The Canatara Park Binders, Chapter 4 (Lambton County Archives)

Chapter 4 Industrial Activities, 1920 - 1932 - Map: Canatara Area

1923

- SCPC plant fire

1923

- Map: Sarnia area

1925- 26

- HSGC operations

1924 – 31

- SCPC operations

1926 – 26

- Map: CNR Land Transfers

1926 – 29

- White property - Merlo & Ray property and plans - Merlo and Ray pier and gravel excavation - SCPC operations

1929 – 36

- Merlo & Ray operations

1930 – 32

- I.O.L. dumping operations

1929 – 32

- White subdivision plans

1932

- Map: Activities and operations in Canatara area

1923 – 32

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Summary of the Industrial Activities in the Canatara Area: 1920 – 1932 During the 1920 – 1932 period the following companies were using sections of the future park for industrial purposes.

1. The railway sand mining in the dunes continued until 1931. The CNR took over this operation in 1923 and used a steam shovel to excavate the sand.

During this period hundreds of railcar loads of sand were taken out every year.

2. In 1924 the Huron Sand & Gravel Company obtained a water lot in Lake Huron off the Canatara beach and in 1925 built a loading dock in the lot. In 1925 and 1926 a dredge and the dock were used to ship out sand and gravel from this section of the lake.

3. The Sarnia Cement Products Company used a dragline to remove sand and gravel from what is now the western end of Canatara beach. Several agreements were also made with Merlo, Merlo & Ray concerning sand and gravel removal rights in the SCPC property.

4. From 1927 to 1931 Merlo, Merlo & Ray, a Windsor construction company excavated large amounts of sand and gravel from the SCPC property. Most of this material was removed by boats that dredged out the eastern section of the Yacht Club basin. In 1927 this firm purchased two parcels totalling 52.7 acres from the CNR which included most of the Canatara beach. In 1931 it merged with several other construction firms to form the Canada Paving & Supplies Corporation. During the merger the Canatara property was divided between the John Ray and the Windsor Sand & Gravel Company. However, before any gravel was excavated from this property the parent company went bankrupt.

5. In 1930 Imperial Oil started dumping oil-saturated clay in a section of the Canatara landfill known as the sludge dump. This industrial dump was used until 1944.

All these industrial activities are described in great detail below.

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Laneway through former quarantine grounds 1923 – Photo from Fred Leaver.

Map G

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Notes Relating to Map G: Canatara Area, 1923 On Jan. 30, 1923, The G.T.R. was placed under the management of the C.N.R. and all the Point Edward property of the G.T.R. was taken over by the C.N.R. Map G shows how the Canatara area appeared at the time.

The railway siding used to remove sand from the dunes ran across the northern part of the area. The dune area on the eastern side of the property was leased to various individuals for summer cottages (colored pink on Map G). Access to these cottages was gained by a lane way which ran off the end of Charlesworth lane & continued on through the Canatara area – on the quarantine grounds as it was then called – just south of the dunes area (about where the original park road ran).

A laneway ran south from Charlesworth Lane near the edge of the Lake Chipican marsh & on through Tarzan land to join Woodrow Road at Michigan (where the main trail through Tarzan land is today).

The landfill site, the animal farm area, and the ball field were still low marshy areas at the time.

An 18.8-acre parcel on the west side of the Canatara area - outlined in purple – was leased to the Sarnia Cement Products Co.

SARNIA CEMENT PRODUCTS PLANT BEING REBUILT Point Edward Industry Hopes for Bigger & Better Business with New Equipment Observer, April 5, 1923, p8

Rapid progress is being made in the reconstruction of the Sarnia Cement Product’s plant, which was totally destroyed by fire of an unknown origin on Tuesday morning, March 6.

President Walter Reid is very optimistic regarding the future of the plant and states that orders are already being received for products as soon as the plant is put on a production basis, which will be about April 27. The new plant will employ from 10 to 15 men he said and will be operated by a 30-horsepower electric motor.

The plant now under construction is no larger than the old plant, the main building being 100 x 60, but it will be more fully equipped and capable of an increased production. Three drying kilns, 100 x 14, will be built alongside the main building, also a cupola for casting, 20 x 30.

The main building is now complete, but the machinery is not yet installed.

The new plant will be equipped with 3 tile machines each capable of a daily output of 600 four-inch tiles, 1 brick machine with a daily output of 7,500 bricks, 3 cement block machines each capable of producing 850 blocks daily. Septic tanks and catch basins will be manufactured also.

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President Reid said that the company intends to put on a special sale lasting for two weeks directly after the opening of the plant. Prospects are very good he said for the year’s business.

The new plant is evidence of the faith that the company has in their prospects.

Map – Plan of SCPC Property

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Map of Point Edward & Sarnia

Map G1 Map G1 shows the Sarnia area in 1922 – 25. The Perch sheet (north of dashed line) was published in 1928 & is based on information gathered in 1925 & represents a revision of the original 1911 edition of the Perch sheet (see map E2). Concerning this revised sheet , the Observer had the following notice: June 19, 1925, p12 – “A.E. Attfied of the Dept. of National Defense Ottawa is at work in the district revising the topographic maps of the Perch area today. He worked between Point Edward & Blackwell.

The new maps will show all the recent changes.” The Sarnia map (south of the dashed line) is a 1922 revision of the original Sarnia sheet published in 1912 (see map E2).

In the Canatara - Point Edward area, Map G shows a) 5 cottages (marked orange) between Lake Chipican & the foot of Woodrowe Road. b) The sand siding (marked red) running from the main line trails at the foot of Alice Street to the cottages north of Lake Chipican. c) The laneway (marked grey) to the Sarnia Cement Product Co.’s plant (marked purple). It appears to be an extension of Albert Street at the time – not Alfred Street. d) Haynes Lathe Mill (marked brown) at the N.E. corner of Point Edward. A small spur line (marked pink) off the mainline tracks provided rail service for this mill. e) At the entrance to the river are the 2 range lights, the Sarnia Waterworks (marked green) & 2 other buildings (marked orange) at Marconi Station. f) The section of the Canatara Park boundary that was on the Sarnia – Point Edward rail line is marked blue. In the 1920 – 1930 period, rail traffic to and from the 4 locations marked with red numbers travelled along the line.

1) The Steel Company of Canada’s ore docks 6

2) The CN warehouse.

3) The CN coal storage 4) The Central Canada Stone Company plant

Railway Sand Mining 1920 – 1931 The railway continued to excavate large amounts of sand from the Canatara dunes during the 1920’s, as mentioned in various Observer items such as the ones from 1923 & 1930 provided below.

April 25, 1923 P8: Will Load Sand: Operations will be commenced by the CNR on May 1 to, load 300 cars of sand from the sandpit at Point Edward. A steam shovel and about nine men will be employed. The sand is for use on the track in this division.

May 10, 1923, P1: Engine of Sand Special Hits Car: Harry Hall, Superintendent of Sarnia Waterworks, had a narrow escape yesterday when the car he was driving was struck by the CNR sand special engine at the Monk Street crossing in Point Edward.

May 10, 1923, P8: Steam Shovel Moves: The steam shovel which has been used in excavating sand at Point Edward for the CNR was ordered to Kitchener today for roadbed work.

June 20, 1930, P14: Loading Engine Sand: Special sifting machinery to obtain engine sand for the locomotives of the CNR was shunted to Lake Chipican at Point Edward, northeast of the Sarnia Cement Products Company property early yesterday afternoon. A contract for the loading of 300 cars of this special sand was let this week by the Eastern Ontario division of the CNR. It is estimated today that the work of digging and drying of the sand before it is placed in the sand cars would take 10 days or two weeks.

In the 1930’s as diesel power started to replace steam, the locomotives no longer required the sand. As a result, the railway sand mining ceased in 1931 and in 1932 when Sarnia purchased the former Merlo, Merlo & Ray property, the CNR relinquished its sand removal rights in the Canatara dunes. This also meant that the gravel companies, if they had still owned their Canatara property, could have proceeded with their plans to use dredges to remove all the gravel from this land, as described below.

Other CNR Activities in the Canatara Area 1920 – 1930 During the 1920’s there was a large amount of rail traffic along the line between Sarnia and Point Edward, part of which now forms the southwest section of the park boundary. As noted in Volume 3, this heavy rail traffic was primarily due to the large number of ore trains coming from the Steel Company of Canada’s docks in Point Edward. Several examples of the many Observer items that appeared in the 1920’s concerning the ore trains are provided below.

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June 25, 1927 P16: the ore traffic through Point Edward and Sarnia is particularly heavy now with three vessels employed in the trade. The Westmount, Goderich and Emperor are bringing three cargoes a week and about twelve trains a day bound for Hamilton are passing through the CN yards.

November 15, 1928 P13: A total of 18, 480 railcars, or nearly one million tons of iron ore has been transported by the local division of the CNR from the docks at Point Edward during the past six months.

To prepare for this operation, each spring the railcars needed to transport the ores were temporarily stored on both the sand siding and the old mainline in the Canatara area, as noted in the following Observer items.

May 19, 1920, P5: Operations will be commenced at the local ore docks toward the end of the week. Several hundred ore cars have been stored on the old mainline and the spur line which runs parallel to it along the lakeshore.

March 26, 1927, P14: CNR authorities are collecting 400 ore cars from various centres.

Already 180 rail cars have been placed on sidings around Point Edward and the remainder will be collected within the next few days.

As mentioned in Volume 3, the ore trains from Point Edward ended in 1931 when the enlarged Welland Canal opened and ore vessels from the Upper Lakes went directly to the Steel Company of Canada’s plant in Hamilton.

In addition to the ore trains, other rail traffic in the Sarnia – Point Edward line in the 1920’s included: 1) Freight to and from the CN warehouse at Point Edward 2) Coal from the CN storage pile at Point Edward 3) Stone to and from the Central Canada Stone Company plant in Point Edward The following are two Observer items regarding this traffic.

April 3, 1928, P12: The CNR started today to load coal from their storage pile in Point Edward. They expect to load 25 cars daily which will go to London, Hamilton and Sarnia.

March 13, 1930, P9: A car containing four exceptionally large blocks of stone arrived yesterday over the CNR for the Central Canada Stone Company.

During the 1920’s and much of the 1930’s the old GTR mainline continued to be used by the CNR for storage purposes as noted in the following Observer items.

February 3, 1927, P1: When a resident along the lakeshore was shot, it was mentioned that his assailant could have got to Point Edward in boxcars which were along the GTR old line.

The railway hauled them out about 4 o’clock, about an hour after the shooting.

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August 2, 1930, P12: Two boxcars standing near Woodrowe Road on the former mainline of the GTR were destroyed by fire yesterday afternoon. The fire is thought to have been started by children playing in the cars.

February 2, 1932, P2: The former mainline to Blackwell has been cleared of bush and the tracks retied. The line will be used for storage of automobile cars.

Map I

Notes Relating to Map I Leases, Licenses of Occupation & Site Plans: 1925-26 Nov. 3, 1924: C.N.R. leased a 32-acre parcel marked pink to the Huron Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd. (HSGC) Jan. 8, 1925, HSGC obtained a license of occupation (LO1238) from the Ontario Government for a 20-acre water lot in Lake Huron adjacent to their leased parcel.

Dept. 62, April 22, 1925: HSGC registered a site plan for a proposed loading dock in their water lot (deposit 62 under the Navigational Water Protection Act - NWPA). During May & 9

June a 500’ loading dock is constructed from the derelict steamer Gladstone & two schooner hulks – marked black.

16356 – August 20, 1926: Sarnia Cement Products Co. (SCPC) obtained a license of occupation (LO1456) from the Ontario Government for a 3-acre water lot in Lake Huron adjacent to their leased parcel.

Dept. 73 – October 29, 1926, SCPC registered a site plan for a proposed inlet to be dredged through their water lot (deposit 73 under the NWPA).

Dept. 74 – Nov. 17, 1926, SCPC registered a revised site plan for a proposed inlet through their water lot (deposit 74 under the NWPA).

NOTE: Parcel CNR leased to Phillips & McDougal marked orange & CNR property not under lease marked yellow.

Summary of the Huron Sand & Gravel Company Activities 1925 – 1926 In 1924 the Huron Sand & Gravel Company (HS&GC) obtained a waterlot in Lake Huron off what is now the western portion of the Canatara beach. In November 1924 this firm announced that it intended to sink a number of old ships hulls in this lot as part of a scheme to excavate sand and gravel from the lakebed by means of “gravel suckers”. Sarnia officials were concerned that this activity would contaminate the water at the nearby intake pipe of the Sarnia Waterworks.

In 1925 the HS&GC constructed a gravel loading dock consisting of three derelict ships and used a dredge to excavate material from the lakebed. When the HS&GC ceased this operation in November 1926, the dock was left abandoned in the waterlot. In the 1929 – 31 period the upper parts of the ships burned, and the loading apparatus was removed. The wrecks of these ships still remain off the west beach of Canatara Park.

Provided below are a number of newspaper items, site plans, maps and photos related to the HS&GC operation.

Serious Menace to Water Supply of Sarnia City Council Takes Steps to Prevent Erection of Breakwater Near Intake Pipe Sarnia Observer – November 18, 1924 P1

Parties stated to be a Detroit gravel concern have been awarded a contract locally for the erection of a breakwater at a point 600 feet north of the intake pipe through which Sarnia city obtains its water supply and the plan, as outlined by Ald. George Galloway, to the city council meeting last evening, constitutes a serious menace to the pipes and to the city’s water supply.

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Accordingly City Engineer Taylor and Harry Hall, superintendent of the waterworks, left for Toronto this morning under instruction from council to interview F.A. Dallyn sanitary engineer of the province and the department of public works with a view to first ascertaining if the firm has a permit to install this work and if so, seek an injunction against the carrying out of the plan.

The members of council agreed that the scheme constitutes a menace and were also agreed that action could not be delayed by the city for a day.

Erect Breakwater

Ald. Galloway said the identity of the Detroit firm which is carrying out a plan for the supply of gravel for the city of Detroit is not known. It was understood, however, that the Reid Towing & Wrecking Company, had a contract by which a number of old ships hulls would be taken from Sarnia bay and sunk along the lake shore in the form of a breakwater at a point just north of the intake pipe. Gravel and sand would collect in the basin thus formed, the company planned to withdraw the gravel by means of gravel suckers and the sand and any accumulated filth would be left in the basin to be carried down the river by the currents.

Contaminate Water

The danger was that this sand and filth might enter the intake pipe basin and stop up the pipe or contaminate the water. There was also the danger that the building of such a breakwater might have the effect of under mining the cement foundation on which the mouth of the intake pipe is supported.

It was pointed out that the erection of small breakwaters along the shore by lakeside cottagers had often in the past, had the effect of undermining the banks on neighbouring property and causing them to collapse.

City Engineer Taylor and Mr. Hall left for Toronto this morning to make urgent representations to the authorities concerned on the danger to Sarnia’s water supply system, if the gravel company’s plans are allowed to be carried out.

Water Supply of Sarnia is Safe Official Says Proposed Breakwater will be 3,000 feet From the Intake Pipe Sarnia Observer – November 19, 1924 p1

The Huron Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd., of Toronto, incorporated as a Canadian company two years ago, is the concern purposing to erect a breakwater and gravel basin on the shore near Woodrowe beach which project has been declared by civic authorities to constitute a menace to the water supply of Sarnia, against which the city is protesting.

According to a representative of the company this morning, the Sarnia intake pipe will be in no danger whatever from the construction of the breakwater which, instead of being at a point 600 feet north of the intake pipe, is 3000 feet away, and the current of the river will easily suffice to purify any contaminating matter left in the gravel basin after the removal of the gravel even supposing there is any matter of a contaminating nature, which, he said is very unlikely.

Lease Obtained

“We obtained leases from the Canadian National Railway on frontage from a point adjoining the Sarnia Cement Products Ltd. and the point at which we are commencing 3000 feet east of the intake pipe” the company representative said.

“The matter of the breakwater was taken up a year ago with the department of marine and fisheries at Ottawa. We took soundings along the shore and there is no deposit of vegetable 11

matter, so far as we could find. In less than the difference between the breakwater and the intake pipe the water, owing to the very swift current, would purify such matter if it existed, and the intake pipe itself lies in a very swift current, in itself a sufficient reason why there should be no ill effect on the water supply of the city.

City Protected

“This and other matters pertaining to the welfare of the city of Sarnia were taken up by our company with the provincial department of mines and forests at the time we received a permit of occupation from the provincial authorities.”

“We propose to build a dock and breakwater erected 200 feet out from the shore running northeast, amply secured by piling and filled with material to make it permanent against the elements. Other breakwaters will also be built out to act as surf breakers. The distance of the dock from the shore will be 750 feet on the west side and 700 feet on the east side and the width of the channel will be 300 feet and depth of water 15 feet.”

Only Temporary

“In operation any wasted matter such as sand etc., will be lodged on the east side of the vessel forming a secretion to offset the elements against the dock.”

“Our operations will in no way interfere with the pleasure of cottage owners at Woodrowe beach or with their privileges in any way and when operations are ended all installations will be removed.”

NAVIGABLE WATERS PROTECTION ACT R.S.C. CHAP. 115 The Huron Sand & Gravel Co. Limited hereby gives notice that it has under Section 7 of the said Act deposited with the Minister of Public Works at Ottawa and in the office of the Registrar of the Land Registry District of the County of Lambton in the Province of Ontario a description of the site plans of a loading dock proposed to be placed and maintained in Lake Huron at a point adjacent to the Village of Point Edward in this Township of Sarnia, in the County of Lambton .

AND TAKE NOTICE that after the expiration of one month from the date of this first publication of this notice, the Huron Sand & Gravel Co., Limited will, under Section 7 of the said Act apply to the Minister of Public Works at his office in the City of Ottawa for approval of the said site, and plans and for leave to maintain and construct the said work.

Date at Sarnia in the Province of Ontario this 25th day of April, A.D., 1925.

Huron Sand & Gravel Co. Limited Frank O. Tidy Manager April 26, May 2, 9. 16

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Plan of Water Lot and Lands – Map J

Notes Relating to Map J Site Plan for The HSGC Loading Dock, 1925 In order to ship out the sand & gravel from their lease parcel & water lot, the Huron Sand & Gravel Company constructed a 500’ loading dock consisting of the derelict steamer Gladstone & the hulks of two schooners – the A.W. Wright & Arrow. Map J is the site plan for this proposed dock & shows the Gladstone with its bow pointing in a northwest direction & its stern approximately 200’ from shore. A 320-foot pipeline runs from the stern over the water & across the beach.

A site plan produced several years’ later shows the dock as it was actually built (see next page). The Gladstone was sunk with its bow pointing landward & its stern about 500’ offshore. The two schooner hulks were placed between the shore and the Gladstone’s bow.

