Old Time Canada – Coast to Coast

Tine for a break from my Covid-19 food and local scenery posts.  This rather long post features more of my old postcard collection.  It’s all about history plus ships and boats from coast to coast…and the focus is on Canada!

Laurie and I have visited both Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia and we love the area.  Big ferry boats still maintain a busy schedule taking vehicles and people back and forth between the 2 cities.  Victoria is located across the Straits of Georgia on Vancouver Island while Vancouver (the city) is on the mainland.

This postcard is one of the few that I own that was never mailed, doesn’t have a stamp on it and lacks a message.  I just liked the picture!  The names of the ships in the fleet of the coastal vessels operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway all started with “Princess”.  The 330 foot long SS Princess Charlotte was built in Glasgow Scotland.  She was in service by 1908, transporting up to 1,200 passengers at a time.  This ship was one of CPR’s vessels that made the regular ‘triangle run’ from Vancouver to Victoria, then onto Seattle Washington USA, and back to Vancouver.

This postcard that was mailed in November of 1911 shows the harbor at Victoria British Columbia.  FYI, Victoria is the Provincial Capital.  Two of the Canadian Pacific Railroads steamships are in the harbor and the famous Empress Hotel is shown off to the left.  Laurie and I love Victoria and we’ve been in but have not stayed at the Empress Hotel.  FYI, this was a coast-to-coast Canadian postcard with it being addressed to someone in St. John, New Brunswick.

The Empress Hotel is a Chateauesque-style 8-story building.  It was opened by Canadian Pacific Hotels (a division of CPR) in January 1908.  The hotel was expanded twice and a major $60 million restoration was completed in June of 2017.  To learn more about this hotel, its 412 rooms, 52 suites and 4 restaurants, go to https://www.fairmont.com/empress-victoria/.  The hotel is closed for now due to the Covid-19 pandemic…

This is the SS Princess Victoria, another of CPR’s fleet of luxury ships that really were small ‘ocean liners’ with many of the larger ships luxury appointments.  This 300 foot long ship was built in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne in England and she was delivered to CPR in Vancouver in 1903.  Like the Princess Charlotte, she served on the ‘triangle route’.  

In August of 1914, during heavy fog she rammed and sank an American ship that was en-route to Juneau Alaska.  Quick action by the Victoria’s captain saved almost all of the passengers and crew from the other ship.  The Princess Victoria’s useful life ended after being converted as a bulk oil carrier in 1951 and then sinking after striking a rock in a narrow passage in 1953.

This particular postcard wasn’t mailed too far in October 1912, just from Vancouver British Columbia Canada to Tacoma Washington USA.  Keeping in mind that back in the early 1900s, postcards served the purpose that texts and emails do today…sending short messages quickly to friends and relatives.  In this case the sender told Mrs. Stanley “Got your card Mary, am very tickled too”…and “Why didn’t you write sooner?”

This postcard showing what Vancouver’s waterfront/harbor looked like ca. 1913, was mailed to Duluth Minnesota USA.  Peter reported that he “had a good skate last night” but that there was snow there and he had “10 inches of slush to wade through”.  With its beautiful harbor and surrounding mountains, Vancouver is one of the prettiest big cities we've ever visited.

The city of Vancouver wasn’t incorporated until April of 1886.  By 1891, the city’s population only numbered 13,709.  However, by the time this postcard was mailed, 22 years later, the population was over 100,000!  Today Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the third largest port in North America.  The city is also very diverse.  26.5% of the population is Chinese and about 53% of its residents don’t speak English as their first language. 

From the west coast of Canada to the Great Lakes area.  This postcard from 1910 was mailed from Ashtabula Ohio USA to Duluth Minnesota USA…but it shows the locks at Sault Ste. Marie Ontario Canada.  Since both Duluth and Ashtabula were and are both ports on the Great Lakes, I’m guessing that the sender and/or recipient of the postcard had something to do with shipping.

 

In 1910, only 2 locks existed at Sault Ste. Marie.  Note: Cities with the same name are located in the USA and Canada just across the St. Mary’s River.  When this postcard was sent, one lock was operating on the Canadian side and another was on the US side.  Both locks were built in order for shipping to be able to bypass the rapids on the river…a fall of 21 feet.  Lake Superior is at the north end of the river and Lake Huron is at the south end.  The first locks were actually opened in 1855!

