement park at Manitou Beach, with its Poplar-lined entrance, grand old hotels reached by an open-air trolley that slowly crossed the bay and ponds. The Manitou Beach resort area offered dining, dancing, picnic groves and water activities to visitors at the turn of the century.


 

The Manitou Beach Trolley

In the early 1900s, the Manitou Trolley carried summer vacationers to the many resort hotels contained within eight scenic miles along the shore of Lake Ontario. It only cost a nickel to go from Charlotte to Manitou Beach, crossing Braddocks Bay on a wooden trestle.

The Rochester, Charlotte and Manitou Beach Railroad went into bankruptcy and was foreclosed after the winter storms of 1907 destroyed the Braddock Bay trestle. In 1908, it was reorganized as the Rochester & Manitou Railroad Co. and the new trestle was built in 1909. In 1913, the New York State Railways began to furnish the power for the line, and the line was abandoned in 1924.

This new trestle over Braddock Bay, on the Manitou streetcar line, replaces one destroyed by a storm in the winter of 1907. The remains of the old trestle can be seen to the left of the new trestle, near the center of the photograph. The trestle curves out over the water of the bay, with poles supporting the electric line over the tracks.


Passengers at streetcar station at Manitou Beach.

Approaching Manitou Beach by trolley car  
A view of Manitou Beach as seen from the trolley. Street car tracks are featured, and the Manitou Hotel is in the center.



Refreshment stand at Manitou Beach
The refreshment stand at Manitou Beach, with customers.



Manitou Hotel. Operated by Mathews and Service. Hotel opened May 30, 1889.
The Manitou Hotel at Manitou Beach, which opened in 1889, and still operated as the Manitou Beach Hotel in the 1950s. The trolley line brought visitors from Charlotte to Manitou. This view shows the building and grounds.

 
 

Stables at Manitou Beach From Sheriff Skinner's collection.
 

  Boathouse at Manitou Beach From Sheriff Skinner's collection.
People are gathered in front of the boathouse at Manitou Beach. A couple of canoes are to the left, and poles and paddles are seen.


Dance hall at Manitou Beach.
People are standing on the second floor balcony of the dance hall building at Manitou Beach. The lettering on the roof reads Manitou Lunchroom. The first floor of the building was used as a bar, while the dance hall was on the second floor.
An interior view of the dance hall building near the Manitou Hotel at Manitou Beach, showing the stage and dance floor.




Picnic for Ford owners at Manitou Beach.
Rochester "flivver" owners celebrate Ford Day at a picnic at Manitou Beach. A group admires a Ford automobile which was to be given away at 4:30 p.m. that afternoon. The automobile is up on a platform made from two carts parked next to each other.
Printed in Rochester Herald, July 30, 1922.



  Manitou Beach Road.
Poplar tree-lined Manitou Beach Road leads to the Odenbach Hotel, barely visible in the background, on Manitou Beach.

     
Salmon Creek & Manitou Beach Road


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