Village Squire, 1980-07, Page 9town, was towed on a float down the main street to the harbour.
Captain R.L. MacMillen fished her out of Bayfield harbour until
his death in 1968.
Harvesting ice was another industry before the advent of
electric refrigerators and freezers. By late January or early
February, ice in the harbour reached the necessary thickness,
Blocks were cut out with saws, while a good number of fishermen
took a chilly dunking. In the 1930s, two village residents -Walter
Westlake and George Castle -invented an ice -cutting machine to
make harvesting easier.
Floods plagued the harbour. Many were caused by sandbars
which built up as waves swept in sand and winds felled trees
along the shore. The worst flood recorded was in March, 1904,
when tremendous ice jams caused flooding of residences,
boathouses and fish shanties on the flats, as well as damage to
mills, dams and bridges. Some people had to be rescued from
the second storeys of their homes.
Storms buffeted the harbour, and ship wrecks and daring
rescues were common. On one wild night in November 1882, a
three -masted schooner named "Malta", owned by Captain
Buckley of Chicago, ran aground. The crew of ten were rescued
with a breeches buoy attached to a tree from the ship. For years,
the marooned hull was used as a bath house. She floated in 1952,
and a storm dashed her against steps on the beach. Two years
later another storm swept her out into the lake, splitting the hull
in two. TUG TRAPPED
In March, 1955, a tug was trapped in ice in the lake for nine
days. The only way to save her was to haul her overland with a
bulldozer and slip her into the safety of the river -a journey that
took two days.
In the early days of the Port of Bayfield settlers forded the
river. They followed a path that Indians had used before them
which led down the hillside to the flats. Later they crossed at a
dam built for the mills by the Canada Company. A wooden
bridge was built just below the dam in the 1850's, another in
1860's, a third in 1870s, and a fourth near the fish shanties in
1893. Because the bridges were uncovered, they rotted quickly
and had to be replaced.
From 1905 to 1907, a narrow iron bridge was constructed near
Mustard's sawmill. One young man gained notoriety for diving
off the top of the bridge into the river. When cars became
popular, drivers waited until the opposite lane was clear or
crawled past each other hoping not to scrape any paint. Today's
concrete bridge was opened November 10, 1949, after Highway
21 had been altered to alleviate a sharp left turn at the top of the
hill.
SLIMMER RESORT
Bayfield was recognized as a summer resort as early as
1880. In early 1900s, boathouses rented out canoes, rowboats,
fishing poles and even bathing suits. Small motorboats took
passengers for half-hour runs, and large motorboats took
vacationers for picnics to Goderich or Grand Bend -ten hour trips.
The marinas of Bayfield, as we know them today, got their
start in 1925 when William Mustard operated a sawmill on the
north side of the river just west of Highway 21 and his wife
opened a small restaurant in the mill office.
The business changed hands several times until Mr. and Mrs.
Alf Scotchmer added docking space for 36 to 40 boats in 1948. It
became the site of the first launch pad in Bayfield River. The
docks were built by volunteers and they received free docking
space in return. Others paid 525 for a season's docking
privileges. In 1951, Bayfield Boat Club was formed, and in 1968
Bayfield Yacht Club received its charter.
Subsequent owners enlarged the marina to accommodate 220
boats and added a chalet -type restaurant and other modern
conveniences. With growth of first marina and addition of
others, Bayfield Harbour has become the largest port for
pleasure -craft along the Lake Huron coastline -another chapter in
the history of the Port of Bayfield.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1980 PG. 7
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