Today, the only remaining lock on the Canadian side is primarily operated for leisure craft.  The other locks regularly handle about 7,000 ships (lake carriers and ocean going freighters) per year with about 86,000,000 tons of cargo.  The largest ships are 1,000 feet long.  Keep in mind that all this traffic takes place once the lakes are ice free enough to allow safe navigation.  Laurie and I have visited the locks and both Sault Ste. Marie’s and it’s a very interesting destination.

OK, I know that the Maid of the Mist tour boat at Niagara Falls is actually located on the US side of the river…but the best part of the tour is the approach to the magnificent falls on the Canadian side.  This 1910 postcard also shows the Canadian side of the bridge over the Niagara River below the falls.  Again, there are 2 cities with the same name…Niagara Falls New York and Niagara Falls Ontario.  FYI, this card was sent from Niagara Falls NY to Batavia Illinois.

Before 1846, rowboats ferried passengers across the river below the falls.  In 1846, the first Maid of the Mist steamboat was built.  It was large enough to carry a stagecoach and horses.  But in 1848 a suspension bridge brought this commercial venture to a stop and the business was ‘rebranded’ as a sightseeing adventure.  The postcard pictures “Maid of the Mist I”.  She operated between 1892 and 1955.  I lost my rain hat overboard from this vessel ca. 1951...the same year that my 'beloved' wife was born.    

The original suspension bridge across the river was the idea of a Canadian to increase commerce.  It was built by companies from both countries.  That wooden bridge stood until 1897 and it was the world’s first working railway suspension bridge.  The bridge shown on the postcard is the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge.  It replaced the older bridge in 1897 and its still in use, with one level for trains and the other for non-commercial vehicles.  This bridge is located just north of the Rainbow Bridge, which is a much newer crossing for vehicles that was built in 1941. 

This postcard that was mailed in 1908 shows the Niagara River Line Steamer “Chippewa”.  The card was sent from Toronto Ontario to Miss Ruth Mumma in Mt. Morris Illinois.  Mae Aubrey told Ruth that she “crossed to Canada on this boat with 2,000 people”.

The Niagara Navigation Company was formed in 1877.  The Chippewa went into service in 1894.  This 308 foot-long steamship could carry 2,000 passengers.  Her finished ornamentation included intricate gold decorative trail boards on the deck rail and carved Chippewa Chieftain Heads on the center of each paddlebox. (The latter covered the paddle wheels)

There were 5 ships in the company’s fleet and they made six trips each day between Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, making the latter port the busiest Canadian port for steamer traffic on Lake Ontario.  Lewiston New York was another popular port.  At Niagara-on-the-Lake or Lewiston, passengers could connect by railway for excursions to Niagara Falls, Buffalo and many other destinations.  At the peak of the summer season, as many as 26,000 passengers traveled these steamship routes each day!

This is one of my oldest postcards…dated in November 1907…mailed to a destination in the Province of Quebec.  The Modjeska, a 178 foot-long steel hulled day passenger steamer, was built in 1888-1889 in Yoker, Scotland.  In May of 1889, she began a 34-year career carrying passengers and fruit between Toronto, Hamilton and Port Dalhousie.  Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s it was much easier to take a steamer between Toronto and Hamilton Ontario than it was to go by road…even though they’re only about 40 miles apart. 

  

In the spring of 1926, the Modjeska was purchased by the Owen Sound Transportation Company and she was renamed “Manitoulin”.  The ship spent her next 23 years serving the Lake Huron/Owen Sound “Turkey Trail”, finally being retired in 1949.  FYI, the name “Turkey Trail” was given to the east-west water route from Georgian Bay along the North Channel and up the St. Mary’s River (through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie) to Lake Superior.  The name either stemmed from the erratic route the ships followed to various ports of call or because of the turkeys they transported from Manitoulin Island.

This is another postcard that dates back to 1907.  It depicts a scene with 3 steamers at the harbor in Pugwash Nova Scotia, Canada.  Strangely, it was mailed from Brazil (Complete with stamp) and it was sent to Miss F. Keller in Corona on Long Island in New York USA. 

We’ve been to Nova Scotia 2 or 3 times…and we’ve done the ‘figure-8’ route around the southern portion of the Province and Cape Breton Island…but we’d never heard of Pugwash.  Pugwash is a village in Cumberland County Nova Scotia...population 736.  It’s on the isthmus connecting the main portion of the Province to the rest of Canada.

