Newton K. Wagg: The man and his business exploits (5 photos)

The Wagg name is well known in these parts.

The family came from Goodwood/Uxbridge area, after living five years on Manitoulin Island, then settling in Midland in 1909. Newton Kirby was born September 29, 1877. His father, Colman, was a veterinary surgeon who died when Newton was 10.

During his time in Uxbridge, working as a shoe clerk, he got into bicycle racing and, not only gained proficiency, but a reputation as a scorcher. The bike boom of the 1890s saw Newt Wagg making money for racing and selling bikes for manufacturers.

The money he made enabled him to purchase the Uxbridge Steam Laundry with a partner. It didn’t last, he sold out and moved to Midland in 1909 and bought, again with a partner, the laundry of Letherby and Wallace that had been established in 1902. His new partner walked and he stuck at it.

Imperial Steam Laundry, Phone #36 serviced a large area and where the Steamer Maud S. could not reach, Wagg used his launch, the Imperial, to deliver all the way to San Souci.

The Dover and Waterbus were owned by Wagg’s Honey Harbour Navigation Company. A subsidiary, the Midland Boat  Works, was purchased from Dobson in 1924, the company name changing to the Georgian Bay Tourist Company.

Newton Kirby Wagg as manager, president of Imperial Laundry and owning  the Boat Works, was a large stakeholder in Midland. J.H. Cranston quotes Wagg in a 1940 article, “ No matter what happens, this will always be a good town….the first year I came here it was pretty much of a hick town. There were no sewers and the cows pastured on the main street.”

Tourism on Georgian Bay was as important to the local economy then as it is  now.

Newton Kirby Wagg was a key player in all of Midland’s waterfront development and is due praise and memorializing for his efforts.

René Hackstetter December 8, 2021.