Clinton News-Record, 1984-07-11, Page 28PoRe
Bayfield harbor was established in pioneer times
By Elaine Townshend
For much of the 19th century, the Port of
Bayfield was the only refuge from storms
for schooners on the 85 mile shoreline from
Sarnia to Goderich.
In the 20th century, the port has become
the largest haven for pleasure boating, on
Lake Huron's west shore.
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 s ,1 veying,
to choose a town site during his study of the
Great Lakes.
Of all the coves the Admiral explored, he .
recommended the land on 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 the little arrn 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 II
business dropped and Mustard sold the mill.
BAT'FIEI.,D1
LUMBER
Box 70 Bayfield, Ontario
(519)565-2990
Later the site became a summer cabin area.
Harbor improvements
From 1875 to 1877, the Dominion
Government spent $50,000 and the Township
of Stanley added $10,000 to improve the
Bayfield Harbor. Work included dredging
the, river and lengthening the north pier.
In the mid -1800s, Bayfield Harbor was
used by grain shippers. Elevators were built
on the river flats. Some were made from
hemlock and were laid on top of another to
form warehouses 30 by 60 by 25 feet 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 that 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-
Goderich line was built in 1858 and the
London, Huron and Bruce line in 1876. Soon
grain shipments from Bayfield Harbor
ceased.
Fishing nets on reels were once a common
sight in Bayfield Harbor. 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 -stemmed) built on slipper 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 in Belle Island, 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,
THE
CHEESE
NOOK
"Your Corner Store
In Bayfield"
HIGHWAY 21 AT HURON ROAD 3
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in today...
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FREE DELIVERY
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*Variety Items
*Fresh Meats from
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-Zurich
WE'RE OPEN LONGER HOURS
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE
7 days a week 6:45 am -10 pm
Friday, Saturday, Sunday open
6:45 am -11 pm.
BAYFIELD
FLEA
MARKET
Beside the Cheese Nook
OPEN SATURDAY 8 SUNDAY
(Weather Permitting)
8 AM TILL 5 PM
Refreshments served on grounds.
Bayfield is renowned as the best and biggest boating harbor on the west side of Lake
Huron. Each summer hundreds of sailing enthusiasts cruise the warm waters of Lake
Huron and dock in the natural harbor on the Bayfield River. (Shelley McPhee photo)
a 14 ton tug, desinged and built by Bayfield
residents, was launched. The tug was towed
on a float down Main Streetto the harbor.
Captain F. L. MacMillen fished her out of the
Bayfield Harbor 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 harbor reached the
necessary thickness. Blocks were cut out
with saws, while a good number of
fishermen took a chilly dunking. In the
1930s, two villagers, Walter Westlake and
George Castle, invented an ice -cutting
machine to make harvesting easier.
In spring, floods plagued the harbor.
Many were caused by sandbars 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, boat
houses 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 harbor 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 10 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 against the steps on the beach. Two
years later another storm swept her out into
the lake, splitting the hull in two. There the
old wreck of the Malta remains.
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 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 same in the 1850s, another in the
1860s, a third in the . 1870s and a fourth near
the fish shanties in 1893. 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/gainednotoriety 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 built several decades ago, after
Highway 21 was altered to alleviate a sharp
left turn at the top of the hill.
Summer resort
Bayfield was recognized as a summer
resort as early as 1880. In the early 1900s,
boat houses rented out canoes, rowboats,
fishing poles and even bathing suits. Small
motor boats took passengers for half-hour
runs and larger boats took vacationers for
picnics to Goderich or Grand Bend on 10
hour trips.
Bayfield's " marinas, as they're known
today, got their start in 1925. William
Mustard operated the sawmill on the north
side of the river, just west of Highway 21 and
he 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 more than 35 boats in 1948,
It became the site of the first launch pad in
the Bayfield River. The docks were built by
volunteer4and they received free docking
space in return. Others paid $25 for a
season's docking privileges.
In 1951, the Bayfield Boat Club was
formed and in 1968 the Bayfield Yacht Club
received its charter.
Subsequent owners enlarged the marinas
and today they can accommodate 600 boats.
With the growth of the first marina and
addition of others, Bayfield Harbor has
become the largest port for pleasure craft
along Lake Huron - another chapter in the
history of the Port of Bayfield.
Canadian boating facts
1. There are approximately 2.3 million
pieasui e ciof owileQ if Cariada ALc;ut 15
percent of these are outboard -powered, 29
per cent 'are canoes, 10 per cent are
sailboats, 9 per cent are rowboats, 4 per cent
are sterndrive-powered, 1 per cent are
inboard -powered, and 2 per cent are
miscellaneous craft such as inflatables,
pedal boats, etc.
2. The estimated current market 'value of
the above is $4.8 billion.
3. There are 62.3 million days spent each
year in recreational boating.
4. Approximately 53 per cent of Canadians
participate in recreational boating each
year.
5. It is estimated that $2 billion is spent an-
nually directly on recreational bdating in
C hada .
6. There are approximately 720 Canadian
companies manufacturing recreational
marine products, and about 2,800 marine
retailers or marina operators.
7. About 46,100 man-years of employment
are provided annually by Canada's recrea-
tional marine industry, and the value of all
goods manufactured annually by the in-
dustry runs to about $525 million.
8. There are about 60,000 boats manufac-
tured in Canada each year, and about $87
million worth of these are exported.
9. Compared to the U.S.A., Canadians own
twice as many boats per capita.
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