Soon after the American Revolutionary War, UK Empire Loyalists fled the United States for Canada.  Looking for a better life, Britons, Scots and Irish also arrived.  The native’s name for the area, “Pagwe’ak” was translated to ‘Pugwash’.  FYI, Pugwash is just a minor harbor/port today… “Pagwe’ak” actually translates to “shallow water” as there is a reef near the entrance to the harbor, a real problem these days given our large ships.  However back in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, the smaller freighters of the day stopped here to pick up loads of lumber, bricks and sandstone.  Today some small freighters do stop here for a load of salt from a local mine. 

At least 2 former residents of Pugwash are worthy of note… First there is Cyrus Eaton.  He founded what developed into Canada’s Continental Gas and Electric Corporation, then he built Republic Steel in the USA and was later Chairman of the Board for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.   

The second ‘famous’ person from Pugwash was James Dewar.  He created something that makes my wife happy even today and which is more lasting than Eaton’s Republic Steel or the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad!  In 1931, as a plant manager for Hostess Brands, Dewar created a shortcake with cream on the inside.  Having seen a billboard for a shoe company called the “Twinkle Toe Shoe Co.”, he was inspired to call his new invention, a “Twinkie”!

   

That’s all for now.  Just click on any of the postcards to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Sightseeing in Days Past

The earliest long trip or vacation that I recall happened ca. 1952 or so.  I was about 10 years old.  We drove from our home in Jackson Michigan all the way to Sidney Mines Nova Scotia both to 'sightsee' and visit my stepfather’s family along the way.  There weren’t any expressways, motels were rare and most nights we stayed in roadside cabins.  We returned to Jackson via a route that took us through Greenwich Connecticut where we visited my mother's sister and her family…

Even today, that trip would take a minimum of 6 hard driving days…10 hours per day with stops and over 3,200 miles.  My stepfather, Hugh Thomson, managed that drive, sightseeing and the family visits along with my mother Elizabeth, my grandmother Estelle Weed, my brother Robert and me…in just 16 days!  

So…thinking about that early adventure, I started perusing my old time travel related collectibles just to see what I had been given or purchased here and there, items showing what North American travelers might have seen should they have hit the road or taken a train on vacation ca. 1943 and earlier.

One of the old-time souvenirs I’d acquired was this little packet of photos showing a number of views of New York City…a long time tourist draw for people around the world.

This packet of photos of New York City landmarks was published by Alfred Mainzer.  His address at this time was at 118 East 28^th Street…but later his then postcard and greeting card company operated out of an address in Queens at 39-33 29^th Street. 

Based on the automobiles in the second photo, it appears that this photo folder was from the late 1930s.  I’m guessing that this souvenir packet effort preceded Alfred’s later success with his greeting card/postcard company.  Both the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are in the first photo…and they were completed in 1930 and 1931 respectively.

Even today, at 1,454 feet to the tip of its spire, the Empire State Building is the 6^th tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere.  As for tourists, the observation decks are visited by over 4,000,000 visitors per year!

FYI, Alfred Mainzer’s card company was founded in 1938.  Mainzer’s cards featured artist renditions of ‘dressed dogs’, ‘dressed mice’, ‘dressed hedgehogs’ and most famously, ‘dressed cats’.  They were published from the 1940s into the 1960s.  From what I can tell, the company still exists, (Alfred Mainzer, Inc.), now operating out of Astoria NY.  

To view some of the cat pictures, (human bodies with cat faces, paws, etc.), you can just go to https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=alfred+mainzer+cats&id=DE34811474B9CCC421232FCE2FCDF1609A868153&FORM=IQFRBA.

Staying with New York City, this World’s Fair souvenir and advertising card depicts the Murray Hill Hotel.  It was located at 112 Park Avenue.  The hotel was built in 1884 with 600 rooms and 2 courtyards.  It was part of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels chain.  The hotel was torn down in 1947. 

The card with its horse-drawn carriages doesn’t seem appropriate for the 1939 World’s Fair.  More likely but still questionable, was the Bronx International Exposition of Science, Arts and Industries, which was held in 1918.  Partially due to the ongoing struggles of World War I, it was considered a failure.

The Murray Hill Hotel was advertised as being practically fire-proof due to its construction…with stone, iron and cement almost exclusively used plus the exclusion of wood in the walls, floors, staircases, etc.  The hotel also had a powerful fire safety system with roof-top tanks holding 14,000 gallons of water with a hose on each floor for fire suppression. 

I was interested to find one of these Murray Hill Hotel advertising/souvenir cards for sale on the Internet for $69.99.

