Port Stanton is a vibrant tourism village nestled on the south shore of Sparrow Lake, on the Trent Severn Waterway, 18 kilometers north of Orillia, Ontario. It became known as “Port Stanton” in 1907 when Frank Stanton opened a post office in the Stanton Bros. Store. A soap salesman, Mr. Sam Moore, actually suggested the name “Port Stanton”, remarking that it was a steamship port and that the majority of the residents were Stantons.
Today, when you enter this quaint village you will have the opportunity to visit and explore several tourism-related businesses that have grown and flourished since 1898 when Tom Stanton welcomed the first guests in Port Stanton.
The largest tourism business in Port Stanton is Bayview Wildwood Resort. It has grown to encompass three separate resorts and is currently the largest employer in Severn Township. Bayview Wildwood is a year-round resort that caters to a broad clientèle, including families looking for all-inclusive holidays, couples wanting relaxing getaways and conference organizers who demand quality meeting facilities and services.
While staying at Bayview Wildwood, you can enjoy a full array of recreational equipment and facilities such as pontoon boats, fishing boats, kayaks and canoes, indoor & outdoor pools and hot tubs, indoor recreation centre, spa services, hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and a host of other recreation equipment and services. As well, there are recreation and entertainment programs for adults and children during specific times throughout the year. The Echo's Dining Lounge, overlooking beautiful Sparrow Lake, offers a superb dining experience for breakfast, lunch or dinner by reservation.
Bayview Wildwood Resort consists of numerous buildings and cottages sitting along the shoreline of Sparrow Lake. The highest building is the Wildwood Inn, which is three stories, and houses the Reception Desk, Massage and Spa rooms, Crusader Lounge, Echo's Dining Lounge, Glympse (meeting room), Eleanore Rooms (meeting rooms), administration offices and eight accommodation units. Lakeshore House was once a separate operating resort and is now the indoor recreation building. Guests enjoy the indoor pool and whirlpool, change rooms, squash courts, billiard table, ping-pong table and exercise equipment in this building. There are twelve accommodation units in Lakeshore House.
In the Spring of 2004, the Stanton family purchased Martin’s Store and the operating license for the Port Stanton Government Dock. Keeping with tradition, they renamed the store Stanton Bros. General Supplies as this was the original name when the store opened in the early 1900’s. Stanton Bros. store provides a large and varied supply of tourist gifts and general supplies to visitors and residents in the area. The Government Dock provides daily or nightly dockage for boaters who are either enjoying Sparrow Lake or traveling through the Trent Severn Waterway. As well, Captain Tom’s Diner, attached to the store, is a great place to enjoy an ice cream or hearty meal throughout July and August.
The Cottages I at Port Stanton is located on the North shore of Sparrow Lake, across the bay from Bayview Wildwood, on the site where Wild Echo Lodge once stood. In the summer of 2001, the Stanton family offered a new and exciting opportunity to their guests and visitors; fractional cottage ownership. Since then, they have built an award-winning cottage resort development that has changed the landscape of Sparrow Lake. The final three cottages, in the eighteen cottage development, were occupied in December 2003 and the cottage sales for the entire site are almost complete. This resort site hosts an outdoor pool and hot tub, tennis court, horseshoes, dockage, fire pit and Sunset Lounge with outdoor (winter) hot tub. The cottage owners enjoy the facilities and services of Bayview Wildwood Resort on a year-round basis.
Based on the success of The Cottages I at Port Stanton, the Stanton sibling team of Dianne Hounsome and Bruce Stanton joined Doug Hamilton, to build a new fractional ownership property The Cottages II at Port Stanton. This new development is located on the west end of Bayview Wildwood Resort, on the shores of Sparrow Lake, offers four cottage-style buildings, an outdoor pool, beach and dockage. The new owners of this lovely property will have access to Bayview Wildwood’s facilities and services on a year-round basis. Sales in this development are being offered as a five-week fractional ownership.