The Gladstone itself was a 300’ wooden bulk freighter built in 1888 and sunk by an ice jam in 1919 at St. Clair, Michigan. At some point – perhaps 1920 – it was taken up to Sarnia Bay & left to rot. In 1925 the HSGC raised it & towed it to their water lot in the Canatara area.

Here it was scuttled, and a large apparatus built on top of it for loading sand & gravel into ships. However, the loading dock was not very successful because the gravel steamers had great difficulty docking during rough weather & the structure was abandoned.

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“Lands of CNR”

May 7, 1925, p6: Sarnia Council Meeting. Mayor Barr referred to his recent visit to Ottawa & said he had visited the ordnance dept., chief engineer of public works, & deputy minister regarding the sinking of an old wreck in Lake Huron by the HSGC east of the waterworks & contended that the city should have an agreement that in the event the wreck ever came loose & damaged the waterworks intake , the government would be responsible for the damage incurred. Correspondence was still being carried on with that object in view he said.

May 19, 1925, p5: Sarnia Council Meeting. Ald. Kerr asked if any definite word had been received that the federal government would assume responsibility for damage to the waterworks intake from the gravel loading pier which was being constructed at the lake by the HSGC. Mayor Barr replied that the matter had been taken up with various departments & although no results had occurred yet, he was hoping for some soon. A representative from the provincial board of health would be here in a day or so to look over the situation and report to Toronto as to the liability of contamination of the water supply.

May 22, 1925, p1: Guarding Water Supply. The construction of a gravel loading dock in proximity to the Sarnia waterworks at Point Edward was brought to the attention of the board of health by Mayor Barr & after a brief discussion a resolution was drafted & adopted. It set out that the board viewed with grave alarm the construction of a gravel loading dock near the waterworks & that information had been received that dredging operations were already under way. The provincial health board was therefore asked to take action if necessary, to assure that the city water supply would not be contaminated, the local board believing that such action was outside its jurisdiction.

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May 26, 1925, p12: River Was Rough. Owing to the unusual roughness of the water at the entrance to the lake Saturday afternoon, the services of the Port Huron lifeboat had to be requisitioned to bring to shore the employees on the pile-driving craft of the HSGC.

Observer Reference to the HSGC Operations June 17, 1925, p9: The Lake Huron Beach Page: “New comers to the beach have been getting in a lot of surmising over the skeleton structure going up about a mile & a half down the lake towards the river. It looks like a lot of things but it is a breakwater & sand gathering plant being erected by the Huron Sand & Gravel Co. which will carry away the bottom of the lake in that part of the shore, transport it to boats, and end its days in a city, probably where it will never see water again unless the pipes burst.”

June 27, 1925, p4: Point Edward: “A party of officials of the central region of the CNR inspected the works of the HSGC on the shores of Lake Huron here last evening. The party included T. Irving, chief engineer, Toronto, I. Grant, assistant chief engineer, Toronto, & J.B. Livingstone, district storekeeper, London.”

July 11, 1925, p5: Point Edward: “Major Frank Tidy, who is in charge of the construction work of the HSGC on the local beach stated that the company has been obliged to place “No Trespassing” signs on the property leased owing to the damage done by mischievous boys.

He stated that one portion of the beach would be restricted and patrolled by a special watchman. “We do not wish to interfere with the bathers” he said, “but we must protect our property.”

Photo of Gladstone

Photo of Gladstone and loading apparatus with ice in foreground. From Holland / Paisley Collection.

July 24, 1925, p12: Huron Sand & Gravel: “A telegram has been received by Mayor James C. Barr from J.B. Hunter, deputy minister of public works in Ottawa, advising that the 15

hearing of the application of the HSGC in the erection of a gravel loading station on the shore of Lake Huron near Sarnia waterworks has been postponed until July 28. In the meantime, work on the project has been postponed. Mayor Barr may go to Ottawa when the hearing takes place.”

July 28, 1925, p10: Gravel Loading Dock: “Mayor James C. Barr went to Ottawa last night to represent the city’s interest at the hearing of the application at the HSGC to erect a gravel loading dock on Lake Huron near the Sarnia Waterworks plant at Point Edward. Protection of the city against any damage to the intake pipe that might occur from the installation of the loading apparatus is sought by the mayor.”

July 29, 1925, p9: The Lake Huron Beach Page: Several beach residents, with boats or canoes, have been getting a kick out of watching the dredge of the HSGC at the foot of the lake doing its stuff. The loading capacity of the sand sucker isn’t known, but those who have watched it loading boats swear it hauls up more water than gravel. It is eating generous chunks out of the shoreline in the vicinity of Point Edward.

NOTE: The July 30 & 31 issues of the Observer are missing. Thus, the outcome of Barr’s trip to Ottawa to attend the HSGC hearing is also missing.

Aug. 7, 1925, p5: Point Edward:” Employees of the HSGC were called to their post last evening when a fire broke out in the barge Gladstone. The fire was checked by the workman before it had done any serious damage. The alarm was made by the dredge working on the shore. The men had been doing some welding during the afternoon & it is thought that the fire started from smouldering timber.”

Aug. 27, 1925, p10: Making Breakwater: “the Bear Construction Co. of Port Huron has the contract of driving the steel sheet piling around the old steamer Gladstone, which was sunk opposite Point Edward in Lake Huron. Two abandoned schooners are being filled with sand & made into a breakwater so sand boats can dig gravel at all times. Steel sheet piling is being put around them to protect them from the ice jam this winter. The new company which is sinking the boats to make a sea barrier is the HSGC of Sarnia.

PROMPT ACTION OF SWIMMER SAVES LIVES OF TWO Sidney Leaver, of Point Edward Rescues Sydney Cooper and Sister

Point Edward, Sept. 11, 1925, A double tragedy was averted last night by the prompt action of Sydney Leaver, who rescued Sydney Cooper and his sister, Margaret, from drowning in Lake Huron, near the lake Huron Sand and Gravel dredge.

Sydney Cooper was playing in the shallow water along the shore when he was caught in the current and carried beyond his depth. His sister Margaret went to rescue him, and, in his excitement, the little chap caught his sister by the hair and pulled her under. Margaret cannot swim and she too was pulled below the surface.

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They had gone down for the second time, when Leaver, who was bathing nearby noticed their plight and came to the rescue.

The bathing beach between the Lake Huron Sand and Gravel dredge and the river is very treacherous for children owing to the strong current and holes which have been formed by the action of the sucker in that vicinity. Children would be well advised to swim in the waters above where the sand sucker is working.

According to Fred Prudence, the office of the HSGC was located on the east side of Alfred Street just south of the mainline tracks. A laneway extended from the north end of Alfred Street along the west side of the parcel the HSGC leased from the CNR to the beach and loading doc.

From Lester’s Sarnia and Point Edward Directory 1925 & 1926, P192. − “Huron Sand & Gravel Lmt., Frank O. Tidy, general manager, producers of sand and gravel, Alfred Street, Point Edward.”

The information below regarding the two schooners that formed part of the loading dock is from M.J. Mansfield (1899) History of the Great Lakes, Chapter XLII, “List of lake Vessels”, p 787 – 903. − The A.W. Wright was 530 gross tons and built in 1880 at Saginaw. − The Arrow was 39 gross tons and built in 1879 at Oshkosh.

June 23, 1926, p10: Petty Thieves: “Lawrence Bartman, superintendent of the HSGC has been sworn in as a special constable following a series of petty thieving & trespass at the company’s plant near Point Edward. Several times the barge has been broken into & tools, die fittings, grease cups, & rope stolen. The company is determined to stop this & a night & a day watchmen have been installed & prosecution will follow further damage or trespass at the property.”

Aug. 13, 1926, p1: Second Drowning Tragedy Occurs at Lake Huron: Annie Meeson, 13 year old daughter of Mr. & Mrs. William Meeson of Point Edward was drowned while bathing near the plant at the SCPC yesterday afternoon about 4:30. The young girl was playing water ball with a chum & the shore formation where she was playing was shallow. The ball floated out from shore & the Meeson girl went after it. There is a sharp drop from the ledge to deeper water – where the HSGC dredge has worked & it is believed that she became frightened when she realized that she was beyond her depth.

Spectators on the beach rushed to her aid but owing to the swift current at this point, were unable to locate her.

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PROMPT ACTION SAVES THE LIVES OF TWO BATHERS Sydney Leaver Rescues Ruth Cooper and Phyllis Hawkins from Lake

BOY HELPS Second Time Miss Cooper and Leaver Had Shown Real Heroism Observer, June 30, 1927 p1

Prompt action on the part of Sydney Leaver and some unknown boy saved Ruth Cooper and Phyllis Hawkins from drowning while bathing in Lake Huron last evening near the plant of the Huron and Gravel Company.

Phyllis Hawkins was bathing near the Gladstone: a boat used for loading gravel, when she stepped over her depth. Her cries attracted her companion Ruth Cooper who went out to assist her and was pulled under. The cries of the two girls were heard by Sydney Leaver and another boy, who after some difficulty brought both girls to shore.

It took several hours to resuscitate Phyllis Hawkins and she is confined to her bed today as a result of the severe trial.

A peculiar fact in connection with the rescue is that Sydney Leaver was awarded a medal for heroism for rescuing Ruth D. Cooper and her little brother from drowning last summer. In that instance Ruth went to the assistance of her little brother.

ELEVEN YEAR OLD GIRL IS DROWNED IN LAKE HURON Mary Barker Stepped From Raft Into Deep Water and Meets Death

BODY RECOVERED Lake Bed at Scene of Accident is Pitted With Holes Observer, August 22, 1927 p1

Mary, 11-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George H. Barker, 199 St. Vincent Street, was drowned about 3:30 Saturday afternoon when she slipped from a raft on which she was playing in the lake near the old dredge at the Huron Sand and Gravel Co., Point Edward. The body was recovered 45 minutes later by two workmen at the cement works a short distance from the scene of the tragedy. Life was extinct when the body was brought to shore.

Playing on Raft In company with six girl companions the little girl had been paddling in the shallow water along the shore. A light raft had been used by the children for the deeper water. Five of the girls had left the water for the shore, Mary remained on the raft. No one saw the accident, but it is believed she stepped off the raft with the intention of walking to shore to rejoin her companions, sinking without an outcry and never coming up. The lakebed is badly pitted with dangerous holes where dredging operations were carried out last year. She was unable to swim.

Aid Summoned Mary was missed when her companion turned to the raft to call to her. Aid was immediately summoned from cement works but it was forty-five minutes before the body was recovered from in six feet of water. The lake which has been stirred up by north winds for the past week was very cloudy and this prevented the searchers locating the body in the comparatively shallow water.

Dangerous Spot Last year Annie Meeson, young Point Edward girl, was drowned in this section and two near drowning accidents have already occurred in that dangerous locality this year. The shallow, 18

sandy water close to the shore is a tempting spot for little ones and unless the lake is clear, there is no way of telling where the dangerous pockets in the lake are situated.

Surviving are her parents, three brothers, George 19, Henry 18, Jimmy 15, and one sister, Lucy 15. Mary was a student in the senior third class at the London Road School. The funeral was held this afternoon.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dangerous Swimming Places August 23, 1927, p10

Editor Canadian Observer: I wish to draw public attention to the sorely proven need of something more effectual being provided for the averting of drowning accidents in that part of the lake where drownings and near-drownings have been recorded of late, namely, north of Point Edward.

There are two very significant statements in your report of the recent drowning of little Mary Barker which you will allow me to quote: “The lakebed is badly pitted with dangerous holes where dredging operations were carried out last year.” “The shallow, sandy water close to the shore is a tempting spot for little ones and unless the lake is clear, there is no way of telling where the dangerous pockets in the lake are situated.”

Unless the length of shoreline that is thus deceptive and dangerous is indicated in some unmistakable way and swimming and boating there are forbidden, drownings are almost certain to happen from time to time.

There is one sign warning of danger and forbidding swimming, but there is need of a number of each along that part of the shore. A workman this morning pointed out the danger children incur in climbing the high derrick on the old dredge, saying that he has seen as many as twenty-five children up there at a time. I learn that a lot of children were about the place of the drowning incident on Saturday.

It has been suggested that the danger area should be roped off. Certainly, something should be done speedily to lessen the probability of this kind of accident recurring.

A.H. Rhodes, Point Edward, Aug. 23, 1927 November 12, 1926, P19 Point Edward: “The sand sucker which has been in operation north of the village all summer has been placed in winter harbor in the Spanish river slip.

The dredge is operated by HSGC. NOTE: In the winter of 1926-27 the HSGC abandoned its Canatara area operation and the dredge, which was called the Huron, passed into the hands of the Sin-Mac lines in payment of a bill. Sin-Mac stripped he engines from the Huron and then left it beached on a sandbar in Sarnia Bay. It remained there for eight years, a constant source of complaint since many Sarnians regarded it as an “awful eyesore”. Finally, in July 1934, another gravel firm, the Nicholson-Thoren Co., acquired the Huron and towed it to Cheboygan. The following two items from the Observer indicate how sorry Sarnians were to see the old dredge leave the area.

July 17, 1934, P2 “The old dredge Huron has gone at last and in the future we’ll have to find something else on which to vent our spleen.” − July 18, 1934, P2 “The old dredge Huron is gone forever, or at least we hope so.

Personally, we don’t feel in any sense envious of Cheboygan, new home of the ugliest craft we have ever saw in our lives.”

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Summary of the HSGC Operations: 1925-26 The Huron Sand & Gravel Company, which was a subsidiary of the Duluth Superior Dredging Co. of Detroit, began operating in the Canatara area in the spring of 1925. A sand sucker or dredge called the Huron was used to haul gravel from along the shoreline and up from the lake bottom. Barges then transferred it down to the Detroit area where the gravel was used in the construction of roads, houses and other buildings.

Initially, the gravel was loaded directly from the dredge to the barges, but during the summer and fall of 1925 a gravel loading dock was constructed to facilitate the loading process. This also allowed the storage of hundreds of tons of gravel on the loading dock while the dredge continued to gather gravel from the lake bottom. The dredge & loading dock were operating in this fashion during the spring, summer & fall of 1926. However, in the winter of 1926-27 financial difficulties forced the HSGC to abandon its Canatara area operations.

The loading dock was left at the site off Canatara beach, where it gradually disintegrated over the years. The dredge was taken to Sarnia Bay where it remained until 1934 when it was towed to Lake Michigan for another gravel gathering operation. (See below page)

Old Hulk Huron is Being Removed Eyesore to be Taken Out of Sarnia Bay Sarnia Observer – July 6, 1934, P3

Efforts of the tug Monarch, of Detroit, to float the dredge Huron from the sand and mud of Sarnia Bay today attracted much interest. The Huron is the battered old craft with the lofty funnel which for so long has been an eyesore on the waterfront.

The dredge, along with the old wooden steamer C.F. Bielman, have been acquired by the Nicholson interests of Port Huron and are to be taken to the Upper Lakes. The First destination is Cheboygen, but Mr. Nicholson stated this morning that the final destination would likely be North Fox Island. The consignee at Cheboygan is the Nicholson- Thoren Company of Chicago. Plans entertained for the two vessels will be realized when they are sunk at North Fox Island and used for gravel loading purposes.

Went Aground

The Bielman, which for the past few years has been lying just south of the ferry dock in the St. Clair River at Port Huron, has been a source of interest to both Sarnians and Port Huron residents. First built at the turn of the century by the late Collin McLaughlin, of Port Huron, she sailed the Lakes as a general cargo carrier for until shortly before the war.

During that time she went aground near Point Aux Barques and was salvaged by the Reid interests, now a part of the Sin-Mac Lines. For some years the Bielman lay in the lower bay and finally was sold to the Spokane Steamship Company, another of the Reid interests.

During the war, she was completely outfitted and overhauled at a cost of some $100,000 and plied the lakes for the duration of the conflict.

When tied-up at the Port Huron docks she was dismantled and had been lying there for some eight or ten years, when acquired by the Nicholson interests recently. She was taken to 20

Detroit and outfitted with dredging machinery and is now at a city dock awaiting the floating of the Huron before continuing her trip up the lakes.

Huron Also The Huron also has long been a part of the lower bay scenery. Built before the war, she was bought by Colonel Tidy of the Duluth Superior Dredging company of Detroit, with the intention of dredging in front of what is now Canatara Park on Lake Huron. This venture did not succeed, and the vessel was acquired by the Sin-Mac Lines in payment of a bill.

Dismantled, she has been lying in the bay for some years an eyesore to everyone and was only recently taken over by the Nicholson interests.

The intention of the company is to use two old hulks in conjunction with hoisting machinery, for the loading of the gravel ships calling at North Fox Island. The Huron will either dredge or suck the sand from the vicinity of the island and deposit it upon the decks of the Bielman and another boat. According to present plans it is expected to have the vessels in operation very shortly.

At a late hour this afternoon the efforts of the tug had not been successful; It was noted that the water level in the bay is considerably lower than when the Huron was deposited on the bottom. Mr. Nicholson expects it will be necessary for the tug to use her propeller to swirl the sand out from about the dredge before the vessel can be moved.

February 4, 1929, P7: Point Edward – The remains of the hulk of what was once the schooner A.W. Wright was destroyed by fire about 8 o’clock last evening. The fire is thought to be incendiary. The hulk had been towed to a position on the lakefront about three years ago, partially sunk and used as a loading dock for the HSGC. It had not been used for any purpose for over 2 years except as a diving stand for swimmers.

The Point Edward Fire Department responded to the fire but because of the position of the hulk, could do nothing to save it.

February 3, 1931, P10: Hulk Burns – Many Port Huron residents were concerned with what appeared to be a serious fire at Wees Beach last evening. An inquiry was made at the SCPC office at Point Edward, and it was learned that a large hulk had caught fire yesterday and was still burning early this morning at a point opposite the Charles White property. It was understood that the hulk was that of the old gravel boat Gladstone. (NOTE: in 1931 the Gladstone was actually just off-shore of the Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. property – see Map G)

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Will Salvage Sand Leg From Derelict Steamer in Lake Sarnia Observer – March 14, 1931, P5

A contract for the salvaging of the sand leg of the derelict steamer Gladstone which is at present on the shore of Lake Huron above Point Edward has been awarded to the Sin-Mac Lines by the department of public works. The work will be started as soon as ice conditions along the lake shore permit.

The Gladstone was well known to mariners on the Great lakes and two decades ago figured in the package and grain carrying trade on the Upper Lakes. It was built at Cleveland in 1888 and had a registered tonnage of 2,348 tons. The vessel was of wood and was 283 feet long, a beam of 23 feet. Owned at one time by A.P. Gallino, of St. Clair, Mich., the steamer made regular trips to Duluth until it became unserviceable some years ago. Eventually it found itself among the old derelicts left to rot in Sarnia Bay. About five years ago the boat was raised by an American syndicate and towed into Lake Huron where it was sunk along the shoreline. There it was allowed to fill with sand and gravel and was then emptied by a self-unloading arm.