Talk about sightseeing!  This giant chocolate 2,200 lb. sculpture was on exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair aka The World’s Columbian Exposition…  I wonder how they kept visitors from chipping off a piece of goodness here and there!

Stollwerck Chocolates was founded in Germany in 1839.  By the early 1890s there were over 4,000 of its vending machines in New York train stations! Its US branch, Volkmann, Stollwerck and Company was founded in 1894 and by 1900 the company was the second largest producer of chocolate in the USA. 

FYI…Chicago’s Columbian Exposition attracted 27,300,000 tourists from around the world… They came by foot, carriage, horseback, boat and train.  Consider this.  The population of the USA in 1890 was only 62,979,766.  Today our population is around 329,500,000.

This tourist packet or folder contains 16 views in and around Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) and Lake Mead.  The dam is located on the Colorado River on the border between Arizona and Nevada.  It was completed in 1936.  The dam was called Boulder Dam from 1933 (during construction) until 1947.  In 1947, Congress renamed the Dam to honor President Herbert Hoover.

This particular tourist souvenir was sent to Nathan and Estelle Weed, my grandparents, by my Uncle Nathan Jr., on July 27, 1943.  Note the 3 cent “Win the War” stamp as well as the cancellation asking recipients to “buy War Savings Bonds and Stamps”.  This folder of images has a copyright of 1935…right after the dam was dedicated but before the final work on the project were finished and the dam was turned over to the government.

Did you know…112 deaths were reported that were related to the building of Boulder/Hoover Dam, including 3 suicides.

I’ve only included 2 of the 16 pictures in this little portfolio.  The first one shows Boulder City.  This town was originally built in 1931 by the US Bureau of Reclamation and Six Companies, Inc. as housing for the workers who built the dam.  Boulder City was controlled by the Federal government until 1959.

Alcohol had been banned since the town’s inception and it wasn’t allowed until 1969.  Gambling is still prohibited within the city.  Boulder City, with an estimated population of over 16,000, is one of only 2 towns in Nevada that doesn’t allow gambling.  Panaca, a town of less than 1,000 residents is the other exception.

The history of Boulder City is fairly interesting.  You can learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder_City,_Nevada.

The second photo shows the boat landing near Boulder City.  It appears that the lake wasn’t quite at capacity when the photo was taken.  Lake Mead was originally called the Boulder Dam Recreation area.  In 1947 it was changed to the Lake Mead National Recreation area.  While 186,000 acres of the Recreation Area are water filled (if the lake is up), the total recreation area covers 1,495,806 acres.  It’s still a very popular tourist destination, with 7,578,958 visitors recorded in 2018!    

This is the photo on the back cover of the picture portfolio.  Even as early as 1935 the lake was filling up and tourists were visiting the area.  Given the enormous demands for water by cities in the Southwestern USA and a long term reduction in rainfall and snow pack, the lake is currently only at about 40% of its total capacity.  Despite this fact, cruises are still offered to tourists and they remain popular.  The type of boat being used has changed just a bit though.  Currently the Desert Princess, a 3-level Mississippi style paddlewheel with the capacity for 275 passengers is plying the lake all the way to Hoover Dam.

To learn more about the cruising options and pricing for a tour of Lake Mead, go to https://www.lakemeadcruises.com/.

Now for a little about the company that produced this collection of Boulder Dam and Boulder Lake views.  Curt Otto Teich (1877 – 1974) was a publisher of popular color postcards, usually depicted scenes from American life.  His company, Curt Teich and Company (Chicago IL) became the world’s largest printer of view and advertising postcards.  Teich employed hundreds of traveling salesmen who sold postcards to homeowners, convinced businesses to create advertising postcard and who photographed and helped idealize the images they created. 

The company closed in 1978 and the family donated the company archives.  Eventually, the collection, comprised of 2,500,000 items with 500,000 post card images, ended up in Chicago’s Newberry Library.  If you’re interested in seeing some of the images Teich’s company published, you can go to http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/nby_teich.

My second New York City souvenir picture folder is at least 10 years older than the first one.  I can’t read the postmark, but it only cost 2 cents to send this portfolio and based on what I can read, it’s probably from 1928.  The publisher was the H.H. Tammen Co. 

Much like Curt Teich, Harry Tammen (1856 – 1924) was a real entrepreneur!  More diverse than Teich, he was especially focused on minerals, selling specimens, collections, decorative products studded with minerals plus he published a promotional journal entitled “Western Echoes” which dealt with natural history, botany, minerals and more.  At some point he included humorous and scenic postcards in his collection of products.   

