HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-06-30, Page 67•
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IgD, the I (tinht was g r
high, sc Rand hot)
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came up ,agnins a' wedge
which dislodged 00. book.
!citing the weightfali;,:It must
have,becn ha'rd`en the; horses.
l later years. must' marine
payallalronr, waeaeedine with
Ftgw,cight being raised: by a
Om winch, and tripped, the
•
+t�l1x "' i y
(p I:11,1. Donald MacAdam
Wlacdon;rid 'Marine tug
ervice, was given.a contract
,i remov • Ihr old piling.
4k
•
hauled out; like
o'icl lAgotb,and the remainder
clytiatnited off. four feet
below the surface
When it was determined by.
theIVlacdonald government to
establish harbour of r`cfuge on'
Late Huron, Goderich was
Rite `of the points selected.
The work then begun was
continued by the Mackenzie
government. Records of the
divartmcnt made available
i>y courtesy of W. I.
'-'Iywv.huk., engineer -in -
charge, Design and Con -
struction, Ontario' Region,
show
that construction of a
new entrance cha,rine)
through the beach area just
north of the original channel.
and on'' a more northerly
alignment. was begun in 1872
and completed in 18; . •
At the saj it tirrk the river
was diverted north of this new.
entrance, thereby discpn-
linuing its flow through the
harbor and eliminating the
difficulties caused in the
hu•rhor by ice breakup in
spring.
Tits. Cherub. assigned to patrol duty on Lake Huron. •1866-68. wintered at least once at
iiiderich, and had. several Goderich men in her crew. A Portsmouth -built wooden ship,
haul) was 1"0 feet tong. 22 feet beam. drew six feet eight inches, and was powered by a
iwo•(Qillnder steam engine as well..as, sail.. Her armament was one pivot-mortn,ted.68-
maul •r and one 3 --pounder smooth -bore. She is seen here under canvas in Goderich
ri:Irnr
rich
i1.
Many of the sailors who manned British gunboats on the lakes during the Fenian raids
ere Canadians well experienced in sailing ships at the time. Goderich men in the crew
iH.M.S. Cherub included William Babb, Andy Williams, Robert Roberts and Thomas
Webb.
11i
-Tie timber retain ng walla.' noF enians
separating the river froth the' parts "'
harbor was damaged and . �.R
apt, egia r A :SInclaIr. at
underwent repairs. by Ber- G veland;'a f(rirn0004*h.
m ingha m and Forrest In 1907: • boy who sailed' the lakes for
I4pK: many years and:'isauthorof a
C)ut of the mists of antiquity.' ,newly published book. Winds
comes the nptne of one'of the *^Over, Lake • Huron. er gift'
earliest lake captains here. A' . town a few daysC, N He
" la years ago" flashback in $ «, ,_,;-
the Grand River Sachem, of expressed the opinion thatari
(' itledonia, recalls that Capt:
I,unean Rowan.'''who piloted
the first steamboat up the
Clyde. in Scotland," built up a
little. harbor 'at Stony Island.
• lake port for South' Bruce
before 1<inca'rdine harbor
was develt,ped. From .this
island came the stones "for
the fireplace in the fine new
house on Grand Avenue
(Caledonia) recently built by
1 M. fiurgess."
A bit' of biography has been
recorded by William Swaf-
field: "Dune. Rowan was the
jolly captain of the Plough-
boy, plying between
Goderich and the ports along
the Huron coast in I856. In
thtat year I shipped freight on
her to Kincardine. I think the
Ploughboy, was the first
steamboat that had sailed out
of Goderich. At that time
there was quite a business
with sail craft,.''
During- the Fenian Raid
period, several British
gunboats were based on
Goderich. from time to time,
,\ news item in the Toronto
G' Ieohe of November 8, 1866.
announced thaf H.M.S.
('helTib. would winter at
Goderich; H.M.S. Britomart
at 1)unville. and H.M.S.
Heron at Queen's Wharf.
Toronto.
These craft were of shallow
drift; Cheruu ,drew only. six
feet. She was powered by
steam: as well as sail:.
evidently their lordships of
the ;\dniiralty were not
convinced that steam had
come to • stay. Cherub had -
three masts and carried a full
spread of canvas. When the
ship was under full sail the ..
funnel could be lowered to the'
deck.
Cherub's guns, "one
mounted between main and
mizzen, the other betyveen
main and funnel." guarded
the Canadian shore of Lake
-Huron from raiders from 1866
to 1868. if the gunboat at any
time engaged the enemy. it Is
not in available records, but
opportunity was lost when the
present harbor here was -
completed without provision
for a large„shipyarsuch as.
now employs hundreds of
men at Collingwood. •From
commencement -of' the set-
tlement;. shipbuilding was an
important industry here, and
the Marlton yard turned out
schooners, tugs and even a
few steamers. With . the
steadily increasing. size 'of
lake carriers, the industry
here could only have survived
with proportionate equip-
ment.
In Will, Charles E. Goad.
C.' I' . of Montreal. made a
survey of Goderich• including.
the harbor buildings. and his
maps.' in color. come to light
at this time in a hardbound
book turned up by Miss Mari.
I'ohnston. South street. Three
short streets. Harbor. Water
and Beach, are shown run•
ning into the lower end of
West street. or Harbor Road
as we know it. Mr. Goad lists
three salt works: Dominion
Salt \\ orks. Joseph Kidd:
North American Chemical
Co . and F'eter MacEwan. In
1Yap. Mr. MacE:wan was
operating the Saltford plant,
and the Chemical Co, plant.
was the one near the Grand
Trunk station.'now Doh tar's
evaporator plant, As the map
shows a salt works right in
the middle of the area south
of the flout' .hill. and only"
three are named, this one
uuld have to he K idd's: He
Lias not the original owner.
and it may first have been
Richard Hawley's. Whoever
operated it in 1890. it was
heated, it says here, "by
exhaus.tstearn from the flour
mill
The survey lists two tan-
neries. operated by Smith &
I,ro and A and .1. Beck
1'itaning mills were operated
by Lames Buchanan, Francis
Snaect'h and Joseph K idd.
Mr Coad named eight
hotels;. Albion. Huron. British
i xchan'ge. Ocean House.
1 Ilion (Saltford i • Colborne.
nion and 1\"extern.
CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE ..
TOWN OF GODERICH
150th ANNIVERSARY
BRUINSMA CONSTRUCTION
RR 2
GODERICH 524 -9804` -
AND
BLUE HORIZON
POOLS
DIV. OF BRUINSMA CONST.
RR 2 GODERICH 524.9804
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