April 16, 1931, P14: Marine News – “Salvage of the superstructure of the derelict steamer Gladstone was completed yesterday by the Sin-Mac Lines. The contract for the removal of the gravel-loading apparatus was allotted by the department of public works.”

Photos Related to The Gladstone 1) This photo of the ship and outline of its history is from the book “Namesakes”.

Contrary to what is stated in this history, records documented above indicate that the ship was actually sunk in 1925 as a gravel loading dock by the HSGC. (The breakwater at the Yacht Club basin entrance was built in 1928 by Merlo, Merlo & Ray as described below.)

Steamer GLADSTONE

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OWNER: BUILT: HULL NO.: O.A. DIMENSIONS:

Joan Steamship Company William Radcliffe Shipyard Cleveland, Ohio – 1888 None assigned.

303’ x 40’ x 23’

Gladstone, Michigan was the namesake of this wooden bulk freighter. At the time the ship was built, Gladstone was an iron ore loading port for shipments from Menominee Range. The ship was built for the fleet of Mr. M.A. Bradley and many of their iron ore cargoes originated at Gladstone.

The city lies on the west bank of Little Bay De Noc, an arm of Green Bay, Lake Michigan, in Delta County. The site was incorporated as a village in 1887 and as a city in 1899. Iron ore loading at Gladstone ceased a number of years ago, but the city still has some Great lakes commerce, notably coal and salt to the Delta Dock and gasoline and fuel oil to the Marathon and Bay De Noc terminals.

The steamer GLADSTONE is shown in 1915. Formerly, the vessel was outfitted with twin stacks. The owner acquired the ship in 1918, but never operated it because, during the winter of 1918-1919, the ship sank at its dock due to ice jams in the Pine River at St. Clair, Michigan. The keel was found to be badly twisted in 1919 and the wreck was left idle. The hulk’s demise came in 1923 when it was towed to Sarnia, Ontario to be sunk as a breakwater for the yacht harbor behind Point Edward Light. Some bare remains of engine and stern frames remain at the site to this day. It should be noted that several owners were titled to the remains after 1919, but none ever moved the hulk. The last of these was Mr. A.P. Calling.

2) Shows the bow section of the Gladstone, C1900.

3) This photo shows the 500-foot gravel loading dock in 1926 when it was fully operational. The lifting machinery used for hoisting the gravel into the five storage hoppers on the upper part of the loading apparatus can be seen on the stern section of the Gladstone. Notice that the five chutes connected to the storage bins are in an upright position, when loading a gravel boat these chutes would be swung downward.

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The hulk of the schooner A.W. Wright forms the section of the dock between the Gladstone and shore.

4) Shows the dredge “Huron” docked beside the Gladstone. The dredging was done with a long steel pipe with a box-like free end called a hood. The hood was dragged over the lake bottom and the sand & gravel were sucked up the pipe by a powerful centrifugal suction pump. The gravel was then separated from the sand and water slurry in screens located in the large box-like structure on the Huron. The gravel was then conveyed through pipes to the stern area of the Gladstone where it was hoisted into the hoppers.

The Huron dredged gravel from the lakebed in the HSGC waterlot, particularly along the shore, whereas one newspaper item above noted it was “eating generous chunks out of the shoreline” and thereby creating dangerous swimming conditions for youngsters.

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5&6) These photos were taken in the 1929-30 period after the gravel dock was abandoned and the schooner hulks had burned. The left photo shows one of the large pipes used in the dredging operation. The two boys in the right photo are standing on the remains of the A.W. Wright after it was burned in February 1929.

7&8) These photos were also taken around 1930 just before large sections of the Gladstone burned & the loading apparatus was dismantled in March 1931.

9&10) These photos were taken around 1940 and show that portions of the Gladstone wreck still remain above water at that time. In fact, the large boiler at the stern of the ship protruded above the water until 1963, when it was pushed over onto the ice and subsequently sank.

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11)

This 2016 photo shows that large sections of the Gladstone, as well as some remains of the two schooners, still lie submerged off Canatara’s west beach.

Notice the large pipes in and around the wreck.

12)

This 2016 photo and accompanying newspaper article provide some more information – and misinformation – about the Gladstone. Contrary to what this item states, the ship was sunk in the HSGC waterlot in 1925 and it burned in 1931.

It should also be noted that the strong currents swirling around the wreck create very hazardous swimming conditions and have resulted in several drownings over the years. For example, when the park first opened in July 1933, a boy drowned when he was swept underwater by these currents and shortly after the 2016 newspaper item 26

appeared, a man drowned when he and several others swam out to investigate the wreck.

In 1937 the Parks Board strongly objected to a proposal to salvage parts of the Gladstone. (See Observer article on July 20, 1937, in Volume 6). During years when the water level in Lake Huron is low, parts of the Gladstone wreck are within two feet of the surface, creating a hazard for small craft. A marker buoy is then secured to the submerged hull to warn these craft to avoid the wreck, as described in the 2003 Observer item below.

A Sarnia Gazette item and an article from the Journal, “Inland Seas” about the Gladstone are also provided below. Like most articles about the ship that have appeared in newspapers, journals and books over the last fifty years, they both contain factual errors regarding when and why the Gladstone was sunk off the Canatara beach.

The Mysterious Fate of The Gladstone The Journal – Phil Egan

David Cooke was puzzled, and more than a little dubious.

Sitting in a barber shop on Lakeshore Road he listened to an older gentleman describe a Lake Huron shipwreck located just over 100 feet off the beach at Canatara Park “I had my own sailboat and sailed back and forth across that stretch of water a thousand times,” said Cooke, who grew up on Christina Street. “I never knew it was there.”

Intrigued, the former military pilot trekked over to the beach on July 16 with his Phantom 4 camera-equipped drone. And there it was, in clear, shallow water.

Cooke contacted the Journal seeking information. What is this wreck? And how long has it been there?

As it turned out, David Cooke wasn’t the only who didn’t know. Queries to the Canadian Coast Guard, Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans Canada the local OPP marine unit and Transport Canada all drew blanks.

Barry Mattingley, a retired Sarnia firefighter and scuba diver, said that he’d dived the wreck a number of times but couldn’t recall its name.

A YouTube video of the ship had drawn some reader comments and speculation on names. And Michele at the Sarnia Yacht Club was certain the wreck had been there since…..

In the end, an organization called “Saving Ontario’s Shipwrecks” helped fill in the gaps.

In 1888, an American shipbuilder in Cleveland named W. Radcliffe constructed a wooden cargo bulk carrier named the Gladstone. The 2,112-ton vessel was 283 feet in length with a 40-foot beam. It hauled iron ore and other material through the Great Lakes – an older version of lake freighters that ply the same waters today.

In 1918, while lying at her winter moorings in Pine River, Michigan on Lake St. Clair, the Gladstone’s’ hull was crushed by an ice jam. A.C. Peel of Chatham purchased the wreck and in 1923 she was brought to Sarnia and sunk, to become part of the foundations for a dock.

The dock burned down in 1936.

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The online “Great Lakes Shipwreck File” confirms that ship is the vessel whose remains lie off Canatara Park beach.

A few years ago, when the water levels approached record lows, jutting up parts of the wreck lay just below the surface, creating a hazard for small boaters.

Perhaps it was just the Gladstone trying to remind us she is still there, nearly a century after she was finally laid to rest.

Water Hazard is Wreck of Gladstone Sarnia Observer Neil Bowen

Boaters, check your charts, there’s a hazard lurking just below the surface off the west end of Canatara Park A Canadian Coast Guard assessment done Wednesday determined it’s the wreck of the wooden freighter, the Gladstone. That wreck is noted on current nautical charts.

The law requires every boater to have charts unless they have knowledge of local waters.

Charts and boaters’ knowledge are the best protection, according to the Coast Guard.

Low water levels have increased the possibility of collision with the wreckage, but no marker buoy will be placed by the Coast Guard.

Across the Great Lakes it would be impossible to buoy every charted hazard, said the Coast Guards Lawrence Swift.

“Each buoy cost thousands. It would be cost prohibitive”, he said. A buoy was one possibility suggested after local boater Tony Moscardelli hit the wreck, damaging his propeller.

When it was confirmed, it was the wreck of the wooden freighter the Gladstone, the buoy idea was dropped by the Coast Guard.

Buoys placed by the Coast Guard are used to mark safe channels on the lakes rather than specific hazards. It does maintain a chart updating service to ensure boaters are aware of any new hazard.

The service is also provided on its Web site.

The Gladstone was a nearly 300-foot wooden freighter built in Cleveland in 1888 that sank around 1920. It was raised and used as a dock on the lake along with two schooners that caught fire and was later abandoned in the 1930’s.

It is about 200 feet off the west end of Canatara Park. It had been covered by six to 10 feet of water, but Moscardelli estimated parts of it are now just a foot below surface.

Wreck to Get Marker Sarnia Observer – June 27, 2003, A2 Neil Bowen

Divers will fasten a marker buoy to the Gladstone shipwreck to aid divers, which will also remind boaters of the hazard.

John Charest of Save Ontario Shipwrecks said he will fasten the buoy on Monday. The group dedicated to the preservation of shipwrecks obtained a $25,000 grant for buoys on shipwrecks across the Great lakes.

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The Coast Guard approved buoy will let divers tie-off boats to it rather than dropping anchors, which can damage wrecks.

“These are (similar) markers all over the lakes. The decision (to buoy) the Gladstone was made in the winter,” said Charest.

Tom Kuenzig of the Sarnia Underwater Club said, “we use the wreck for beginners.”

It can be reached from shore and by boat. It introduces divers to dealing with currents.

However, currents there are much weaker than the current in the area of the Bluewater Bridge.

“It’s a good wreck,” he said describing how some parts could be explored by snorkelers.

Boaters have said the wreck is a hazard as lower water levels have placed some parts just below the surface.

The wreck is three ships, a wooden freighter and two schooners.

The trio had been converted to dock use on Lake Huron until they burned in the early 1930’s.

The site is about 200 feet off the shore off the west end of Canatara Park. But it reaches back to the shore resembling its former dock service.

Charest said the schooners closer to the shore are the likely source of the hazard.

Kuenzig said he has driven a boat at the wreck site and there is a visible change in the current over it.

Coast Guard officials won’t buoy the wreck due to the cost. They said boaters must rely on nautical charts and their knowledge of local waters to protect themselves and their boat.

The wreck is marked on the charts.

Along the Lakes …. The S.S. Gladstone The Gazette – October 17, 1973, P35 Doug Garrett

It took some time doing but thanks to help given me by Russ Wilkinson, of Point Edward who provided me with pictures of the old ship, and to Mac McRae of the Pilot House Museum and to the Detroit Marine Historical who supplied me with the stories, I was able to piece 29

together a fair story of the old Gladstone, which was the ship and boiler that stuck out of the water at Canatara Park for years, in the latter years all that was visible was the boiler. A young lad from Point Edward wanting information on her prompted me to look up the history of this old ship and our mutual interests in ships resulted in a friendship in that he now lives in Toronto, yet, we do write back and forth comparing notes and whenever in town visiting his parents I am sure to get a phone call or perhaps a visit depending on each other’s schedule, so the young man responsible for this story is Bob Stewart, so Bob read on, and hope you and the readers enjoy the information I have found. *I can only make a guess at the year of this story as there are no dates in the scrapbook. I make it somewhere between 1920 and 1930 but anyhow it states that a contract for the salvaging of the sand leg of the derelict steamer Gladstone which at present is along the shore of Lake Huron just above Point Edward and had been awarded to the Sin Mac Lines by the Department of Public Works. It further stated that work was to start as soon as ice conditions along the shore would permit. *(Observer article referred to appeared on March 14, 1931 page 5 – see above).

The little wooden ship was well known to mariners along the lakes and that only a little over two decades ago figured in the freight and grain carrying trade in the upper lakes. At one time she was owned by a Mr. Gallino of St. Clair, Michigan and made regular trips to Duluth until she had been declared obsolete – eventually it was taken to Sarnia Bay and left to rot with other derelicts.

Around 1925, an American syndicate raised it and towed it out into the area near Canatara Park and sunk it, a high loading apparatus was built that could store sand and gravel and this was loaded by means of a spout into the holds of other ships that tied up to it during the loading operation.

The one source givers her length as 283 feet and a width of 40 and of 2,348 tons, built in 1888 at Cleveland. Other sources gave all the same dimensions but differ in that she is only 23 feet wide. I think she was 23 feet deep which would account for the mistake.

From the Marine Historical, I found she was originally built for Alva Bradley’s famous fleet and worked faithfully until 1901, at which time the owners deemed it time to give her a rebuild job, which was done and this lasted her to the start of W.W. 1, when she would require another rebuild if she was to stay in service. With the scarcity of ships brought on by the wars demands, she was once again dry-docked at the Langel Shipyard in St. Clair, for another rebuild, however the scarcity and need of ships was more important than the need for repairs so she was hastily given a new bill of health and a good coat of grey paint to cover up the sins and she was to be floated off the dock and tied up for the winter. This may have saved many lives for during the winter she sank at the dock in the Pine River in St. Clair, due to the terrific ice jams that spring and not too tight a bottom. After all the work done it was all in vain for another inspection made after she was pumped out showed the backbone of the ship was broken or so badly twisted that further service was deemed impractical.

She was stripped of most of her valuables and the hulk was towed to Point Edward about 1920 and sunk with bow ion the beach and as a protection for the channel into the bay just behind Point Edward which was hard to maintain. The picture with this story shows the boiler protruding above the water with the picture taken in 1950. In the distance is seen the steamer Diamond Alkali and near the boiler are other pieces of wreckage or old spiles. Russ Wilkinson told me that he remembers her quite well for most of the young lads of that era swam from the derelict ship and I would presume Russ did too. In fact, it was rumoured that a bunch of kids

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swimming from the old gravel and sand loader were the ships downfall for a careless cigarette thrown aside set fire to the old girl and this was her end.

The Gladstone

by William Maher Howell On the wall of my den hangs a large, framed pencil and crayon sketch of the Great Lakes ore carrier Gladstone. The sketch was the work of my grandfather R.F. Paul Howell, who spent several years as captain of this vessel. He was quite an artist and it’s easy to see that he thought Gladstone was the most beautiful ship afloat. His opinion was evidently shared by Howard F. Sprague whose painting of this ship hangs in the Great Lakes Historical Society Museum in Vermilion, Ohio.

When I saw her picture in “Great Lakes Ships We Remember” Volume 1, I was “taken down a peg.” This picture shows her having been “roughed up” by years of faithful service on the Lakes. She is described as an outstanding example of ships that refuse to die and the research I received from my friend, Bob MacDonald, Great Lakes Historian; Jack Messmer, the Institute for Great Lakes Research; and my friends at the Great Lakes Historical Society, bear this out.

Here are some highlights of her life.

“Two Huge Steamers To Be Launched at Cleveland” Under that headline on April 29, 1888, the Detroit Free Press, reported that steamers Gladstone and Henry J. Johnson left the stocks of the William J. Radcliffe shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio. Built for M.A. Bradley, Captain George Stone, Chris Grover and others, the Gladstone’s launch was witnessed by a multitude of spectators including many members of the Irish National League.

The ship is named for the Honorable William E. Gladstone, and the committee of Irishmen notified the “grand old man” of the choice of name immediately after she entered the water. John Greenwood contradicts this name in his NAMESAKES OF THE LAKES 1910- 1919, explaining the origin of the ship’s name is Gladstone, Michigan, an iron ore loading depot.

One of the large ships built by Radcliffe at that time, Gladstone was 300 feet overall with a 283-foot keel, 40-foot beam and 24-foot depth. With four arches on each side and diagonal strapping she ranked foremost among the big wooden ore carriers. She was capable of carrying about 2,300 tons.

Her engine built by S.F. Hodges and Company of Detroit, Michigan, was of the triple expansion type, cylinders being 201/2, 32 and 52 x 42 inches stroke. Her two Scotch boilers 11’ x 12’ were built in Buffalo, New York, by the Lake Erie Boiler Works. Her screw – 13 feet in diameter.

Built at the cost of $134,000, her original owners held title from 1888 – 1893 when ownership passed to the Ohio Transportation Company (M.A. Bradley, President) from 1893 to 1918.

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Buffalo Enquirer, Port Huron, June 2, 1892. Steamer Gladstone, bound up, broke her port wire while going down the Rapids and ran across the tow line of the barge Marvin and the Ed Smith’s tow. The Marvin struck the Gladstone forward of the boiler house on the starboard side, breaking Gladstone’s throttle valve of blow-off pipe. It will take 3 days for repairs. Stem of the Marvin was broken.

Buffalo Enquirer, Amherstburg, May 10, 1894. Another whaleback is in trouble, being a third in a week. This time it is the Barge 109 which struck while coming across Lime Kilns Crossing last night. A large hole was torn in the forward compartment, which at once filled with water and the barge was run on the beach at Elliott Point below this city. The barge was in tow of the steamer Gladstone and was bound from Duluth to Buffalo with wheat. It is not thought that her cargo is yet damaged.

Buffalo Enquirer, Amherstburg, May 12, 1894. The steamer Gladstone and whaleback left for Buffalo at 1:00 A.M. Buffalo Enquirer, Amherstburg, May 14, 1894. The steamer Gladstone arrived yesterday with her escort 109 which had gone on the bottom at Lime Kilns, The forward compartment had filled with water, and this necessitated her pumps being kept at work all the way down.

Illustrated Buffalo Express, Cleveland, Ohio, November 6, 1897. The steamer Gladstone broke her wheel at Erie today and was ordered to lay up.

Buffalo Evening News, November 23, 1903. An examination was made yesterday of the propeller Gladstone, which sunk in collision with the Sacramento off Bar Point last Friday night.

A hole, ripped in her port side down near the bilge was 35 feet long and 5 feet wide, through which grain cargo was running into the lake. The bulkheads between the cargo and engine room broke, filling the engine room with oats and water. Steam is being kept in one boiler to keep the pipes from freezing although the water has reached one engine grate and is near the other. The decks and timbers of the Gladstone are greatly strained. Preparations are being made to put a temporary patch on the Gladstone to enable her to be lifted. She will be repaired at Detroit.

Buffalo Evening News, November 24, 1903. An effort is being made to free the propeller Gladstone wrecked at Bar Point, by pumping her grain cargo into the lake. The divers were compelled to stop work yesterday on account of the weather which was quite rough at the time.

All the pumps could do was lower the water below the fire hold. It is believed that with favourable weather, the vessel might be floated. M.A. Bradley, owner of the Gladstone and Captain J.J. Rogers, representing the insurance on the cargo, have gone to the scene of the wreck.