This particular picture folder was focused on New York City skyscrapers.  The Woolworth Building was completed in 1913 and it stood 60 stories tall!  It was the tallest building in the world until 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building were completed in 1930.  One can only imagine the crowds of tourists that it must have attracted!

By the 1920s, the Woolworth Building had more than 1,000 different tenants who in turn employed over 12,000 people!  Of interest to me is that the New York University School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs leases space in the building. (Our oldest grandson attends the University) The building has been completely refurbished and the top 30 floors have been converted to private residences. (Great location!)

This picture from Herald Square looking up Broadway is part of the reason I dated this portfolio ca. 1928.  It’s all about the vehicles in use.  Another picture showing 5^th Avenue at 42^nd Street adds credibility to my dating of this tourist souvenir. 

Herald Square is formed by the intersection of Broadway, the Avenue of the Americas and 34^th Street in Manhattan.  It was named for the New York Herald, a daily newspaper that ceased operations in 1924.  Those elevated tracks in the picture used to run up the Avenue of the Americas. (Sixth Avenue)

As for Harry Tammen, he was actually based in Denver Colorado where he had a number of stores operating under the name H.H. Tammen Curio Company.  Currently his historic 10,000 sq. ft. home in Denver is undergoing a full restoration.  To learn more about Tammen, you can go to https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?page=1&colid=546 and to learn about his ‘business dealings’ with Buffalo Bill Cody, just go to https://truewestmagazine.com/how-to-steal-a-wild-west-show/.

Finally, the weirdest of all tourist attractions…at least among my memorabilia.  Today we have the Kardashians and a plethora of on-line celebrities and ‘influencers’ but in late May of 1934, the Dionne Quintuplets were born…and the world went wild!

These 5 girls were the first quintuplets known to survive infancy.  The identical sisters were born near the village of Corbeil Ontario…not too far from North Bay.  All 5 girls survived to adulthood with two of them, Annette and Cecile still living today.

The Dionne sisters were born two months prematurely.  After about 4 months with their family, their custody was signed over to the Red Cross, which paid for their care and actually oversaw the building of a hospital/nursery/home for the girls.

…but the story gets weirder, at least by today’s standards.  Less than a year after the agreement with the Red Cross was signed, the Provincial Government of Ontario stepped in and passed the Dionne Quintuplets’ Guardianship Act of 1935.  This act made them Wards of the Crown until they were 18 years old.  It didn’t take long after the government took control of the girls before the provincial government and those around them began to profit by making them a significant tourist attraction.

In the photo shown above, believe it or not, that isn’t the quint’s father, but rather it is Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn posing with the babies.

As the preceding photo shows, finding a parking place to view the girls could be a challenge.  It was all about commerce/tourism!

When the quint’s father Oliva was approached by fair exhibitors to put the girls on display for Chicago’s Century of Progress Exhibition, he signed them up and in 1935, several stage appearances were made.  Note: At the time it was not unusual for so-called “incubator babies” to be displayed at fairs and other events.

Back home in Canada, Oliva operated a souvenir shop and a woolen store across the road from the nursery and the area became known as “Quintland”…hence the name on my souvenir folders.  The souvenirs featured the 5 sisters and included autographs, frame photos, spoons, cups, plates, plaques, candy bars, books, postcards and dolls.  A bin contained free stones from the area that claimed to have the magical power of fertility…and the bins had to be refilled every day.

The quintuplets accounted for more than $50 million in tourist revenue for Ontario. (Equivalent to $872,000,000 in today’s Canadian dollars) The girls were a bigger tourist attraction than the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.  Movie stars that visited the Quints included Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bette Davis and James Cagney to name a few.  The sister’s likenesses and images were also used to promote commercial products.  These included Karo corn syrup and Quaker Oats along with many other items.

The lines at “Quintland” to see the Dionne Quintuplets was every bit as long as one might expect for the newest hottest ride at Disney World.  It is a bit mind blowing!

This was the Dafoe Hospital and Nursery that was built right across the road from their birthplace.  They lived here until they were 9 years old.  The outdoor playground was designed as a public observation area.  Tourists could view the sisters behind one-way screens.  The girls were brought to the playground for public viewing 2 – 3 times a day.  The day to day staff consisted of 3 nurses and 3 police officers plus a housekeeper with 2 maids.  The complex was completely surrounded by a 7’ barbed-wire fence.  About 3,000 tourists viewed the Quints every day from the observation gallery.  Almost 3,000,000 people walked through the gallery between 1936 and 1943. 

