By Jim Hagarty
In my neck of the woods, when, in fact, there were only woods, the Canada Company enticed a Swiss couple from Pennsylvania to come to southwestern Ontario and open a tavern in the middle of what was literally, nowhere. The huge parcel of land then known as the Huron Tract, was late in being carved of the wilderness. There was nothing but thousands of acres of very tall trees. There was no wind; the wind couldn’t reach the forest floor. Not much snow made it down to the ground either. The Indians didn’t hang around much. They travelled through here on hunting excursions but never put down roots.
Nevertheless, developers saw the potential and today, the area is thriving.
But in the late 1820s, when Sebastian and Mary Fryfogel were commissioned to open their log tavern, there was not a lot of traffic. But they pressed on.
Fryfogel’s Tavern opened up in a clearing. All ready for business.
It would be two years before they had a customer.
Now that’s patience.
They replaced the log building with a brick one in the 1850s. The building still stands, though closed for the last 50 years. Heritage groups care for it.
So if your new business is taking its time getting going, remember the Fryfogels.
At least going over the books those first two years probably didn’t take long.