A lighter has been ordered to save as much of the cargo as possible.

Buffalo Evening News, November 25, 1903. Little work was done yesterday toward raising the propeller Gladstone, owing to the unfavourable weather. More pumps will be secured with which to work on the wreck.

Buffalo Evening News, November 28, 1903. Of the cargo of 130,00 bushels of grain on the sunken propeller Gladstone, 7,000 bushels, all that is dry, has been put on the schooner Hammond. The Gladstone proceeded to Detroit under her own steam after being relieved of her cargo.

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Buffalo Evening News, June 22, 1906. The steamer Gladstone, according to a dispatch from Escanaba has been released from Pilot Island by the wrecking tug Favorite.

Buffalo Evening News, September 28, 1906. The barge Passadena in tow of the steamer Gladstone collided in Lake St. Claire yesterday with the steamer Black Rock. The Black Rock is leaking and the upper works of the Passadena are damaged. Both boats are bound down and it is claimed that the suction of the Black Rock in passing caused the Passadena to sheer.

Buffalo Evening News, October 12, 1906, Duluth. The steamer Gladstone, which had the barge Passadena in tow when the boat was wrecked at the Portage Canal, arrived yesterday with the Passadena’s crew on board. They will be taken to the lower Lakes after the Gladstone unloads its coal cargo.

Buffalo Evening News, November 22, 1906, Cleveland. Steamer Gladstone, which arrived with ore from Escanaba, struck in Pelee Passage and damaged her rudder.

Buffalo Evening News, September 3, 1907, Sandusky. Steamer Gladstone, which went aground in the harbor last week, is still on the bottom. An effort will be made to release her today. Records show that Gladstone was abandoned May 24, 1915.

Buffalo Daily Courier, May 5, 1916. It has been announced that the Bradley Co. of Cleveland is about to raise the barge Grove and the steamer Gladstone that have been grounded in Erie Bay for the past four years. After being pumped out, the two old boats will be towed to Cleveland and fitted out for lake service. Ships are needed in the urgent raw materials movement on the Lakes necessitated by the war.

Still Visible

Buffalo Daily Courier, May 24, 1916. The steamer Rufus P. Ranney was purchased by P.J. Morgan, President of the Morgan Lithographing Co. With him is associated a New York man. The purchase was made from the Bradley estate which owned it for years. It was part of the Bradley fleet of which only the Grover and the Gladstone are now left in the hands of the estate.

In late 1918, Gladstone was sold to the Joan Steamship Company but never ran because winter closed navigation. As the vessel lay at her moorings in the Pine River at St. Clair, Michigan, she sank due to ice jams in the spring of 1919. Her wood hull was not capable of sustaining such pressure. When she was raised and pumped out, surveyors found the keel badly twisted and broken. Further repair for service was deemed impractical and the wreck was left idle and stripped of remaining valuable parts.

In 1923 the hull was sold to Canada and towed to Point Edward to be sunk with her bow on the beach and to be used as a breakwater protection for the yacht harbor behind Point Edward light. What remained of the wreck after 40 years was removed in the winter of 1963, but the engine and stern frames are still visible. Truly a ship that will not die.

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Summary of the Sarnia Cement Products Company: 1925 – 26 In 1925 officials of the SCPC wanted to start shipping large amounts of gravel from the property they leased from the CNR. To accomplish this, a new lease was arranged with the railway in 1925 and an agreement with Merlo, Merlo & Ray was signed in 1926 regarding that firm excavating and shipping the gravel. In addition, a waterlot in Lake Huron was obtained from the Ontario Government and a site plan for a proposed inlet in the lot was registered in 1926. The following documents regarding these activities are provided below.

1) An April 14, 1925, letter from SCPC asking permission from the CNR to remove large amounts of gravel from the leased property. (2 pages) 2) A May 30, 1925, lease from the CNR to the SCPC granting it permission to remove gravel from the property – by rail or boat – subject to various condition. (8 pages).

3) A May 1926 agreement between the SCPC & Louis Merlo granting permission to Merlo to remove sand & gravel from the property subject to various conditions. (3 pages) 4) A May 26, 1926, letter from the CNR agreeing to extend the SCPC lease on the property for one year.

5) An August 30, 1926, agreement between the SCPC and MM&R which is a revised version of the May 19, 1926 agreement with Merlo. (4 pages) 6) An August 20, 1926, License of Occupation for a waterlot in Lake Huron in front of the leased SCPC property for the purpose of dredging an inlet, subject to various conditions.

7) An October 11, 1926, site plan for the proposed work in the waterlot.

8) A November 12, 1926, revised site plan for the proposed work in the waterlot.

April 14, 1925 Canadian National Railways Point Edward Dear Sirs:

A.H. Mr. Licorice

We are contemplating loading gravel on cars in a large scale, on your property which we now occupy at Point Edward for shipment to outside points, included in these shipment points are Windsor and Detroit.

While our rail shipments have not been very large in the past, we believe that the volume of rail business in gravel will amount to 20 or 25 cars per day.

With the large expenditure which we contemplate on our gravel loading equipment, it will be necessary that we ship this amount of cars per day to make a reasonable return in investment.

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We have added to the personnel of our Co. in the person of Fred Reid of Windsor, an old, experienced man in the gravel business, and a man who is in very close touch with large uses of gravel.

As our present lease does not specifically state loading gravel, we are asking you at this time to attach a supplement to our present lease in regard to loading gravel.

We are attaching here a pencil sketch of the proposed equipment so that you may better appreciate the large scale on which we intend to operate.

Your truly Sarnia Cement Products Limited NOTE: The prosed new siding shown on the sketch was never built. Instead MM&R built a large hopper for loading gravel into railcars beside the existing sand siding (See Map M1 and the January 19, 1928 Observer photo below).

April 1925 SPC Proposal to CNR Regarding Gravel Removal (turned down) Sketch of Proposed Siding and Gravel

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Agreement CNR & SCPC – May 1925 B-996

Memorandum of Agreement and Lease made in triplicate this Thirtieth day of May A.D. 1925. by and between CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY (successors by amalgamation to the GRAND TRUCK RAILWAY COMPANY OF CANADA) hereinafter called the “company” of the First Part And THE SARNIA CEMENT PRODUCTS LIMITED, of the City of Sarnia in the County of Lambton and Province of Ontario, hereinafter called the “Lessee” of the Second Part.

WHEREAS by agreement dated the Sixth day of December, 1920, The Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada demised and leased to the lessee certain land located at Point Edward fronting on the shore of Lake Huron, in the Township of Sarnia, County of Lambton, and Province of Ontario, for a term of (5) years, commencing the fifteenth day of December, 1920, at a rental of three hundred and fifty dollars ($350.00) per annum payable half yearly in advance.

AND WHEREAS the lessees now desire permission to excavate gravel from the said demised premises.

AND WHEREAS said lease dated December 15, 1920, is due to expire on the fourteenth day of December 1925 it is deemed advisable to cancel said lease and enter into these presents in order to embody the privilege of excavating and removing gravel from the said premises.

THEREFORE, THIS AGREEMENT WITNESSENT THAT – That in consideration of the rents, covenants, conditions and agreements hereinafter reserved and contained on the part of the Lessee to be paid, kept, observed and performed, the Company do demise and lease unto the Lessee:All that parcel or tract of land situate lying and being in the station yard of the company at Point Edward, in the Township of Sarnia, in the Province of Ontario and more particularly described as follows: - commencing on a point at the Northerly boundary at the Company’s right-of-way one hundred and fifty feet Easterly from the left side of Maud Street; thence Easterly along the North side a distance of seven hundred feet, thence Northerly at right angles a distance of twelve hundred and ten feet, thence Easterly along the south shore of Lake Huron seven hundred and five feet, thence southerly eleven hundred and forty feet to the place of beginning and shown colored red on the plan annexed hereto , which is hereby declared to be part and parcel of this lease, and containing in all an area of 18.84 acres.

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD THE: - said demised premises for and during the term of five (5) years to be computed from the Fifteenth day of June, 1925. And from thenceforth next

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ensuing, and fully to be complete and ended, unless sooner terminated by written notice as hereinafter mentioned.

YIELDING AND PAYING THEREFORE unto the Company, the clear yearly rent or sum of Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($350.00) of lawful money of Canada, half yearly in advance in two equal instalments on the Fifteen day of June and the fifteenth day of December in each year during the continuance of said term, without any deduction or abatement whatsoever, the first payment to be made in advance on the Fifteenth day of June, 1925, and further yielding and paying therefore provided for , an such additional sum or compensation for the material taken out and removed as hereinafter provided for , and such additional sum be payable from time to time as in the manner hereinafter specially provided.

That this lease shall include the liberties following, which are, however, to be enjoyed by the Lessee, subject to the covenants of the Lease herein contained.

The Lessee is hereby given the right and privilege of entering upon the lands hereby demised to enable the Lessee to manufacture cement products from the sand and gravel materials found on the demised premises, and are hereby given permission to erect and maintain the necessary buildings, platform and plant required, but subject at all times to the consent and approval to the Company’s Superintendent as to the materials used and the character and condition of maintenance of the said erection and plant, and to evacuate and remove such parts or portions of said lands as may be deemed proper and sufficient to be used for gravel purposes. It is understood, however, that the Lessee will not excavate or remove gravel from said premises within four hundred feet (400’) of the Company’s Northerly right-of-way boundary. Provided always that this agreement is entered into and made subject to the covenants, provisions and conditions hereinafter set forth and contained, and that the same and every of them representing and expressing the exact intention of the parties are to be strictly observed, performed, and complied with namely, 1. That the word “gravel” as used in this agreement shall be held to mean and include the mixture of small stone, pebbles, sand and other materials which are sold commercially as suitable for concrete work in building construction, roadways and general purposes.

2. That the Lessee shall obtain such license or other authority as may be necessary from any Government or Municipality to the removal of gravel and to at all times comply with any regulations in force dealing with such removal.

3. That the Lessee shall for all such gravel remove from said lands, pay to the Company the price or sum of Twenty cents (20c) per cubic yard. The quantities of such gravel to be paid for as aforesaid shall be ascertained by means of statements furnished by the Lessee every quarter giving particulars of quantities of gravel removed and disposed of, or by the number of boatloads taken out, and as shown on the Government records and clearance certificates and receipts given by Capitan in charge of boats, quoting particulars where gravel has been taken out or loaded. In case of shipment of material by rail the records of the Agent of the Company showing the shipping weight, car numbers, and date of shipment shall be used in determining the quantities to be paid for and twenty-eight hundred pounds (2,800 pounds) shall be accepted as to one cubic yard of material.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

Provided that all operations of the Lessee and such certificates and receipts issued by the Capitan shall be subject at all times to the inspection of a duly authorized representative of the Company.

The Lessee shall forward with each such statement its cheque for the amount payable to the company thereunder. Accounts are to be settled quarterly. It is declared and agreed that said rate of 20 cents (20c) per cubic yard is to be held applicable for the year or session of 1925 only and that for the succeeding years or seasons the rates to be paid to the Company shall be fixed by the General Manager of the Company.

That the Lessee shall commence the work of removal of such gravel and material within three months from the date presents and shall carry on its operations continuously during the season in case the supply of gravel is found satisfactory to the Lessee.

That the Lessee will pay or cause to be paid to complete exoneration of the Company, all rates, taxes, or assessments of whatever description that may at any time during the existence of these presents be lawfully imposed or become due and payable upon and in respect to the lands and privileges and the business of the Lessee as carried thereon.

That the Lessee shall not assign, transfer or sublet the rights and privileges hereby granted to any person or persons without the consent in writing of the Company first had and obtained, and the Company’s consent will not be unreasonably with-held.

-A: That the said premises shall not, without the written consent of the Vice President or General Manager of the Company, first had obtained, be used for any other purpose than for use aforesaid and that no good, merchandise or produce shall be stored therein except only such as have been received from or still be forwarded over railway lines owned or operated by the Company, and that no buildings other than those hereby authorised shall be erected upon the said premises, nor any erected or painted advertising signs, except in such connection with the Lessee’s own business without the consent in writing first obtained of the Vice President or General manager of the Company.

That the Lessee assumes and takes all risk of injury, loss or damage by fire, theft or any causes whatever, whether due to the negligence of the Company, or its servants or agents or otherwise, to all property of or in the custody of the Lessee on or alongside of said premises, arising by reason or in consequence of or incidental to the use and occupation of the said premises, and the Lessee covenants and agrees with the Company to insure and keep fully insured while this lease continues in force and the Lessee remains in occupation all such buildings and property thereon as are insurable, or alternatively to assume and bear all loss and consequences resulting from its neglect or failure to maintain at all times such insurance in force, and it is declared that the provisions of this clause is one of the chief considerations moving the Company to grant this lease, that in case of any such loss or damage by fire in any suit or claim against the Company, the value of said property shall not be claimed by the Lessee or the owner or owners thereof, to exceed the sum of ten dollars in currency which sum in the consideration of granting of this lease shall be taken as agreed upon by the parties hereto, and all parties and persons concerned therein as the value of said property at the time of such damage or loss by fire, and that no insurance company insuring any property whatever which may be at any time on or 38

alongside of said premises will be subrogated in any of the rights of the insured as against the Company.

8. That should the Company at any time or times desire to resume possession of said premises or any portion thereof, before the expiration of this lease, it shall have the right to do so, and to terminate this lease as to the whole or portion, on condition that the Company shall give to the Lessee one month’s prior notice in writing of intention of the Company so to resume possession of said premises or portion thereof, and to terminate this lease with respect thereto, and that every notice to be given by the Company under this lease to any party , person or persons, or which the Company may desire to give any party, person or persons with respect to the matters arising out of this lease, or to the said premises or the property thereon, shall be sufficient if signed by the Vic-President or General Manager of the Company, without the seal of the Company, and may by either by posting it up on some part of said premises, or by mailing it in any public Post Office in Canada, addressed to “The Sarnia Cement Products Limited”, Sarnia, Ontario , and every such notice so posted up or so mailed and addressed shall be taken to have been then sufficiently given to the Lessee and to each and every of them, and to his and their and every of their executors, administrators, successors and assigns (if assignment consented to), and any and all parties and persons claiming under or through him or them, and as of and upon the date of such posting and or mailing, however, that such Notice of Termination will only be given by the Company for good and sufficient reasons, or to carry out any orders of the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada.

9. That in the event of its being necessary for the Lessee or its agents, servants, workmen and customers to pass over other lands of the Company and railway tracks of the Company, to have access to and from the said leased premises, all such persons shall make use only of the way that the Superintendent of the Company shall point out for that purpose, and the Lessee hereby expressly assumes all the risk of accident and injury to the person and property of all such agents, servants and workmen and all others resorting to the leased premises in connection with the Lessee’s business, whether the same be occasioned by the negligence of the Company’s servants or in any other manner whatever, and the Lessee shall indemnify the Company from and against all claims, suits, costs and charges made upon or incurred by the Company by reason or consequence of any such accident, loss and injury.

10. That any time before the termination of this lease either by lapse of time or by notice or otherwise, as herein provided, the Lessee shall have the right to remove from off the property of the Company all buildings, erections or materials thereon, not belonging to the Company, leaving the said premises in clean and neat condition and satisfactory to the said Superintendent. If the Lessee shall not move such said buildings, erections and materials before the termination of this lease, the same shall become the property of and belong to the Company without any right to the Lessee to have compensation thereafter in any form, and the Lessee shall quit and quietly and peacefully deliver up possession thereof to the Company on such termination accordingly.

11. That should the term hereby granted be at any time, seized or taken in execution, or should the Lessee (for either of them, if more than one) become insolvent or make an assignment by, through or under the operation of any law whatsoever for the benefit 39

of creditors or take the benefit of any Winding-up Act or Acts of Bankruptcy or of insolvent debtors, the then current half year’s rent shall at once become due and payable and the term by this lease created shall become forfeited and void, and the Company shall be entitled and shall possess the right to take possessions at once of said premises , and all erections and buildings then situated thereon, and to have and possess the same free from all claims on the part of the Lessee or any person or party claiming under the Lessee or under said Act or Acts or otherwise: the liabilities of the Lessee to the Company under said lease, however, to remain in full force as to anything that may have accrued to the Company prior to the said seizure or other acts in this clause above mentioned.

12. That every condition, covenant, agreement and obligation in this lease entered into by, and every risk assumed on the part of the Lessee are hereby also entered into and assumed by and on behalf of its executors, administrators, successors and assigns and the sum shall also be binding upon and affect, and be taken to have been entered into and assumed by every party or person who shall at any time have any interest or ownership in or under this lease or in the property of the same premises, and every such person or party as aforesaid shall with respect to their property and interest be, as regards to the Company, subject to all conditions, terms and stipulations of this lease as if such property or party had been the said Lessee herein named.

13. It is fully understood and agreed that a certain lease dated the sixth day of December 1920 between the Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited and the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada covering the demised premises is hereby cancelled and superseded by this agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Company has caused its corporate seal to be hereunto affixed, and the Lessee has also signed the………………….

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made in duplicate this nineteenth day of May 1926 Between Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited, whose Head Office and Chief place of Business is a t the City of Sarnia, Ontario hereinafter called the “Company” of the first part and Merlo and Merlo, Merlo and Ray Co. Limited.

Louis A. Merlo of Ford City in the County of Essex, Contractor, of the second part.

WHEREAS the Company is Lessee under a certain Lease from the Canadian National Railways, bearing date the thirtieth day of May 1925 of that certain parcel or tract of land and premises, described as follows: All that parcel or tract of land situate lying and being in the Station Yard of the Canadian National Railways Company at Point Edward in the Township of Sarnia in the County of Lambton and Province of Ontario, and more particularly described as follows:- Commencing on a point on the Northerly boundary of the Company’s right-of-way one hundred and fifty feet Easterly from the west side of Maud Street produced, thence Easterly along the north side of the said right-of-way a distance of seven hundred feet, thence Northerly at right angles a distance of twelve hundred and ten feet, thence Westerly along the south shore of 40

Lake Huron seven hundred and five feet, thence Southerly eleven hundred and forty feet to the place of beginning, and shown coloured red on the plan annexed hereto, which is hereby declared to be part and parcel of this lease and containing all 18.84 acres – whereby the hereinbefore described lands are leased to the said Company for the purpose of taking sand and gravel thereof.

AND WHEREAS the said Party of the second part is desirous of subleasing from the said Company the said lands and premises and the said Company has consented to lease to the said Party of the second part the same for the purpose of removing sand and gravel therefrom for the same period as contained in the said lease from the Railway to the said Company under the following conditions namely: The said Party of the Second part shall pay to the said Company a royalty of ten cents per cubic yard, over and above all royalties or other charges that may have to be paid to the said Canadian National Railways or otherwise, and the said sum of ten cents per cubic yard shall be net to the said Company.