In 1942, the Dionne family moved in with the Quints while they waited for their new home to be completed.  In late 1943, they made the move.  The big brick, 20-room mansion was paid for via the Quint’s fund and it was fairly luxurious with telephones, electricity and hot water.  These days it’s a retirement home…

There is a lot more to this story than I could include in this post…and much of it is ugly.  Suffice it to say, once the girls had their eighteenth birthday, they moved out of their parent’s home and didn’t look back.  In addition, the then 3 remaining sisters reached a $2.8 million settlement in 1998 with the Ontario Provincial government as compensation for their exploitation. For more about the Dionne Quintuplets and their long complex, sad and incredible example of financial and personal abuse, go to 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_quintuplets.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

North to Canada…Almost!

…continuing with our summertime adventures in New England.

Following our brunch and a quick look around Shelburne Farms and its Inn, we still had daylight left.  I consulted my map (yes, a real map!) to see where we might explore.  What the heck…let’s head up toward the United States-Canada border to see what that area is like!

Since we like backroads, we avoided I-89 north and stuck to US Hwy 7 and VT Hwy. 36 north.  We had no idea what we might see along the way…

Along our way north, we came to the town of St. Albans Vermont.  One of the first things I spotted was the fact that St. Albans has an active Amtrak Railway station/platform.  The 2-story brick building on the right down the tracks serves at the passenger station.  Formerly a switch house, it was built ca. 1900.

St. Albans is the northern USA terminus for Amtrak’s ‘Vermonter’.  Since 1995, the ‘Vermonter’ has operated 1 train every day to and from St. Albans to Washington D.C.  This route is primarily financed by the Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut Departments of Transportation.  This train used to be called the ‘Montrealer’ as it continued north into Quebec Canada to the city of Montreal.  That service was discontinued... 

St. Albans and St. Albans Town (latter surrounds St. Albans) have a total population of about 12,900, with about 49,000 in the County.

Note: 

• If you enlarge it and look closely at this photo, the old locomotive ‘roundhouse’ can be seen along the tracks to the upper left.  I just missed it when I was there…

Service to St. Albans on the Vermont Central Railway began in 1851.  A new station and this adjacent office building were completed in 1867.  It was part of a major construction project of the railroad’s main shops.  Service under the Central Vermont Railway, later part of the Grand Trunk Railway and the Canadian National Railway ceased in 1966.  The old station was razed in 1963…

The New England Central Railroad began operations in 1995.  It is a subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming.  It operates from New London Connecticut to Alburgh Vermont at the Canadian border…a distance of 366 miles.  The St. Albans rail yard is the largest railyard in Vermont, handling up to 40,000 cars a year.  Back in 1902, Vermont Central Railway had 1,700 employees in St. Albans alone…

St. Albans House at 60 Lake Street was built ca. 1840.  Originally it was built as a 2-story hotel in the Greek revival style.  It was intended to lodge travelers from the stage road.  But, with the increased number of travelers that the railroad brought to town, the 2 upper stories with that Mansard roof were added in the 1870s.  From what I could determine, it is now an apartment building.

Note:

·       On 10/19/1864, St. Albans was the site of the St. Albans Raid.  This was the northernmost Confederate land action in the Civil War.  A total of 21 Confederate cavalrymen came south across the Canadian border (then part of the British Empire) and carried out a raid, robbing 3 banks in the process.  They killed one armed civilian and wounded 2 others, returning to Canada with a total of $208,000 ($3,330,000 in 2019 dollars).  To read more about this incident, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Albans_Raid.

This 2-story corner building at 1 Federal Street was originally occupied by the St. Albans Foundry and Implement Company.  The Foundry greatly contributed to early industry in the area.  It made castings for the railroad, silage cutters, fodder shredders, threshing machines, circular saws and many other products.  It was established in 1840 and it ceased operation in 1911.  It was then turned into a cigar making shop.  

Today, both this building and the adjacent structure have been converted into a restaurant.  The Old Foundry Restaurant can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheOldFoundryatOneFed/about/?ref=page_internal.   

