IT ALL STARTED WHEN…

In 1880, George Morrison, a bookkeeper from Oxford County in Southern Ontario traveled by ox-cart from Muskoka to Lake Nipissing. There he built a raft and floated his family and possessions across the lake to the south-east bay. Logging companies had taken interest in the abundant Eastern White Pine that grew in the area. He was one of its first pioneers and his wife was the first white woman. On June 1, 1881, he opened a Post Office in his general store and named it after his parents' Scottish birthplace of Callander. It was officially incorporated in 1886 - the municipality renamed itself from North Himsworth to Callander in 2003, adopting the name of its major community because, in the words of then-mayor Bill Brazeau, "Nobody knew where North Himsworth was."

1886 Lake House Bistro would like to acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Nipissing First Nation, the territory of the Anishnabek, within lands protected by the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850 on which we are learning, working and organizing today.  

1886 Lake House Bistro is located in beautiful Callander Bay, Ontario.  Against the backdrop of Lake Nipissing, 1886 is a casual cottage bistro with black & white photos, hand-crafted butcher block tables and barn board accents. 1886 is a restaurant for winter or summer enthusiasts still dressed in their gear, families with small children and intimate dinners for couples enjoying each others company. Come be comfortable in your outdoor work gear, dress up to impress or walk down from the beach or boat launch in your flipflops - there is no dress code or reservations - be cottage casual.

Open for Lunch or Dinner.   Offering a Children's menu for the little ones under 10 years old.  The dinner menu is classic bistro with a comfort influence.  1886 is proud to work with farmers in Powassan, Trout Creek and Sturgeon to source ingredients when in season.