Provided, however, that if the said Party of the Second part cannot get from the said Canadian National Railways its consent to remove said sand and gravel at a less royalty than 20 cents per cubic yard as set out in the said lease than it shall be optional with the said Party of the Second Part to carry out this agreement or otherwise.

Provided, however, also that this agreement is made subject to the Party of the Second Part obtaining the consent of the Dominion and Provincial Governments to making a certain cut and the removal of sand and gravel from the bed of Lake Huron, and subject also to the consent of the Canadian National Railway Company of allowing the cut to be made into the said premises hereinbefore described and allowing water to enter thereat.

The said Party of the Second Part agrees with the said Company that he will yearly and every year during the continuance of this agreement and of the hereinbefore recited lease remove from the said premise a minimum of not less than twenty thousand cubic yards of gravel, and in the event of the same not being removed that he shall pay to the said Company yearly and every year the sum of two thousand dollars, the sum to be payable on the First day of January and the First day of July in equal half yearly payments, it being understood and agreed that the said two thousand dollars however is to be applied as a royalty.

The party of the Second part agrees with the Company that he will immediately prosecute with all due diligence the proceedings to obtain the consents of the Dominion and Provincial Governments and the consent of the Canadian National Railway Company as set out in order that the work may be proceeded with expeditiously, and in the event of a further agreement being entered into upon the terms aforesaid, the said royalty is to be paid monthly to the said Company.

And subject also to the consent of the shareholders of the Company being had and obtained for the sub-lettings of this property.

This agreement shall be binding upon the heirs, executors, administration successors and assigns of the parties hereto.

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IN WITNESS HEREOF the said parties hereto have hereunto set their hands and seals and the seal of the Company is hereunto affixed by the hands of the proper officers thereof signed, sealed, and delivered.

In presence of: _________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Canadian National Railways Central Region Office of General Manager

A.E. Warren General Manager

Toronto, May 25th, 1926 Ontario

B. 996

The Sarnia Cement Products Limited Sarnia, Ontario Dear Sirs, Referring to lease dated May 30th, 1925, in your favor covering site at Sarnia.

This is to advise that we are agreeable to continue this lease in effect for a period of one-year, effective June 1st, 1926, upon the same terms and conditions contained therein with the exception that this letter also gives you permission to sublet.

Yours truly, ???????????

General Manager Proposed Dredge Cut – (Observer, July 16, 1926, p16) At a meeting of the city council on June 29, a letter was received from H.B.R. Craig, an engineering of the department of public works asking if the council had any objection to a prosed dredge cut about 200 feet in length for which the Sarnia Cement Products Company had made application. The matter was referred to the waterworks committee and at last night’s meeting Alderman Fuller, chairman, reported that the committee had met and passed the following motion: “that the committee has no objections to the proposed work at Point Edward of the Sarnia Cement Products Company other than we are advised that the operations of the said works would be a potential source of danger to the Sarnia water supply in that it may render such water injurious to health through pollution.” The plant of the 42

company is located east of the Sarnia waterworks pumping station at Point Edward and the idea of the cut was to permit shipment by water of its products, it was stated.

Memorandum of Agreement SCPC & Merlo & Ray Aug. 1926 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made this thirteenth day of August A.D. 1926 Between The Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited, whose head office and chief place of business is at the City of Sarnia in the County of Lambton in the Province of Ontario, hereinafter called the Party of the First Part.

Merlo, Merlo & Ray whose head office and chief place of business is at Ford City in the County of Essex in the Province of Ontario, hereinafter called the Party of the Second Part.

THEREAS the Party hereto of the First Part is the Lessee of the lands and premises hereinafter described from the Canadian National Railway Company and has the lease of occupation of the water lot outside of said lands on Lake Huron from the Ontario Government.

The Party of the First Part hereby grants unto the Party of the Second Part the right to remove gravel exclusively, with the exception hereinafter mentioned, from and off the following described lands and premises namely: All that parcel or tract of land situate, lying and being in the station yard of the Company, at Point Edward, in the Township of Sarnia, in the County of Lambton and Province of Ontario, and more particularly described as follows:- Commencing on a point on the Northerly boundary of the Company’s right-of-way one hundred and fifty feet Easterly along the North side of the said right-of-way a distance of seven hundred feet, thence Northerly at right angles a distance of twelve hundred and ten feet, thence Westerly along the South shore of Lake Huron seven hundred and five feet , thence Southerly eleven hundred and forty feet to the place of beginning, and shown colored red on the plan annexed hereto , which is hereby declared to be part and parcel of this lease and containing in all an area of 18.84 acres said party to the second part shall pay to the said Party of the First Part a royalty of ten cents per cubic yard over and above all other royalties or other charges that have to be paid to the Canadian National Railway Company or otherwise, and the said sum of ten cents per cubic yard shall be net to the said Party of the First Part.

And the Party of the Second Part agrees to cut a channel from the lake front into said premises and to sheet pile the same on both sides thereof according to plan hereunto annexed in order to preserve a channel, the intention being to bring vessels through said channel upon the said described premises to load sand and gravel.

Any gravel taken by the said Party of the Second Part from the said water lot for the purpose of dredging into the said described premises shall be paid for at a royalty of five cents per cubic yard by the Party of the Second Part to the Party of the First Part, and the Party of the Second Part 43

shall pay to the Ontario Government any and all royalties that may be payable under said license of occupation for the removal of said gravel.

It is understood that the said royalty payable to the Ontario Government is now thirty cents. In the event of this being reduced the Party of the First Part is to receive from the Party of the Second part the amount of such reduction and in the event of the said royalty not being presently thirty cents per cubic yard but under that amount the Party of the First Part is to receive the benefit of the lesser royalty, but in any event said Party of the First Part not to receive more than ten cents per cubic yard royalty.

The said Party of the Second Part agrees with the said Party of the First part that it will yearly and every year during the continuation of this agreement remove from the said premises a minimum of not less than twenty thousand cubic meters of gravel and shall pay for the same on a royalty basis of the ten cents per cubic meters yard, and five cents per cubic yard as hereinafter set out on the first days of January and July in each year in equal half yearly payments, and in the event of the same not being removed that he shall pay to the said Company yearly and every year the sum of two thousand dollars, the same to be payable on the first day of January and the first day of July in equal half yearly payments in each year.

Inspection and measurements of the Ontario Government Inspector to be accepted by both parties.

The said Party of the Second Part agrees with the Party of the First Part to immediately commence operations to take out the gravel as aforesaid.

The said Party of the First Part reserves to itself the right to use such gravel and sand from off said premises as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying on its business as a cement manufacturing company.

The said Party of the Second Part agrees to purchase from the Party of the First Part the hopper now upon the said premises at the price of two thousand two hundred dollars, the same to be paid in sixty (60) days from the date thereof.

In the event of the operations of the Party of the Second Part requiring the removal of the Sarnia Cement Products Company buildings now situated and erected upon the said premises, the said Party of the Second Part is to give to the said Party of the First Part sixty days notice requiring the removal of such buildings, the same to be removed to the four hundred foot exemption as set out on the plan hereunto annexed next to the Canadian National Railways Company’s right-of-way, said notice to be given not later than the first day of February in any year during the continuance of this Agreement or any removal thereof.

All monies payable as royalty hereunder to be paid in to the credit of F.F. Pardee, Barrister, Sarnia, as trustee for the party of the First part, and to be disbursed by him at reasonable charges for such service.

This Agreement to be in effect during such time as the Lease from the Canadian national Railway Company to the Party of the First Part and the licence of occupation from the Ontario Government are in effect.

This Agreement is made subject to the consent of shareholders of the Party of the First Part.

The provisions herein to extend to the successors and assigns of the Parties hereto.

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have hereunto affixed their hands and seals and the corporate seals of said Companies are hereunto attached by the proper officers thereof.

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Observer, November 11, 1926 p11

IN THE MATTER OF THE NAVIGABLE WATERS PROTECTION ACT R.S.C. Chap. 115

The Sarnia Cements Product Company Limited, hereby gives notice that it is under Section 7 of the said Act, deposited with the minister of Public Works at Ottawa, and in the office of the Registrar of the Registry Division of the County of Lambton, at Sarnia, the description of the site and the Plan of certain mooring pots, proposed to be erected in Lake Huron in front of part of the former Military Reserve in the Township of Sarnia.

And take notice that after the expiration of one month, from the date of the first publication of this notice, the said Sarnia Cement Products. Limited, will under Section 7 of the said Act, apply to the Minister of Public Works at his office in the City of Ottawa for approval of the said site and Plan and for leave to erect the said mooring posts.

Dated at Sarnia, Ontario this 30th day of October 1926.

The Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited

Map K

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Notes Relating to Map K: Water Lot & Site Plan 1926 16356; - License of Occupation (LO 1456) granted by the Minister of lands & Forest, Province of Ontario to the Sarnia Cement Products Co. Ltd. Dimensions: “Commencing at the water’s edge of Lake Huron, thence easterly along the water edge 300’, thence N6ᵒ44’W 470’, thence S62ᵒ 310’, thence 56ᵒ 44’ E 400’ to place of beginning” containing 3 acres. Plan surveyed by John A. Baird, date May 28, 1926. The water lot is for the purpose of enabling the said license (ie. SCFC) to dredge out an inlet through the water lot in order to provide adequate water transportation of the products of its operating plant situated on adjoining lands under lease from CNR.” “Provided it is understood & agree by SCPC that the licence does not grant or intent to grant any right to SCPC to remove such sand & gravel from water lot or to perform any work or do anything thereon which shall be detrimental to any other rights which now exist.”

“Provided further & it is hereby agreed by the SCPC that the licence shall only run during the pleasure of the minister, that the licence may be terminated by the minister without notice at any time & that SCPC must remove all obstructions placed in the water lot in connection with dredging operations.”

Date: Aug. 20, 1926; Registered May 8, 1928 Map K1

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Deposit 73: Description of site & plan of proposed work in water lot (LO 1456).

Proposed work is to take place in “a certain water lot – see attached plan survey by John A. Baird, dated May 28, 1926, containing 3 acres, for the purpose of enabling the said licensee (ie. SCPC) to dredge out an inlet through the said water lot in order to provided adequate water transportation of the products of its operating plant situated on adjoining lands under lease to SCPC from the CNR & for such other purposes as may, in writing, be approved by the Minister of Lands & Forest and for no other purposes.

Plan dated Oct. 11, 1926; Registered Oct. 29, 1926.

NOTE: Map K is a copy of this Oct. 11 plan.

Deposit 74: Description of site & plan of proposed work in water lot (LO 1456) – revised plan. This plan is the same as the one shown in map K except that the water lot dimensions are slightly smaller than those in the Oct. 11 plan (ie: east limit extends only 470’ along line N6ᵒ44’W and north limit is 310’ along line S62ᵒ36’W as outlined in orange on map K1) This revised plan is dated Nov. 12, 1926 & registered Nov. 17, 1926

Map K2

Notes Relating to Map K2 Summary of C.N.R. Land Transfer, 1926 – 1929 April 27, 1926; CNR conveyed 44.7-acre parcel with 1280’ of shoreline outlined in light purple to C.A. White.

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May 2, 1927; CNR conveyed 25.9-acre parcel with 2650’ of shoreline outlined in pink to Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd. Aug. 3, 1927; CNR conveyed 26.8-acre parcel outlined in orange to Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd. Sept. 14, 1927; CNR conveyed 12.3-acre parcel with 790’ of shoreline outlined in brown to Sarnia Cement Products Company Ltd. July 25, 1929; CNR conveyed 4.3-acre parcel with 210’ of shoreline outlined in blue to Crown.

April 16, 1929; CNR conveyed 3.41-acre parcel outlined in grey to Sarnia Cement Products Ltd. Parcels retained by CNR, exclusive of the railway right-of-way, are coloured yellow.

Thus by 1930, the CNR had sold all of its lakeshore property except a 316’ strip with 340’ of shoreline in the area of the old quarantine station. Captain B.S. Cawthorn leased a portion of this area from the CNR in 1926.

NOTE: parcels colored green sold by C.A. White to various cottage owners in 1926 – see below for details.

The Charles A. White Property In 1926 the CNR traded three parcels of idle railway land north of Sarnia for a parcel adjacent to the railyards owned by three Sarnia businessmen: C.A. White, T. H. Cook & W.C. Nelson. As a result of this deal, White obtained a 45-acre parcel that included most of Lake Chipican as well as over 1200 feet of Lake Huron shoreline. White immediately sold the leased lots within this parcel to individuals who had cottages on these lots.

The lot purchased by two of these cottagers – D. McDougall & H. Phillips - had a laneway through it that provided access to the property west of Lake Chipican. In 1933 when Canatara Park opened, Harry Phillips placed a gate across the laneway which created a problem for the Parks Board since the right-of-way provided the only access to the new park from the east.

Several Observer articles and maps regarding the White property, as well as the laneway issue are provided below.

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Map L

Notes Relating to Map L Land Transfers 1926 15572; April 27, 1926: CNR conveyed 44.7-acre parcel outlined in light purple to Charles A. White. NOTE: White exchanged land he owned south of Sarnia with CNR for this parcel – see Map L1, below. In 1926 White was Vice President & General Manager of the J. Goodison Thresher Co. The President was William T. Goodison who also served as the M.P. for the Sarnia area at the time. This fact has led some people to suspect that Goodison used his influences to help White obtain the Lake Chipican property.

15567; Sept. 21, 1926: C.A. White sold parcel marked dark green to Thomas Grace for $1,000.

15922; Sept. 21, 1926: C.A. White sold parcel marked yellow green to W.J. Parsons for $2.040.

15700; Oct. 12, 1926: C.A. White sold .69-acre parcel marked light green to Harry N. Phillips & Donald J. McDougall for $914.00. The deed to this parcel contained the following paragraph: “Reserving to all persons entitled thereto, a right-of-way 12 feet in width across parcel, the southerly limit of right-of-way running from the southeast angle

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to a point in the westerly limit 51 feet from the southwest angle – marked brown on attached plan (see Map L3 below) 16232 / 16233; Dec. 1, 1927: H.N. Phillips & D.J. McDougall subdivide the .69-acre parcel into three lots (see Map L3 for details).

Map L1

VERY EXTENSIVE September 24, 1926, P5

Canadian National Railway Takes Over Lands and Gives Others in Exchange One of the largest land deals in the history of Sarnia and vicinity, was closed during the past week, and resulted in the Canadian National Railway becoming the owner of a tract of land 50

south of the city, lying east of East Street, and extending from Campbell Street to the present Canadian National right of way and easterly to the intersection of he Plank Road and Campbell Street. This was originally Indian reserve land. There are several houses on the property. It has been acquired by the Canadian National to be used in the contemplated extension of the tunnel yards. It is believed that a very considerable expansion of the terminal yards here will proceed within the near future.

Another Exchange

The Canadian National Railway has also disposed of a large part of their holdings to the north of the city, including part of the land known as the quarantine grounds, and all of the land formerly used by the Sarnia Golf club on Exmouth Street. In exchange the Chipican lake property, including about forty acres and fronting on the Woodrow Road from the railway to the “waters” edge goes to C.A. White of Sarnia.

Twenty-eight acres at the corner of Exmouth and Christina Streets has been acquired by the city, and contains the new Athletic Park.

The adjoining 28 acres, extending from the east boundary of Athletic Park, to the centre line of Collingwood Street becomes the property of Thomas H. Cook, and the balance extending from the centre line of Collingwood Street easterly to the Wees beach , or Cemetery Road, and north on Cemetery Road to a point opposite the south line of the cemetery property and containing a trifle over 72 acres, is now the property of W.C. Nelson, local real estate dealer.

Some History

The land to the north of the city has been held as a unit for about 85 years. In the year 1841 it was part of land granted by the Crown to Samuel Street. His grant included practically all of the lake front lots, extending from Military reserve, Point Edward, to the Plympton township line, except for a few lots granted to Henry Jones. The lands north of the city we sold by Mr. Street to George Durand, after whom Durand Street was called and who was the builder of the Durand block on Front Street.

In 1846 the land was sold to the Hon. Malcom Cameron who resold it to Luther H. Holton, one of the early trustees of the railway company. It was passed from Mr. Holton to another trustee, C.S. Gzowskie, and from Mr. Gzowskie to still another trustee, Thomas E. Blackwell, after whom Blackwell station was called.

In 1888 it was deeded by the trustees to the Grand Trunk Railway, and passed eventually to the Canadian National Railway from whom the present deeds were issued. It is the intention of the present owners to develop the property.

July 15, 1926, p4: T.H. Cook secures 29 acres for New Subdivision: Thomas H. Cook has acquired 29 acres of land lying immediately east of the new athletic park & will shortly place it on the market as a residential subdivision. An announcement in connection with the purchase says: About 1854 when the GTR was built the government gave the rail certain grants of land, one being just across the northern limit of the town at Exmouth St. For over 70 years the GTR held this land vacant.

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Recently, the railway, now the CNR, changed its mental attitude as regards land not necessary for railway purposes.

The parks board secured the title to the land for the new athletic park on the north side of Exmouth Street & is now making extensive improvements.

This week, T.H. Cook has acquired the 29 acres lying immediately east of the athletic park & will open it into a subdivision of building lots, at popular prices.

Aug. 4, 1926, p1: Track Extension found necessary in CNR Yards: Heavy increase in freight traffic through the St. Clair Tunnel & the Sarnia yard of the CNR have brought about the necessity for increased track accommodations. Four more tracks are to be laid at an early date to the north of the present tracks.

It is understood that about 30 acres of property have been acquired by the CNR on which to make the extension.

Charles A. White Charles A. White, who has been appointed general manager of The John Goodison Thresher Co., Sarnia, is a native of Lambton. He was born in Moore Township and received his education in Sarnia schools and Business College. He was first employed by the W.T. McMurray Lumber Co., original owners of the Cleveland-Sarnia Sawmills Co. After two years with that firm, he joined the Goodison Thresher Co., at its formation in 1897, as chief accountant. In 1914 he was appointed secretary treasurer and following the death of W.T. Goodison, M.P., last December, he was named general manager of the concern.

Mr. White is active in many civic organisations and is a member of the board of education. He is chairman of the commercial committee of the advisory-vocational branch of the board.

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Map L2 - Plan Dated March 12, 1926

Notes relating to Map L2 Summary of CNR Grant to C.A. White, 1926 This indenture made 27 April 1926 between CNR and Charles Alexander White. In consideration of an exchange of lands and the sum of $1 now paid by White to CNR, CNR grants to White that certain parcel of land being in Township of Sarnia & being composed of part of lots 67 & 68, front concession of said township which may be more particularly described as: “Commencing at the intersection of the northerly limit of the 100’ right of way of CNR across said lots with the westerly limit of the given road between lots 66 & 67, thence in a south westerly direction following the northerly limit of 100’ right of way, 1062.75’ 53

thence N2ᵒ00’E and parallel to the westerly limit of the aforesaid road 1730’ more or less, to the water’s edge of Lake Huron, thence in a north easterly direction following said water’s edge, 1280’ more or less to its intersection with the westerly limit of said road, thence S2ᵒ00’W following said westerly limit of said road, 2200’, to the place of beginning.”