As the signs indicate, this Romanesque revival beauty was recently occupied by Vermont State Offices and as well as the District Court.  If my research is correct, the employees who worked here have moved nearby to a new building.  Originally this structure was built in 1895 as the US Customs House and Post Office.  It had almost been completed in that year when it was gutted by the ‘great fire of 1895’.  The historic value of the building is being discussed by local government…

Regarding the ‘great fire of 1895’, a woman was heating her curling iron over a kerosene lamp near the lumber yard.  The lamp exploded, scattering the flames.  Before the fire could be extinguished, the fire burned over 50 acres sweeping the heart of the business district, wiping out 50 business places and 75 houses in only 3 hours!  A hundred homeless families were sheltered in local churches and schools…  

My timing was good… New England Central Railroad’s locomotive 1750 is an EMD SD9 and it was built by Electro-Motive Diesel in 1959.  EMD built 515 of these 1,750 HP locomotives between 1954 and 1959.  This locomotive will be 60 years old in April of this year.

FYI… Electro-Motive Diesel is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives and related parts.  It used to be a division of General Motors but now it’s owned by Progress Rail Services.  I was surprised to learn that Progress Rail Services is a subsidiary of Caterpillar!

This building is part of the Central Vermont Railroad Headquarters listing on the National Register of Historic Places.  This complex of railroad-related buildings and infrastructure was developed between the 1860s and 1920s by the Central Vermont Railroad (CVR).  The 12 buildings listed are the largest grouping of railroad related building in Vermont. 

I’m unsure what this building was but the grouping includes the general offices, a freight station, platforms, a passenger depot, roundhouse and various maintenance shops and repair sheds.  As you can see, this old structure is occupied by Mylan Technologies.  That company designs, develops and manufactures transdermal drug delivery systems as well as a variety of other products.

It’s only 15 miles from St. Alban Vermont before you come to the border with Canada.  No surprise to see the Border Patrol cruising along the road.   

As we rolled along the shore of the northern segment of Lake Champlain Laurie took this photo of Ospreys on their nest…

This is the US Hwy. 11 border crossing (USA facility) at the Canadian border.  It’s just north of Rouses Point New York.  

   

US Hwy. 11 is 1,645 miles long.  Its southern terminus is at US Hwy. 90 in the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in the eastern part of New Orleans Louisiana.  This is the northern terminus…the Rouses Point – Lacolle 223 Border Crossing.

We use US Hwy. 11 all the time.  It runs right through Loudon County and Knox County Tennessee.  In Knox County it’s named Kingston Pike and in this area of the country it’s referred to as the Lee Highway.  Given the current political climate, it’s just a matter of time before this ‘southern’ name is changed… 

Rouses Point’s Delaware and Hudson Railway terminal was built in 1889 and later abandoned.  In October 2009, it was reported that Senator Hillary Clinton had secured $750,000 for the village to restore it.  So the Village of Rouses Point and the Rouses Point-Champlain Historical Society restored this Romanesque brick and stone train station at 68 Pratt Street.  It now serves as the Rouses Point History and Welcome Center.

Although Amtrak serves Rouses Point along its Adirondack Route between New York City and Montreal Quebec Canada, this stop offers no shelter…just the boarding platform next to the old depot.  

Rouses Point New York was named after Jacques Roux, a French Canadian soldier who fought alongside the American forces during our War for Independence.  The village is only a mile from the Canadian border.  It was first settled ca. 1783 by Canadian refugees who were granted tracts of land as a reward for their services with the American Army during the Revolutionary War. 

   

The proximity of the Village to the Canadian border has greatly influenced its history.  Before and during the Civil War, it was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, which many former slaves used to escape to freedom.  During Prohibition (1923 – 1933), the town was popular with smugglers who transported illegal alcohol into the USA.  Three speakeasies, one named the “Bucket of Blood”, operated nightly and the forces of organized crime came to the area. 

As we drove across the US Hwy. 2 Bridge from Grand Isle County Vermont to Clinton County New York we noticed a lot of police and first responder watercraft activity…as well as scuba operations.  Later we learned that a Vermont resident had jumped off the bridge, committing suicide. 

This is Fort Montgomery.  It is the second of 2 American forts built at the northern end of Lake Champlain.  The first fort is commonly referred to as ‘Fort Blunder’.  Construction began on the first fort in 1816.  It was an octagonal structure with 30 foot high walls and its mission was to protect against an attack from British Canada.  Then it was discovered that the fort had actually been built on the Canadian side of the border…hence, ‘Fort Blunder’!

