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Just a short drive west
of Muskoka, tucked away in a far corner of Parry Island on
Georgian Bay, are the remains of what was once the busiest
and most modern ports in Canada -- Depot Harbour.
The
jewel in the crown of lumber baron J.R. Booth's vast empire,
Depot Harbour was, by the end of the 19th Century, the
western-most terminus of the Canadian Atlantic
Railway. Constructed to help the entrepreneurial magnate
compete with his American rivals, it was soon handling close
to 20 million bushels of grain and 375 million board feet of
lumber each year -- records show that in 1899 more than half
of all Canadian grain sent to Europe via Montreal passed
through Depot Harbour. With easy access to the Great lakes,
Depot Harbour could handle any freighter, no matter how big.
One, the SS Williams R. Linn, reportedly delivered the
equivalent of 350 railway cars of grain to Depot Harbour in
one voyage, the largest cargo
ever transported between Great Lake ports.
Sadly, the town's rapid rise was equalled by its
spectacular demise.Bought out by the Grand Trunk Railway in
the early 1900s, the new owners tried to make the line more
efficient by cutting staff and stretching the system to
overload. By the time World War I broke out, all they'd
managed to do was create a massive deficit.
In
its heyday, Depot Harbour, with its neat and tidy streets,
had much to offer its 600 residents, including sports,
theatre and dancing. Today, while some reminders of the
town's once important role in Booth's empire still remain,
the place is a ghost town.
To visit Depot Harbour today, you have to enter Parry
Island -- just a few minutes west of Parry Sound -- over the
original swing bridge built to
carry the railway. Once over the bridge, make your way to
the Band Office of the island's Ojibwa Indian Tribe. The
tribe -- who have returned the island to its original name,
Wasauksing -- own all the land around Depot Harbour, and
visitors should first report to them before exploring the
town. Tribe members are generally pleased to point you in
the direction of the town's surviving landmarks.
Depot Harbour's former glory can still be seen in the
ruins of its locomotive Round House. Rising out of the
bushes like some Medieval ruin, the curve of the building's
foundations are still apparent. A few minutes drive away
you'll find the last remaining intact structure from Depot
Harbour's past, an old wooden home. Look carefully and
you'll even find
some of the old sidewalks that lined the streets.
The harbour itself is the highlight of a walk around
Dept Harbour's ruins. Still standing is the wharf where the
big lakers tied up to offload or take on cargo. A few
lengths of railway track remain, and a huge steam crane
stands guard over the old harbour, rusting away after years
of abandonment.
If you look carefully, you may be lucky enough to
find some early 20th century artefacts scattered in the
dense grass and shrubs, including
broken Depression-era glass.
Getting there
For additional information and some great photos of
Depot Harbour as it is today, visit the website at www.alusc.isys.ca/gho/
The site also contains details of other interesting ghost
towns in Ontario. Parry Sound is easily accessible from Muskoka along Highways
69 and 141. To get to Depot Harbour, take highway 69B from
Parry Sound to the Great North Road. Continue on to Rose
Point, where you will see the original swing bridge.
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