The westerly limit of the herein described parcel being drawn through the northwest angle of the lands at present being leased by McDougall & Phillips.

The said parcel containing 45 acres, more or less and being shown colored green on plan attached hereto (see map L2)

History of the McDougall Property Notes relating to Map L3 During the period when the Canatara area was used as a quarantine station, one of the station’s superintendent’s, Mr. John McDougall leased from the GTR a parcel of land on the lakeshore just northeast of Lake Chipican. He used this .69-acre parcel for a summer cottage. When C.A. White bought the land around Lake Chipican from the CNR in 1926 he agreed to sell those parcels used for cottages to the individuals who had leases on the parcels. Thus, the original Mr. McDougall & son, Mr. Don McDougall & son-in-law, Mr. Harry Phillips, bought the .69-acre parcel from White in 1926 and a year later they divided it into three lots (see map L3). Mr. McDougall retained the centre lot, while Mr. Phillips got the smaller ones on the east & west sides of the parcel. In 1933, when Canatara Park opened, people began using this right of way to enter & leave the new park. To maintain privacy around his cottage, Mr. Phillips erected a gate across the right of way. This was the first shot in a long battle between Mr. Phillips & the parks board over the use of these 12 feet right of way.

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Map L3

DEATH REMOVES LEADING POINT EDWARD OFFICIAL March 5, 1932, P5 – Canadian Observer

Donald J. McDougall, Village Druggist, Treasurer and Postmaster Passes Away Donald James McDougall, treasurer of Point Edward, postmaster and druggist, and for many years a highly respected resident of the village died yesterday afternoon after a month’s illness. He as aged 55 years.

Mr. McDougall was a well know public official and was one of Point Edward’s most enterprising residents. He was born at Komoka, Ontario, the son of the late John McDougall, who was member of parliament for Middlesex for many years. When the father retired from politics and was appointed inspector of the quarantine at Point Edward, the family moved to the village when Donald McDougall was eight years of age. The deceased attended the Point Edward public school and the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and after he was graduated, attended the Ontario College of Pharmacy at Toronto. Later he returned to the village and on the removal of George Ingersoll, druggist, to Sarnia, Mr. McDougall took over the drug store in Point Edward.

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Postmaster 15 Years

The deceased was appointed village postmaster about 15 years ago, and on the death of William McLeister he was appointed village treasurer. For a number of years, he served as a member of the municipal council.

He is survived by his wife, who was Miss Mary McIntyre daughter of the late James McIntyre and one daughter, Margaret Jane, at home, also four sisters. Margaret and Christine of Point Edward; - Mrs. W. Benkleman and Mrs. H. Seed, of Detroit, Mr. McDougall was past master of Liberty lodge No. 419, A.F. and A.M., and he was a member of St. Simon of Cyrene preceptory, and of the I.O.O.F. The funeral will be held from the family residence, 323 Michigan Avenue, Point Edward, on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock. Interment will be at Lakeview cemetery.

Summary of SCPC & MM&R Activities: 1927 – 1932 In 1927 MM&R started using rail cars to ship sand and gravel from their gravel plant on the SCPC property shown in the January 21, 1928, Observer photo below. In 1927 MM&R also purchased from the CNR two parcels of land totalling 52.7-acres, both of which now are part of Canatara Park. At the same time MM&R signed an agreement that permitted the railway to continue excavating the sand from one of these parcels. In 1928 MM&R made another agreement with the SCPC that permitted MM&R to construct a breakwater or pier in the SCPC waterlot subject to various conditions. That year the breakwater was constructed, and MM&R began using dredges to excavate gravel from the SCPC property. Finally, in 1930 MM&R transferred a portion of their 52.7-acre property to the Windsor Sand & Gravel Company.

In addition to newspaper articles, photos and maps, the following documents regarding these activities are provided below.

1) A May 2, 1927, agreement between MM&R and the CNR regarding the railway sand mining operations in a section of the MM&R property. (3 pages) 2) A January 20, 1928, agreement between the SCPC and MM&R regarding the construction of a breakwater in the SCPC waterlot, as well as the conditions concerning the removal of gravel from the SCPC property. (6 pages) 3) A February 21, 1928, letter from the MM&R lawyer to the SCPC regarding the January 20th agreement.

4) A February 23,1928 letter from the SCPC lawyer to the MMR regarding the above letter.

5) A detailed plan of the proposed pier or breakwater registered on February 27, 1928. (4 pages) 6) A February 1, 1930, deed transferring the western portion of the MM&R property to the Windsor Sand & Gravel Company.

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7) A November 14, 1930, agreement between Louis Merlo and the WS&GC regarding the removal of gravel from the adjoining MM&R property.

Map M

Notes relating to Map M Agreements, Plans & Land Transfers: 1927 – 26 16114 / 17357: May 2, 1927: CNR sold 25.9-acre parcel outlined in green to Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd. (MM&R) for $7,770. At the same time MM&R made an agreement with the CNR (see below for details). In general, the agreement stated that MM&R’s sand & gravel operation should be confined to the area marked with red stripes on Map M. Also, CNR had the right to use the existing rail line through the parcel to load sand from the area shaded brown.

16113: Aug. 3, 1927: CNR sold 26.8-acre parcel outlined in orange to MM&R for $8,040.

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16162: Sept. 14, 1927: CNR sold 12.3-acre parcel marked purple to the Sarnia Cement Products Company (SCPC) for $9,225.

16355: Jan. 20, 1928: MM&R made an agreement with SCPC (see below for details). In general, the agreement stated that MM&R could excavate sand & gravel from the 12.3acre parcel of SCPC and construct a breakwater on the water lot in front of this parcel.

Day 83: Feb. 27, 1928: MM&R registered a plan for a proposed pier to be built in the 3acre water lot in front of the SCPC’s 12.3-acre parcel. (Deposit 83 under the Navigable Waters Protection Act – at Lambton Registry)

NOTICE CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS CENTRAL REGION TORONTO It is the intention of the Canadian National Railway Company to dispose by sale of land situated at Point Edward, in the Township of Sarnia, County of Lambton, as follows: 1. Being all that parcel of land, situate on the south shore of Lake Huron lying between the westerly limit of Lot 69 and a point distant Eight Hundred and Fifty (850’) feet easterly of the westerly limit of Maude Street produced and between the water’s edge and a line drawn parallel to and Four Hundred and Seventy (470’) feet northerly measured at right angles from the northerly limit of the right of way lands of the Canadian National Railway Company.

2. Being all that parcel of land situate on the south shore of lake Huron lying between the easterly limit of the Ordnance Reserve land and a point Eight Hundred and Fifty (850’) feet distant easterly from the westerly limit of Maud Street produced and between the water’s edge and a line drawn parallel to and Four Hundred and Seventy (470’) feet northerly measured at right angles from the northerly limit of the right of way lands of the Canadian National Railway Company.

Plan and description of the above property and any other available information may be seen in the office of the undersigned.

Persons interested should send in their tenders not later than 11th April, 1927, addressed to: H.A. PALMER, Right of Way Agent, Canadian National Railways Room 454, New Union Station, Toronto, Ont. The highest or any tender will not necessarily be accepted.

H.A. PALMER Right of Way Agent

Toronto, March 24, 1927

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Parcel 1: Comprised about 40 acres, most of which was leased by CNR for the Huron Sand & Gravel Co. from 1925 – 1927. In May & August of 1927 MM&R purchased this property, as well as most of Lot 69 north of the 470’ line (see below for details). According to James Barr’s remarks on Jan. 12, 1931, Sarnia had an opportunity to obtain this parcel in the 1927 period, but didn’t act (see next page).

Parcel 2: Comprised 12.3 acres, most of which was leased by CNR to the Sarnia Cement Products Co. from 1920 – 1927. In Sept. 1927 SCPC purchased this parcel & in the following year they leased it to MMIR (see below for details) Map M1

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16114 CNR to MERLO, MERLO & RAY LTD. May 2, 1927, for $7,770 25.9-acre parcel (see map M). Right-of-way into property extension of Alfred Street.

17357 Agreement Between MERLO, MERLO & RAY (owner) & CNR (Regarding taking sand from 25.9-acre parcel at Point Edward) May 2, 1927 – refer to Map M. Whereas the CNR transferred to owner certain lands (i.e. 25.9-acre parcel) Whereas, it has been the practice of the CNR to secure sand of a certain quality for locomotive engines from the said lands & it is desired to continue the said practice on the terms herein set forth.

Whereas part of the consideration for which the CNR conveyed the lands to the owner was that the CNR might take, free of charge, for a period of 99 years such sands as the CNR desires.

The parties agree to the following: 1. The plan shows outlined in green the parcel of land from which the sand suitable for locomotive engines is to be supplied & which may be described as ..... (i.e.

25.9-acre parcel) 2. The CNR is now & shall remain the owner of & have the right to maintain & operate the existing track on the above-described parcel & may remove said track or any part of it at any time. It is understood, however, that should the space occupied by the existing track on the westerly 650’ of the parcel be required for the operations of the owner the CNR will, upon receiving 3 months’ notice remove all or any portion of the existing track.

3. For a period of 99 years, whenever the owner is operating a plant & removing sand & gravel the owner will supply to the CNR 12,000 cubic yards/yr of sand suitable for locomotive engines for the use of the CNR & other RR companies using its terminals & will, at the option of the General Superintendent of the CNR, either load the same cars to be furnished by the CNR or will deposit sand not loaded into cars in storage piles within a distance of 100’ from tracks. The CNR will pay the owner $15 / cu yd. for all sand loaded on cars by the owner.

4 The owner will, during every year in which it removes sand & gravel from said parcel, reserve at least 12,000 cu yds. of sand for the CNR. 5. The owner will not make any excavation or any dredging for the recovery of sand and gravel on parcel, easterly of line drawn parallel to & distant 650’ easterly from the westerly boundary of parcel, except with written consent of the CNR. 60

6. CNR agents have the right to enter parcel at all times & bring all equipment required for purpose of loading & transporting sand & have the right to construct, maintain & operate on parcel, except as hereinafter set out, whatever track(s) it shall deem necessary & shall have the right to use any track(s) which may hereinafter be constructed by the owner on parcel. Provide, however, that while the CNR shall have the right to take the sand from any and all parts of the parcel, the tracks which may be constructed by the CNR under the clause shall not be constructed on the westerly 650’ northerly of the dotted red line shown on plan (see Map M1).

7. If the owner requires RR cars to be placed for loading of material removed from parcel, a track must be provided by the owner under usual terms of a standard siding agreement.

16113 CNR to MERLO, MERLO & RAY LTD. Aug. 3, 1927, for $8040 26.8-acre parcel (see Map M) right-of-way into property extension of Alfred Street.

Observer References to Merlo, Merlo & Ray March 25, 1927, p13: London Road to be Paved from Reece’s Corners”: A contract for building a concrete road 10.6 miles east from Reece’s Corners has been awarded to “Morlow, Morlow & Ray.” May 26, 1927, p2: Point Edward: R.D. Robertson, Construction Superintendent of the Merlo, Merlo & Ray Co., Ford City, was in the village yesterday inspecting the construction work at the SCPC’s plant.

June 18, 1927, p14: MM&R have commenced operations at the plant of the SCPC & are shipping 12 cars of sand daily for use of the new pavement on the London Road.

Aug. 9, 1927, p1: London Road Pavement Being Pushed: Five miles of new paving has now been completed on the London highway according to R.D. Robertson, Superintendent of MM&R, which has the government contract. The company is working eastwards toward Warwick village. Five more miles are planned this year.

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Observer photos: January 13, 1928 p8

Agreement – SCPC & MM&R Ltd. – Jan. 20, 1928 THIS AGREEMENT made in duplicate this Twentieth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight.

SARNIA CEMENT PRODUCTS COMPANY LIMITED whose head office and chief place of business is at the City of Sarnia in the County of Lambton Province of Ontario., hereinafter called the party of the First Part.

Merlo, Merlo & Ray whose head office and place of business is at Ford City in the County of Essex and Province of Ontario, hereinafter called the party of the Second Part.

WHEREAS the party of the First Part is the owner of the land and premises hereinafter described, namely, ALL AND SINGULAR that certain parcel or tract of land and premises situate, lying and being in the Township of Sarnia, County of Lambton and Province of Ontario, being composed of part of the Military Reserve in said Township, which parcel may be more particularly described as follows;- Commencing at a point in the interior of the said Military Reserve the position of which may be located as follows;- Commencing at the intersection of the southerly limit of the one hundred (100’) foot right of way of the Canadian National Railway across said Reserve with the easterly limit of Alfred Street in the Village of Point Edward, thence north six degrees twenty six minutes west (N.6ᵒ26’W.) at rights angles to said limit right of way, five hundred and seventy (570’) feet to the point of commencement aforesaid; thence south eighty three degrees twenty minutes west (S.83ᵒ20’ W.) a distance of thirty three and thirty five hundreds (33.35’) feet; thence south eighty-three degrees and thirty-four minutes west (S.83ᵒ34’W.) a distance of seven hundred and fifty-two and ninety-five hundreds (762.95’) feet more or less, to the easterly limit of the land recently acquired by the Ordnance Department of Canada from Canadian National Railways; thence north six degrees twenty-six minutes west (N.6ᵒ26’W.) along said limit, seven 62

hundred and forty (740’) feet, more or less to the southerly shore of Lake Huron, thence easterly, following said shore line, seven hundred and ninety (790’) feet, more or less, to a line drawn parallel to and distant seven hundred and eighty-six and three tenths (786.3’) feet measured easterly from and perpendicularly to the easterly limit of the land of the Ordnance Department aforesaid; thence south six degrees twenty-six minutes east (86ᵒ26’E.) along said line six hundred and eighty (680’) feet, more or less, to the aforesaid point of commencement. The said parcel of tract of land containing by admeasurement twelve and three tenths (12.3) acres, more or less, and being shown green on plan attached to Deed bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, 1927, from the Canadian National Railway Company to the Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited, which Deed was registered in the Registry Office for the Registry Division of the County of Lambton in Book “U” for the Township of Sarnia at 3:30 P.M. of the fourth day of November, A.D. 1927, as Instrument Number 16168.

AND WHEREAS the party of the First Part has a Lease of Occupation of the water lot lying immediately in front of the lands hereinbefore described, on Lake Huron, from the Ontario Government.

NOW THEREFORE THIS AGREEMENT WITNESTH that in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants hereinafter contained, the parties hereto each covenant and agree with the other, as follows: The said party of the First Party hereby gives to the Party of the Second Part the exclusive right to remove sand and gravel, with the exceptions hereinafter mentioned, from in and off the said lands.

And the said party of the Second Part covenants and agrees to pay the party of the First Part a royalty of fifteen cents (15c) per cubic yard, for all sand or gravel so removed.

The party of the second Part shall pay to the Ontario Government any all royalties that may be payable under the said License of Occupation for the removal of sand and gravel The said party of the Second Part agrees with the party of the First Part to immediately commence operations to take out sand and gravel.

The said party of the Second Part agrees with the said party of the First Part that it will yearly and every year during the continuance of this Agreement to remove from said premises a minimum of not less than Ten Thousand (10,000) cubic yards of sand and gravel and in the event same not being removed by reason of any act or omission on the part of the party of the Second Part shall pay to the party of the First Part yearly and every year during the term of this contract the sum of two thousand ($2,000) Dollars, payable on the First days of January and July in each year in equal half yearly payments.

Inspections and measurements of the Ontario Government Inspector shall be accepted by both parties.

All payments to be made under this contract to be made on the first days of January and July in each year.

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The said party of the First Part reserves to itself the right to use such gravel and sand from off the said premises as may be necessary for carrying on its business as a Cement Products Manufacturing Company.

In the event of the operations of the party of the Second Part requiring the removal of the Sarnia Cement Company’s buildings now situated and erected upon the said premises, the said party of the Second Part shall give to the party of the First Part sixty days’ notice in writing requiring the removal of said buildings: said notice to be given not later than the First day of February during the continuance of the Agreement or any renewal thereof.

All moneys payable hereunder by the party of the First Part shall be paid to Mssrs.

Pardee, Gurd, Fuller and Taylor, Barristers, Sarnia, Ontario, as Trustee, for the party of the First Part.

And the party of the First Part hereto consents to the erection by the party of the Second Part of a breakwater in Lake Huron and immediately in the front of the premises of the Party of the First Part herein.

And it is further agreed by and between the parties hereto that in the event of the party of the Second Part erecting the said breakwater that the said party of the Second Part or their assigns shall have the right to use the said breakwater in connection with the taking out of gravel from the premises of the party of the First Part as herein mentioned or from the adjoining premises owned by the party of the Second Part herein.

And it is further agreed that the party of the First Part shall have the right to use the said breakwater in connection with the operation of their plant or their use of their premises.

It is further agreed by and between the parties hereto that while there is commercial gravel on the premises of either of the parties hereto that the party of the Second Part shall keep the said breakwater in a proper state of repair and if at any time during the said period the party of the First Part is ordered by any competent authority to have the said breakwater removed, then the said party of the Second Part covenants and agrees that they will remove the said breakwater at their own expense and to the satisfaction of the authority so ordering the removal.

And it is further agreed by and between the parties that during said period, the said party of the Second Part, shall indemnify and save harmless the party of the First Part herein from any loss, change or expense whatsoever arising out of, from or by reason of the erection of the said breakwater.

PROVIDED that in the event of all commercial gravel being removed from of the premises of both the parties herein, then it is agreed by and between both parties hereto that from that period and the said breakwater shall be owned jointly by the parties herein and all necessary repairs and expenditures for the up-keep thereof shall be a charge against the parties hereto in equal shares and each of the parties hereto shall be liable for one half of all damages that may be caused by said breakwater and the said breakwater shall thereafter used as a joint entrance to the properties of the parties hereto.

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It is further agree by and between the parties hereto that in the event of a breakwater being constructed by the party of the Second Part as hereinbefore set out and in the event of the said party of the Second Part removing from the premises any material necessary to be removed in construction of the channel or breakwater then the said party of the Second Part shall pay to the party of the First Part five cents per cubic yard for all such material so removed from the premises.