Fort Montgomery, a massive stone fortification, was built over the years between 1844 and 1871.  It was actually built on Island Point, the same location as the first fort.  The difference was that the border had been adjusted in favor of the USA after the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.  The fort was named after Revolutionary War hero, General Richard Montgomery.  He was killed at Quebec City in Canada during the American invasion of Canada.   The peak of the construction effort was during the American Civil War due to rumors that Britain might intervene on behalf of the Confederacy. 

Fort Montgomery has a long and complex history both during its time as a fort as well as following its abandonment.  To learn more, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Montgomery_(Lake_Champlain). 

Alternatively, you could just purchase the fort along with the 260 acre property for only $1,400,000.  Check it out along with a couple of photos at https://www.denisonyachtsales.com/2018/08/fort-montgomery-an-island-steeped-in-history/.

For our drive back to Burlington, I decided to take US Hwy. 2 down the Lake Champlain Islands.  This was a view of Lake Champlain and the low mountains in the distance.  It was taken toward the northern end of our route south.

Grand Isle County has a population of about 7,000.  It is the second-least populous and the smallest county in the State of Vermont.  It consists of a peninsula (an enclave known as the Alburgh Tongue) and a number of islands.  The 3 major islands are La Motte, North Hero and South Hero.   

This old single room schoolhouse is referred to as Grand Isle School #4.  It was built in 1814.  It’s more complex than it appears.  It was constructed of 12” thick squared off logs which were filled in with lime and sand mortar.  Then 1.5” thick planks were nailed to the outside of the logs…and clapboards were nailed over the planks.

Note:

·       When the Revolutionary War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Vermont’s border with Quebec Canada was established at 45 degrees north latitude.  This explains the “Alburgh Tongue” and why Grand Isle County lacks a dry-land connection to the rest of the United States.

The Hyde Log Cabin is situated along US Hwy. 2 near the one-room school shown above.  This cabin was built in 1783 by Jedediah Hyde, Jr.  He surveyed the Grand Isle area for Ira and Ethan Allen.  Hyde and his wife raised 19 children in this cabin and it was owned and occupied by the Hyde family for 150 years.  

It’s significant to note that this is believed to be the oldest log cabin in the United States!  The cabin is owned and operated as a historic house museum by the Grand Isle Historical Society.

Back to our Hampton Inn in Colchester near Burlington!  It had been a long day and we 1) didn’t want to explore anymore, 2) wanted something simple for dinner and 3) we didn’t want to drive very far.  So we stayed in Colchester and headed over to City Sports Grill which is attached to an operation named Spare Time Entertainment.

Inside City Sports Grill there was a cacophony of HDTV screens, sports memorabilia, beer signs, lots of wood, a couple of hunting trophies and even a race car dangling from the ceiling… It was sports craze meets north woods ambiance tempered by a ceiling that was pure industrial design.

The overall complex isn’t called Spare Time Entertainment for no reason!  This brightly and colorfully lighted bowling alley was right through the doors from the Sports Grill.  In addition to bowling, this complex also features laser tag and around 50 arcade games…

For her evening repast, Laurie went for a double Tito’s Vodka and Tonic with 2 slices of lime. ($7.75) We shared an order of Crispy Pickles, 6 slices of hearty dill pickles, battered and fried, then served with a nice Sriracha aioli. ($6.00) The pickles were pretty good.

Her ‘entrée’ in the photo was a Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich…with both Swiss and American cheese. ($7.00) The sandwich was cheesy and satisfying too.  

A number of sides can be ordered with your sandwiches/entrees.  They include French Fries, Crisp Golden Tots, Seasoned Broccoli, Mac and Cheese, Fresh Seasonal Vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Coleslaw.  We both opted for the relatively healthy coleslaw...

I started out with my usual Miller Lite and shared those fried pickles with my bride.  Then I ordered the Firecracker Burger. ($13.00) This medium rare 8 oz. burger is topped with jalapeno honey bacon, Sriracha aioli, pepper jack cheese, lettuce and sliced tomato.  I left the onions off…

For a restaurant/grill attached to a bowling alley the food was better than I would have imagined.  It was all good and the menu was wide ranging too.  The City Sports Grill offered pizza, salads, a variety of sandwiches, fried fish, salmon and shrimp, a steak and more.

Spare Time Entertainment is a small New England based chain with 17 locations in 10 states.  This even includes 2 in Tennessee!  Besides the locations in Vermont and Tennessee, family owned Spare Time Entertainment has operations in Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina.  Their website is at http://www.sparetimeentertainment.com/.

…and so ended the thirteenth day of our August 2018 adventure!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave