Village Squire, 1980-07, Page 8'The flats' and Bayfield River at turn of the century.
(Bayfield Archives)
The Pioneer Port of Bayfield
BY ELAINE TOWNSHEND
For much of the nineteenth century, the Port of Bayfield was
the only refuge from storms for schooners on the 85 mile
coastline from Sarnia to Goderich, and in the twentieth century,
it has become the largest haven for pleasure -craft.
Bayfield has the distinction of being founded by nobility - Carl
Lodewyck, Baron Van Tuyll van Serooskerken, Lord of
Ysendoorn. The Baron never visited 'his town', but requisitioned
Admiral Bayfield, noted English pioneer of nautical surveying,
to choose a town site Burin¢ his study of the Great Lakes.
01 all the coves Bayfield explored, he recommended the land
an the shores of the river that now bears his name. Baron de
Tuyll purchased 1,500 acres on both sides of the river from the
Canada Company in 1830. The town plot was surveyed in 1832,
and improvements began in 1833.
By 1836 a dam had been built as well as a nearby sawmill. A
later mill was located where Highway 21 now begins its descent
to the bridge. In 1904, while under ownership of William
Mustard, the mill burned and was rebuilt on the flats on the
north side of the river. Piles of logs lay on the flats and in quiet
water behind a little arm of land: it was a perfect spot for a
sawmill.
In 1914, a shipment of lumber was sent to Germany, but
payment took six years, and even that only amounted to
one-eighth of a cent on the dollar. During World War 11 business
dropped, and Mustard sold the mill. Later the site became a
summer cabin area.
HARBOUR IMPROVEMENTS
From 1875 to 1877, the Dominion Government spent S50,000
and the Township of Stanley added S10,000 to improve the
Bayfield Harbour. Work included dredging the river and
lengthening the north pier. Over the years, various
improvements have been made and for many years the harbour
has had a foghorn. Current harbourmaster is Tom Castle, whose
PG. 8 VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1980
father was harbourmaster before him.
In mid -1800's, Bayfield Harbour was used by grain shippers.
Elevators were built on river flats. Some consisted of 2 ft. by 4 ft.
hemlock scantlings laid one on top of another to form warehouses
30 ft. by 60 ft. by 25 ft. high. Trestles ran up the high river bank,
and a roadway curved in a semi -circle to meet the trestle.
Farmers hauled their grain by horse and wagon to the riverbank
and dumped it into the chute to the elevator.
Because the river was too shallow for ships, barges
transported the grain from the shore to the ships. It was reported
men on the barges enjoyed their work because a good supply of
whiskey was kept onboard the ships. Much of the grain went to
Kensington, and ships returned with bricks for construction of
many Bayfield buildings.
Residents tried valiantly to obtain a railway line but failed. The
Stratford to Goderich line was built in 1858; the London, Huron
and Bruce line 1876. Soon grain shipments from Bayfield
Harbour ceased.
Fishing nets on reels were once a common sight in Bayfield
Harbour. Catches of trout, whitefish, herring, pickerel and perch
were sold inland by peddlers and shipped to dealers in London,
St. Thomas and Hamilton. Pioneer fishermen used wooden
sailing boats, often ones they'd built themselves.
The most famous Bayfield fishing boat was constructed by the
McLeod Brothers in 1925. Helen McLeod II was a Huron Boat
(square-sterned) built on clipper -schooner lines and typical of
the boats found on the Great Lakes at the time. After 1950, she
was restored by the Museum of Great Lakes History, Belle Isle,
Michigan, and was later used as a training ship to teach the art of
sailing.
Gradually steel tugs replaced wooden fishing vessels. In April
1954, the Maymac - a 14 -ton tug designed and built by Bayfield
residents - was launched. The tug, which was constructed in the