And further provided, that in the event of the party of the First part receiving a bona fide offer of sale for their premises or a substantial part of the said premises then this agreement may be terminated at the end of the five years from date hereof, on the said party of the First Part, mailing to the party of the Second Part, postage prepaid, at their address in Ford City in Ontario, at least three months before the expiration of the said five year period, a notice stating that the party of the First Part has a bona fide offer for sale and proposes to sell and terminating this Agreement: provided, that the said party of the First Part , shall with the said notice or prior there to give particulars of the price at which the party of the First Part proposes to sell with the name shall thereupon have the exclusive option of purchasing the said lands of the party of the First Part at the same price for a period of thirty days after receiving such notification.

It is further agreed by and between the parties hereto that in the event of the said party of the Second Part not exercising the option to purchase hereby given to him that the said party of the First Part will exact a reservation from the person or persons to whom the Licence of Occupation is transferred or the lands therein described sold to: that the party of the Second Part will continue to have a joint interest in the breakwater as above set out and shall also have a continuing right of entry through the channel as above set out.

This Agreement to be in effect for a period of ten years from this date: provided, that if for any reason the License of Occupation now held from the Ontario Government by the party of the First Part be revoked, then this Agreement shall insofar as the land comprised therein, be cancelled; Provided further that if the party of the First Party are successful in obtaining a Deed of the said lands comprised of the License of Occupation hereinbefore mentioned and the said License of Occupation is then revoked, such revocation shall not be an end to this Agreement: This Agreement is made subject to the consent of the shareholders of the party of the First Part.

This Agreement shall enure to the benefit of and shall be binding upon the successors and assigns of the parties hereto.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have hereunto affixed their hands and seals and the Corporate Seals of the said companies are hereto attached, by the proper officers, thereof.

Signed, seal and delivered in the presence of

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J. Ray Donohue Barrister, Solicitor, Etc. Bank of Commerce Chambers

Sarnia, Ont. February 21st, 1928 Messrs. Pardee & Co., Barristers, etc., Sarnia, Ontario, Dear Sirs,

Attention Mr. Fuller, Re: Sarnia Cement Products Ltd. & Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd.

My client has perused the Agreement dated January 20th, 1928, which you prepared between the Sarnia Cement Products Ltd. And Merlo, Merlo & Ray Limited.

I am instructed to advise you that my client requests the following reservations to be made in the said Agreement.

1. That no royalty shall be paid for material removed in constructing the channel subject however, to a payment of five cents per cubic yard for all material of mercantile quality removed from the channel after same is constructed, provided, however, that my client will pay to the government any royalty exacted by them for the material which may be removed in constructing the channel.

2.

A covenant will be required from your clients that if the option of purchase is not exercised by my client you will exact a reservation from the person or persons to whom your License of Occupation is transferred that Merlo, Merlo & Ray Limited will continue to have a joint interest in the pier as provided in the agreement that they will further have the right of entry through the channel.

Would you also amend the agreement to describe the work to be done as a pier and not a breakwater?

When you have made these amendments would you kindly return the agreement to me for approval.

Yours truly, JRD: F

Feb. 23rd, 1928 J.Ray Donohue, Esq. 66

Barrister Ac. Sarnia, Ontario Dear Sir, Re: Sarnia Cement Products & Merlo, Merlo & Ray We have your letter of the 21st inst. herein.

We have taken the matter of your objections to the prepared Agreement up with our clients and we are advised by them that they insist on a royalty of 5 cents per cubic yards for all material removed from the water lot regardless of whether or not it is it is removed in the construction of the channel.

We have no objection to including in the Agreement a clause that in case of sale by our clients that Merlo and Company will continue to have a joint interest in the breakwater and a right of entry through the channel.

We do not see any reason for changing the name breakwater to pier. The only construction mentioned between the parties, as we understand it, was the construction of a breakwater. A pier, of course, is an entirely different thing. We, therefore, see no reason for amending the Agreement along this line. You might advise us what your client has to say with regard to this matter.

Yours truly, PARDEE, GURD, FULLER & TAYLOR,

LEGALS NOTICE OF APPLICATION In the matter of the Navigable Water Protections Act, Revised Stn., Merlo, Merlo, & Ray, Limited thereby gives notice that it has under Section 7 of said Act deposited with the Minister of Public Works at Ottawa, and in the office of the Registrar of Deeds for the Registry Division of the County of Lambton at Sarnia, Ontario, a description of the site and the plans of a pier proposed to be built in Lake Huron in front of part of the former Military Reserve in the Township of Sarnia and County of Lambton.

And take notice that after the expiration of one month from the date of the first publication of this notice, Merlo, Merlo and Ray, Limited will under Section 7 of the said Act, apply to the Minister of Public Works at his office in the City of Ottawa for approval of the said site and plans and for leave to construct the said pier.

Dated at Sarnia this Twenty-First Day of February, A.D. 1928. Merlo, Merlo and Ray, Limited,

by J.Ray Donohue, Solicitor for the said Company. Bank of Commerce Chambers Sarnia, Ontario.

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Map M2 – Sarnia Cement Products

Notes Relating to Map M2: Site Plan of Proposed Pier Although this map is from the plans of the proposed pier by Merlo, Merlo and Ray, dated Feb. 10, 1928, it actually shows the land parcels & water lots as they existed in 1926.

By 1928, the following changes had occurred: 1. The parcel leased to the Huron Sand & Gravel Co. had been sold to Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd. 2. The license of occupation for HSGC 20-acre water lot had been cancelled.

3. The Sarnia Cement Products Co. had purchased a 12.3-acre parcel – outlined in orange – which included much of the 18.8 acre parcel it had leased from the CNR. As noted above, it was the 12.3-acre parcel owned by the SCPC from which MM&R received the right to remove sand & gravel. Notice that the western boundary 0f this 12.3-acre parcel extends 86 feet west of the western limit of the original leased parcel.

When the pier was built in 1928, its base was placed 300 feet east of the western boundary, which resulted in its tip being outside the water lot – as shown in yellow.

When MM&R began excavating a gravel pit in the 12.3-acre parcel, SCPC’s factory was moved approximately 350’ to the southeast of its location shown on Map M2.

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Plan of Proposed Pier – 1928 − This plan of the pier is dated Feb. 20, 1928, and was registered Feb. 27, 1928, as document N0. 83, under the Navigable Waters Protection Act. The plan is titled “Description of site to be occupied by a pier proposed to be built by Merlo, Merlo & Ray in front of property belonging to the Sarnia Cement Products Co., now held under lease

by Merlo, Merlo and Ray.” - - The plan shows the precise location & dimensions of the pier which was a 500’ hookshaped structure, 10-14’ wide and covering an area of about 6,000 sq. feet. (Also see next page). The sides of the pier were constructed of 20-30’ wood piles, placed side by side, forming a solid wall on the outside. This wall of piles was strengthened by tie rods running through the pier from wales along each side. The top of the piles was 6’ above the mean water level except for two mooring piles which were 10’ above the water level & placed every 50’ along the east, northeast & north sides of the pier. It was along this “outer” side of the pier where gravel steamers would tie-up during the loading operation.

The inside of the pier was filled with concrete bags and rock ballast. Although the plans do not show it, the top surface of the pier was paved with concrete about 1’ thick.

Pier Plan

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Pier plans

Observer References to Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd. May 10, 1928, p 17: Point Edward: Merlo, Merlo & Ray are building a pier 400’ out into Lake Huron so that boats may come & load their products as well as shipments by rail.

Walter Reid of Sarnia is the local Superintendent for MM&R. May 21, 1928, p1: Point Edward Man Drowned After Fall From Dock: “John Armstrong, aged 49, a teamster residing at Point Edward, was accidently drowned when he fell into Lake Huron early Sunday morning. Employees of the Detroit River Construction Co., who are building a dock for MM&R near the entrance to the lake, noticed a hat floating on the water about 7:00 a.m. They procured a raft & shortly afterward located the body about 50’ away and lying at the bottom of 8’ feet of water. Armstrong had left his home to take a walk and having ventured out onto a line of spiles which projected into the lake, presumably lost his balance & fell in. He had been employed with the Detroit River Construction Co. until Tuesday of last week.”

June 6, 1928, p1: Point Edward: “A complaint was filed regarding MM&R gravel contractor working on Sunday, as it was deemed unnecessary. The council was unable to deal directly with this as the plant is not within the village limits.”

August 15, 1928, p10: Long Line of Pontoons: “A long line of about 50 pontoons were towed to the dock of the SCPC today by two tugs. These will be used in the construction of a breakwater at this plant, situated at Point Edward.

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Sept. 7, 1928, p13: Point Edward: The breakwater which is being constructed by MM&R is rapidly nearing completion. This company is going ahead rapidly & is now practically the only gravel company doing business in a large scale anywhere in the vicinity. The gravel boats Aragon & Western take a load of graded gravel away from the local plant every other day for construction purposes in Detroit & Windsor. A person who has not visited the lake shore for a few months would certainly note many changes. Walter Reid of Sarnia is superintendent for the local plant of the company.

Laborer Drowns at Breakwater, Point Edward Peter Ponek, a Pole, Jumps Into Deep Water, While Unloading Stone BODY RECOVERED Attempts of Employees to Save Drowning Man, Prove a Failure Sarnia Observer – August 28, 1928 P5

Peter Panek, aged 25, was drowned at 10:20 a.m. today while unloading stone at the breakwater of Merlo, Merlo & Ray, Point Edward. Although the downing appears to be purely accidental, Dr. W.B. Rutherford, coroner announced this afternoon that an inquest would probably be held Monday to determine the details surrounding the fatality.

Panek is a Pole. He came from Poland four months ago and had been working at various occupations about Point Edward and Sarnia. He went to work with the Merlo, Merlo & Ray firm at their gravel dock here, in the construction of a breakwater.

Dumping Stone

Large pieces of broken stone from the Central Canada Stone company are taken over to the loading platform of the Merlo company and placed in small narrow gauge hopper cars and drawn out along the breakwater and dumped beside the piles to strengthen the breakwater. The hopper on the narrow cars’ rests on a semi-circular base and when unlocked will swing over and dump its load. Because of the weight of the stone it was necessary to have the under part of the car chained to the track, and it was one man’s duty to chain the under part of the car while two others took charge of the dumping of the hopper.

Jumped Into Water

It was Panek’s job to chain the car while the others dumped it. He was standing holding on to the chain when the hopper was unhooked. It seemed to swerve toward him. He was standing on the opposite side to that on which the hopper was to be dumped. Panek became frightened, dropped the chain and jumped into the water. The hopper upset and it is thought that some of the large pieces of stone struck him on the head. Several attempts were made to reach the drowning man, but none was successful. Employees jumped in and tried to reach the man, but he sank from their sight. The body was later recovered in about eighteen feet of water.

Relatives in Poland

Dr. Rutherford was summoned, and the body removed to Phillips Brothers undertaking parlors. No arrangements have as yet been made for interment. He has been residing at the home of John Medganak 215 Water Street city. A wife and two children survive him in Poland.

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Panek’s Death Was Accidental Jury Declares Recommendation Made That Greater Precaution Be Taken in Unloading Stone Sarnia Observer – September 6, 1928, P12

A verdict of accidental drowning was returned last evening at Point Edward by the Coroner’s jury at the inquest on the death of Peter Panek, aged 25, which occurred August 28, when he fell from a breakwater on the lakeshore north of the village. Dr. W.H. Rutherford the coroner presided over the inquiry held in the village hall which had only about a dozen spectators.

According to the information brought out in the hearing of testimony, Panek, a Polish employee of Merlo, Merlo & Ray, was employed in construction of a breakwater for that company at the gravel dock and plant. He became frightened when a car of broken stone he was assisting in dumping, tipped the wrong way and jumped into the lake, and unable to swim, drowned before help could reach him. Walter Reid, Superintendent of the local branch of Merlo, Merlo & Ray, Dr. John F. Sadlier who conducted the autopsy on the remains, Fred Warren, foreman at the time of the mishap, fellow employees of the deceased, Walter Cox, foreman, and John Madgemik, employed near the dock and with whom Panek resided, all gave testimony.

The jury consisted of William Darbyshire, foreman, James Burgess, John Strangway, Louis Knauff, Donald McDougall, Robert Buchanan, Archie Durnham and C. Harris.

History of the Work

Walter Reid, superintendent, of the local plant of Merlo, Merlo & Ray company said he was, at the time of the accident, approximately 10:20 a.m., Tuesday, August 28, busy removing the cables holding the steamer Aragon, which had been tied up at the company’s dock, but which was leaving with a cargo of gravel at the time. He gave a general outline of the construction of the dock, breakwater, trucks, and general operations. Stone was being dumped between the double row of piles which makeup the construction of the breakwater. A track extends from the shore, out along the breakwater, and dump carts are used for the transporting of stone to that point.

Dr. Sadlier said, in his opinion the cause of death was drowning. There were no head injuries caused by falling stone.

Warren’s Account

Fred Warren, Clinton Traxler and Albert Cook all gave testimony of a similar character.

As Warren had to return to university he gave his account of the mishap in a letter to the coroner, which in part said. “At the time of the accident the deceased man was helping to dump a carload of stone into the centre of the pier. His particular duty was to hold a rope which was tied to the pier and looped around the truck of the car to prevent the car from falling into the pier when the bucket of the truck was dumped. Although the rope was long enough to permit Panek to stand at the side of the car, he not thinking, stood under the bucket. When the catch was released, which held the bucket in place, it began to slowly move in Panek’s direction and to the opposite side to which it was supposed to dump. Panek, becoming excited, turned and jumped into the lake clear of the falling stone. As the car was only three quarters full the stone did not go very far from the pier. Efforts were made to rescue the man with a nearby rope and plank, but he failed to grasp either of them. The three witnesses were Cook, Traxler and Warren. Two employees jumped in to rescue him but failed.”

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Family in Poland

Walter Cox, who is taking Warren’s place at the dock, said the car was full and gave the jury an account of the methods employed and of the need to load the hopper evenly.

John Madgemik with whom Panek boarded on Water Street, said that Panek had been in Canada four months, of which one month was spent in Sarnia and Point Edward and eighteen days of that time he was employed at the plant of Merlo, Merlo & Ray. He was married and had two children still in Poland, his native country. He could not speak English.

The Verdict

The verdict was: “We the jury impanelled to inquire into the death of Peter Panek find, from the evidence given, that he came to his death on August 28, 1928 at 10:20 a.m. by accidental drowning through jumping into the lake when a car of stone was dumped the wrong way, owing to being loaded unevenly, and we recommend that more precaution be taken in the loading and unloading of cars of stone and also recommend that a safety device be put on the cars to prevent them from tipping the wrong way in the future.”

Barge GREAT WESTERN (2) From Namesakes OWNER: United Towing & Salvage Company BUILT: Henry Jenkings Walkerville, Ontario – 1867 HULL NO.: None assigned O.A. Dimensions: 232’ x 40’2” x 10’ FORMER DATA: Launched as a powered car ferry. Reduced in depth 3’ and converted to a bulk freight barge at Merlo, Merlo & Ray Limited, Ford, Ontario in 1923. Converted to a crane-equipped bulk freight barge at Wallaceburg Sand & Gravel Company, Windsor, Ontario in 1929.

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This iron-hulled vessel remained active on the Great Lakes for nearly a century. It is shown above, in a very rare photograph at the Gravel River Sand Pit, Nipigon Bay, Lake Superior on June 2, 1953. Following service in the St. Lawrence Seaway construction project, it was finally scrapped at Sorel, Quebec in 1962.

The namesake of this vessel was the Great Western Railway of Canada which opened for traffic between Suspension Bridge, Ontario and Windsor, Ontario in 1854. This was the first railway to reach the Detroit-Windsor area from the east. At a cost of $190,000, this vessel was fabricated at Barclay, Curle and Company, Glasgow, Scotland in 1866 and shipped in 10,878 pieces to Windsor, Ontario to be assembled. Launching took place on September 6th and the maiden trip took place January 1, 1867, with 14 railroad cars aboard. The route was across the Detroit River to the foot of Brush Street. This area of operation continued until the ship was sold and converted in 1923.

According to George Stonham, who worked at SCPC from approximately 1929 – 1939, the M&R pier was built strictly as a breakwater to protect the gravel boats excavating the SCPC gravel pit. Merlo & Ray employed two crane equipped barges owned by the Wallaceburg Sand & Gravel Co. – the Great Western and the Rose Burgess. These dredges gradually gnawed their way into the SCPC property using hinged buckets or “clams” attached to their long cranes. (See photo of Great Western). Once an entrance channel and interior basin had been created by these dredges, self-loading and unloading sandsuckers such as the Charles Dick and the Aragon could enter the gravel pit. These boats used centrifugal pumps which sucked sand and gravel aboard through pipes.

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Diagram below shows approximate stages in M&R excavation of SCPC gravel pit: 1929 – 1931.

NEW GRAVEL BOAT WILL OPERTATE ON ST. CLAIR RIVER February 28, 1924, P8

Canadian Vessel Under Construction at Wallaceburg Will Solve Problem (Special to Canadian Observer)

Wallaceburg, Feb, 28 – There has been considerable difficulty during the past years in getting gravel.. The government allows gravel to go to the municipalities without any charges for yardage, but for gravel sold commercially a charge of 20 cents a yard was made. The government will not sell to companies taking large quantities to Detroit and Windsor unless they bring a certain proportion up the rivers Sydenham and Thames to meet the requirements of the municipalities. The outcome is these companies have brought as little as possible because they claim that they were losing money on every cargo owing to the deep draft of their boats, the shallowness of the water and bridges they had to go through and generally the dangerous navigation.

Constructing Boat

J.S. Fraser of Wallaceburg has now under construction in the McDonnell shipbuilding yard, a gravel boat which will take care of the supply of the municipal gravel to Sarnia, Dresden, Chatham, Wallaceburg and north branch of the Sydenham. Construction of this boat is proceeding rapidly, and the ribs are being erected. This gravel boat which will cost in the neighbourhood of $30,000 will be all steel and will carry 300 cubic yards of gravel on a draft of 6 feet of water. She will be 100 feet long on keel, 130 feet on deck and the depth of the hull will be 7 feet. It will be equipped with clam, hoisting and swinging engines and a general complete modern outfit for the handling of gravel. When light the vessel will draw

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15” of water. It is hoped to have everything in readiness for launching in the first week of May. Work St. Clair

It is expected that three trips a week from Dresden or Chatham will be made and gravel will also be delivered along the banks of the St. Clair River, to the extent of 8 loads a week.

Application has already been made to the Government for a license to take gravel for municipal purposes both from above and below the tunnel in the St. Clair River so that the municipalities can be supplied with gravel as good as that which the dealers have been taking from the Canadian side to Detroit for the past 5 years.

Depots will be established for the sale of gravel along both branches of the Rivers Sydenham and Snye and such gravel will be sold to the ordinary consumer for the same price as paid by the municipality plus the yardage to be paid to the Ontario government and the commission for handling.

