The River View Inn (R.V.I.), is now only a memory. Originally built in 1908 by John Scobie as a hotel called the Scobie House, it was later run by his daughter Agatha and her husband Harvey McCredie, who also opened the Norway Bay Golf Course. The Scobie House was sold in 1958 to Don McCredie and Ron Workman, who renamed it the River View Inn. After a fire destroyed the main building in 1980, it was rebuilt the following year. Don McCredie sold the property in 2000 to Gary and Kelly McLean, who operated it briefly before selling it back to Don. He continued running the R.V.I. until 2005, when he sold it to Robert Menard. Menard and his partner Viola Walsh maintained the tradition, operating it as a restaurant, bar, and banquet facility.
Pine Lodge has been part of Bristol’s story since 1919, when 19-year-old Charles “Charlie” Russell purchased the land for $1,900 and moved a log building from the family farm to the site — a structure that still stands today as part of the tea room. In its early years, Pine Lodge offered guests from Montreal a full week’s stay, meals, and access to all amenities for just $12, with Mr. Russell meeting them at the train station by horse and buggy. Through the 1920s and ’30s, he and his team expanded the Lodge into a vibrant three-story retreat complete with hotel rooms, a dance hall, bakery, cabins, bowling alley, riding stables, and more. In 1968, the Thompson family — guests themselves just a year earlier — purchased Pine Lodge and have run it ever since, weathering social changes, township traditions, and economic shifts while preserving the character and charm of its historic
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