Barge ROSE BURGESS From Namesakes OWNER: Pine River Navigation Company, Limited BUILT: John S. Fraser Wallaceburg, Ontario – 1924 HULL NO.: None assigned O.A. Dimensions: 180’X42’X8’ FORMER DATA: Lengthened 43’ and widened 12’ at Wallaceburg Sand & Gravel Company, Wallaceburg, Ontario in 1925

This crane-equipped bulk freight barge is shown while in tow of the tug JEAN FRASER with a cargo of coal upbound in the Detroit River in 1934. The barge was operated one more year, then lay idle until being scrapped in 1944, Uniquely, when rebuilt in 1925, the original owner pulled the unit up on the “beach” and did the work himself. Mr. Fraser was the owner of the Wallaceburg Sand and Gravel Company, and built the unit to service his needs in the shallow river areas surrounding that locale.

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Namesake of this vessel was one of three daughters of the builder – Miss Rose Burgess. She was born at Wallaceburg, Ontario on November 1910, and was educated in the public schools and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1931 with a B.S. in home economics. It was there she met her husband-to-be. But she worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Detroit……………. rest of sentence not readable Observer, February 18, 1939,

p3

Wallaceburg Sand and Gravel Company Vessels Being Sold Wallaceburg, Feb. 18 – Negotiations were completed recently for the sale of the fleet of boats formerly owned and operated by the Wallaceburg Sand and Gravel Company, Limited of Wallaceburg, according to an announcement of the principals. The sale was handled by the Trust and Guarantee Company, Limited, of Windsor, and the boats, which plied on the Sydenham River for many years, have been acquired by the Pine Ridge navigation Company of Windsor.

The boats in the fleet consist of the steam tug “Jean Fraser”, a powerful vessel constructed here in 1927, with a length overall of 75 feet and a beam of 21 feet; the “Rose Burgess” a steel barge constructed here in 1924, with a length of 126 feet, beam of 30 feet and registered tonnage of 285; the “Great Western”, a former steam ferry, with a length of 220 feet, beam of 40 feet, and registered tonnage of 808. The first two vessels were built by the late John B. Fraser, K.C., while the largest unit was constructed in Walkerville more than 50 years ago. All craft are in excellent condition and were used for a number of years in movement of sand and gravel along the St. Clair, Sydenham and Thames Rivers.

Representatives of the firms engaged in the deal were in town yesterday completing arrangements and declined to mention the price paid for the craft.

The purchase also includes the old shipyard site which is located in South Wallaceburg and the building and maintenance equipment located on the site.

Photo the “Aragon” Excavating gravel from the SCPC basin, 1937.

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Steamer BAYANNA From Namesakes OWNER: Bayswater Shipping Limited BUILT: Detroit Dry Dock Company HULL NO.: 123 O.A. Dimensions: 256’X42’X17’3” FORMER DATA: Launched as the bulk freighter ARAGON. Converted to a self-unloading sandsucker at Canadian Vickers Limited, Montreal, Quebec in 1927. Converted to a selfunloader at Muir Brothers Dry Dock Company, Limited, Port Dalhousie, Ontario in 1942.

Given last name in 1946.

Photo: Steamer BAYANNA

The Steamer BAYANNA was sunk in 1962, subsequently raised and later sold for scrap after lying idle at Kingston, Ontario for two years.

When this fleet was founded in 1946 by Mr. George Davidson, this became his first ship.

The firm was active in the sand and salt trades into Georgian Bay ports at the time and Mr. Davidson chose the name for the company in relation to the many bays and their waters of the area he was then serving. A few years later, however, the main base of operations was in the bays and waters of Lake Ontario. The name of the firm was still apropos, only the background for selecting the firm name was blurred and many people have thought the name came from this later service area of the fleet.

The specific namesake of this ship was Mr., Davidson’s mother, the former Anna McKinnon who was born and lived along the Ottawa River. She was the mother of twelve children.

The vessel is shown above on November 26, 1961, while unloading. Note the profuse emission of smoke that would be severely criticized today.

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SCPC article – Sarnia Observer, November 13, 1929 page 8

A Business Romance A visit to the property of the Sarnia Cement Products Limited, on the beach front, Point Edward, and a conversation with Walter Reid, manager of the company, reveals a real modern business romance. Here a few years ago, nothing of special moment would have arrested the eye of the visitor save the bare monotony of a flat, open tract of land sitting high up from the shoreline of Lake Huron. Yet, though everybody, as the saying goes, passed this unassuming area of land by as a mere dreary waste, Mr. Reid and his partner, E. McDonald, found enough in it to start digging up and shipping away what will probably run into a million dollars’ worth of gravel.

Today, this gravel pit, a rare deposit that will take years to carry away, and which will supply a large part of the needs of cities located on or adjacent to the Great Lakes, is only slightly indented with the tremendous shipping that has already taken place. Giant cranes, gravel buckets swinging hundreds of tons of cargo into steamboat-carriers , cement block buildings , and great stretches of cement blocks, cement tile, vaults and what-not, in cement and gravel products , all together create a much different scene than existed before the faith of the men behind this development led them to begin something their friends had doubts about, and which is turning into a valuable wheel of fortune for them – a real romance, backed by a timely kind of courage that led to prosperity.

Heavy Shipments

Mr. Reid was reticent about speculating on the value of their gravel area, or the length of time it would take to deplete the immense deposits but provided as brief record of this season’s shipments. Since April, 227 boats have been filled with gravel, taking away loads averaging 800 yds. each, most of this gravel sent to Windsor and vicinity. In the past nine years the company has developed a business which supplies practically all gravel used in the Border Cities.

Merlo, Merlo & Ray have been using gravel from this area for most of their highway work, using approximately 600 cars of gravel a year, Sarnia Cement Products Limited manufacture cement blocks, tiles, cemetery vaults and vases. They are willing to make practically anything called for in cement lines. At the present time they have a large contract to supply 36” tile in connection with a 1200-foot drain north of the city, and another contract to supply Sombra township with 14” drain tile.

This company will undoubtedly supply much of the gravel that goes into the construction of local industrial buildings, so that it is an important link in the development of the city for many years to come.

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Air Photo 1953

Notes Relating to 1953 Air Photo In the 1929-31 period, SCPC owned 15.7-acre parcel outlined in orange & had gravel removal rights on 7.9 acres of the Ordnance Reserve outlined in green. The sand & gravel which continually accumulated on the up-drift side of the pier (marked yellow) was excavated for many years by SCPC & subsequent owners of the property. Notice also that the beach on the downdrift side of the pier has been depleted of sand, and thus has receded about 100’ south of its 1927 position (i.e. north boundaries of property).

April 2, 1930 p4:

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THE SARNIA CANADIAN OBSERVER

Sarnia Cement Products Co., Limited, Anticipates Greater Volume of Business This Year Orders on Hand and General Indications Point To Improvement, Manager Says Last year was one of the most successful business years in the history of the Sarnia Cement Products, Limited, and the prospects for this are very favourable. Walter D. Reid, manager, said in an interview with a reporter for the Canadian Observer today.

“Judging from orders received and general indications, our volume of business for 1930, should surpass the figures for 1929,” Mr. Reid declared.

See Upward Trend

Commenting on the general business situation, he voiced the view that financial slumps had touched the bottom and was slowly moving upward again.

In sketching briefly, the history of the Sarnia Cement Products Co., Mr. Reid said that it was started about 10 years ago with the acquisition of approximately 18 acres of gravel bearing land. A huge hopper was built designed to hold two hundred or more tons of gravel.

Later, Merlo, Merlo & Ray, of Windsor, submitted a proposition for the payment of royalties on gravel taken from the property and it was accepted. The firm then went into the manufacture of cement products, blocks, tile, cast stone blocks, lawns vases, bird baths, burial vanits and trim stone. Last year 65,000 blocks were turned out. In 1929 the company supplied Sarnia Township with one of the largest orders of pipe filled since their entry into the business. All sizes of cement and tile pipe from 5 to 11 inches diameter are produced.

Twenty Employed

About twenty men are on the payroll and machinery is used in the output of most of the products. Mr. Reid intimated that it was the intention of the firm to purchase a complete set of modern moulding apparatus this year.

Recently a new office was erected on the premises on Maude Street, Point Edward and it is equipped with the latest office devices.

Mr. Reid is also local manager for Merlo & Ray & he supervises the loading & checking of all steamers taking gravel for that firm. Over one hundred and fifty thousand yards of gravel removed from the property last year.

At the present time work is under way to replenish the stock which was depleted somewhat during the winter season.

Sarnia Cement Products is Thriving Point Edward Concern With Bright Future Ahead Had Successful Year in 1930 and Anticipates Increased Business This Year – Employs Twenty Men Sarnia Observer – April 25, 1931 P5

The Sarnia Cement Products Limited reports exceptional activity this spring. The company is one of the newer industries of Sarnia and Point Edward and incidentally, it is one of the most successful.

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Ten years ago, the company was organised following the acquisition of about 18-acres of gravel-baring land. A large hopper, capable of conveniently handling the gravel obtained from the property was constructed and successfully operated until a Windsor construction company entered into a contract with the local concern for the purpose of the gravel output. The firm then proceeded to manufacture cement products.

Local Directors

The company is thriving and employs over 20 men. Dr. A.R. McMillen, M.L.A., for West Lambton, is president of the company; Frank Janes is vice-president; James Ellenor the secretary and W.D. Reid the manager. At the last annual meeting of the shareholders a dividend was declared which was the largest ever paid by this concern.

The company specializes in the manufacture of art mantle fireplaces, which, because of their distinctive appearance, add greatly to the decoration of the home. They are sold in Sarnia by Lample and Zierler, the Sarnia Hydro Shop, the Union National Gas Company and St. Clair Motors Limited.

New Machinery

Recently the Miles equipment machinery for the manufacture of standard cement blocks, was installed and these blocks together with all sizes of tile, septic tanks, cement rough boxes, urns, cement specials and all builders’ supplies are sold at reasonable prices.

In the gravel business the company has also been successful and already this year a large number of boats have been loaded with gravel from the company’s docks.

Bright Outlook

According to officers of the company, the first four months of the current year have surpassed in results the corresponding period of 1930. The officers of the company are optimistic of success in the present year and forecast an increase in business. They invite citizens to visit the plant at Point Edward or to call at the office at 157 ½ Lochiel Street, in the Watson block, where the secretary of the company, James A, Ellenor, will be glad to discuss any of the products of the concern.

1931 Aerial Photo

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This 1931 aerial photo shows the portion of the Yacht Club Basin, or “Reid’s Basin” as it was then called that MM&R dredged in the 1928 – 1930 period. Much of the gravel obtained from the basin at this time was used to construct the road in the Detroit – Windsor vehicular tunnel, which was opened in November 1930.

The boundary of the SCPC property in 1931 is outlined in orange and the cement products plant can be seen in the southeast section of its property. The plant was moved to this location from its former site on the property in 1928 when the gravel basin started to be dredged. The breakwater that MM&R constructed in 1928 is on the east side of the entrance to the basin. Today it is covered with concrete rubble at the west end of the Canatara beach.

The western portion of the WS&GC property is outlined in purple. Notice the Gladstone wreck in Lake Huron, just offshore of the WS&GC beach.

The SCPC had gravel removal rights on the portion of the Ordnance Reserve outlined in green.

Map c1935

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Sarnia Cement Products Co. Sarnia Observer – July 29, 1936 P15

The Sarnia Cement Products Co. Ltd., situated southwest of Canatara park on the shores of Lake Huron, was started as a partnership in 1918 by Walter D. Reid and George R. McGee. Originally the firm had 18-acres of gravel bearing land but for 7 or 8 years concentrated on the cement block and tile business. Then, in 1927, A.E. MacDonald entered into partnership with Mr. Reid and in the spring of 1928 the firm started in the gravel business in contract with the firm of Merlo, Merlo & Ray of Windsor. A breakwater costing $140,000 was built out into the lake and in 1929 the company extracted 150,00 yards of gravel from the pit on the property. The pit now resembles a small shelter harbor into which gravel boats can be towed to load up with gravel.

In 1930, the company was reorganized and chartered with Dr. A.R. McMillen, Frank Janes, Jack Murray, H.E. Fuller and W.D. Reid as directors.

Now the company handles a full line of builders’ supplies, cement vaults, blocks and tile, sand and gravel.

The builders supply business and the cement vault business is mostly local while the tile business extends over to Sombra, Moore and Sarnia townships. The company is in a very favorable situation being able to load gravel boats right in the pit where the gravel is found.

The boats of the Wallaceburg Sand and Gravel Co. Ltd., then take the gravel to Port Huron, Detroit and Windsor. Last year 50,000 yards of gravel was extracted from the pit.

At the present the company owns 18 acres of land and leases 20 more from the government. The officers are W.D. Reid, president, Dr. A.P. McMillen. Vice-president, Jack Murray, secretary, Frank Janes, treasurer & H.E. Fuller, director.

Merlo & Ray Pier 1951

AFTER THE STORM –a lone freighter clears the Sarnia harbor leaving an area of debris in its wake. The picture shows the north slip dock following the 70-m.p.h. gale which swept the lake front on Wednesday night.

Ten freighters were forced to take shelter before continuing their journey to Great Lakes ports. The high winds battered harbor installations causing considerable damage. Damage was also reported to be high on the Port Huron side of the river and lake.

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Lake Waters Scoured for Many Small Craft Lost in Big Storm The Lake Huron district from Sarnia to Goderich was recovering today from the effects of yesterdays “Big Blow” which caused heavy property damage which is expected to be well over the $300,000 figure.

James Nigel, Lambton county engineer said he would make an inspection of the Sarnia dock area today in order to estimate the amount of damage done to that section of the lakefront which was battered by waves and high winds.

Some Port Huron residents estimated that damage amounts to $200,000 in their area, but that figure is not official.

Despite the high property damage, fierce winds and high water there was no report of any casualties.

Scores of American visitors celebrating Independence Day at local resorts, parked their cars on the beaches, the cars had to (words are unreadable) ice despite the velocity of the gale.

Residents of the Bright’s Grove section fear that the Lake Shore Road has been badly undermined. Much of the bank was torn away.

Resorts along the waterfront reported untold damage to barbecue pits, water wells, cabins and fences.

Many trees were scarred by the bolts and in some areas, trees were felled.

The storm, called by old timers the worst in 20 or 25 years spread destruction along the eastern shore of Michigan Thursday.

The winds and the waves wrecked or washed ashore hundred s of small boats. Docks were torn apart and retaining walls demolished.

Wells along the lake shore were plugged and some cottages were without water. The Michigan Crippled Children’s Camp near Lakeport was being supplied with water by the township fire department.

Low-lying areas along the Saginaw and Kawkawlin Rivers, at Bay City, were flooded as water levels rose four feet.

One-third of Wenonah Beach, an amusement park facing on Saginaw Bay, was reported under water at the height of the storm.

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Notes Relating to Map O Leases, Agreements & land Transfers: 1929 – 1931 -

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16867: Aug. 16, 1929: CNR sold 3.41-acre parcel marked blue to Sarnia Cement Products Co. for $2,557.50.

17257: Feb. 1, 1930: L.A. Merlo sold parcel marked pink on map the Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. for $1.

17244: Nov. 14, 1930: L.A. Merlo made agreement with the Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. (see below for details). In general, WSGC officials were concerned that the parcel they purchased – marked pink – did not contain two million cu. yds. of gravel, as Merlo claimed. If this was indeed the case, this agreement allowed the WSGC to obtain extra gravel free of charge from the “schedule” area on the adjoining Merlo, Merlo & Ray Co. parcel - marked with red stripes.

October 3, 1930, CNR leased the 18.8 acre Tarzanland woodlot outlined in brown to Sarnia 17761: May 6, 1931: L.A. Merlo sold 2/3 interest in parcel marked orange on map to John Ray for $1.

NOTE: a) CNR property marked yellow. b) In 1930 & 31 the Parks Board made several attempts to buy the 41 acre White parcel – marked light purple – these attempts failed due to lack of funds. (See board minutes & Observer articles for details in Volume 5).

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17257

L.A. Merlo to Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd.

Feb. 1, 1930 for $1 marked pink on Map O “N83°20’E 1200’, then 6°26’W parallel to the westerly limit of lot 69 to the southern shore of Lake Huron, then west along shore to westerly limit of Merlo, Merlo & Ray Co., parcel, then 6°26’E 625’ to start.”

“But reserving to all other purchasers & occupiers of the lands adjoining the parcel hereby conveyed to the east, a free right of way of 30’ along the southern and eastern limit of the conveyed parcel.”

The deed is subject to CNR – MMR agreement (17357) NOTE: Louis A. Merlo was the president of the Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. as well as president of Merlo, Merlo & Ray Co. Sarnia Observer – June 29, 1931 P1 Announcement was made here today, by officials of The Canada Paving and Supply Corporation of East Windsor of intention to establish a branch paving plant on its property at Point Edward. Faith in Sarnia and its progress and proximity to the materials to be used in manufacturing pavements were the prime motives for the establishment of the plant here.

The Canada Paving and Supply Corporation, an amalgamated group of several large contracting companies, is capitalized at several millions of dollars. It proposes to expend approximately $100,000 in the establishment of the plant. Although the year-round staff to be employed will not be large, the contracts for construction work which the concern expects to receive will take care of large numbers of local laborers. Local businessmen, Chamber of Commerce and Point Edward Industrial commission officials were, today, congratulating the sponsors of the project which is regarded as a valuable asset to this community.

Handles Large Jobs

The company specializes in major construction work and as the name implies performs large contracting jobs, including the laying of asphalt and concrete pavements, building bridges, laying large sewer systems and many other forms of contracting. The branch here will be located on property known as the Merlo, Merlo & Ray property, adjacent to its allied interest the Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited. The gravel to be used by the new plant will be obtained from the Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited, while the asphalt will be obtained from the Imperial Oil Refining Company Limited. The chief process will be the preparation of materials for the construction work. These will be then transferred by the company’s fleet of motor trucks or by rail to the scene of the contracting.

Is Bright Spot in Outlook

This concern, the first of its kind to come here, throws a new light on industrial Sarnia and Point Edward. It is a bright spot in the outlook of this community and is the forerunner of several projected developments. The Canada Paving and Supply Corporation will not apply to the investors of this community to subscribe to any bond or stock campaigns in order to finance the project here. It is taking the opportunity of coming to Sarnia because it believes this is the 87

logical location for the extension of its business in this district. The local plant will become one of the projected chains of similar depots throughout the nation. Similar branches are located in Toronto, Montreal, London and Halifax now.

Officially Approved

Although arrangements were practically completed last week by Louis Merlo and Herbert Willet, directors of the Canada Paving and Supply Corporation, the deal was approved today by Thomas Chick, president of the board of directors. The completion of the detail brings to conclusion another chapter in the development of the Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited.

This company which formerly specialised alone in the manufacture of tile and other products, became allied with Merlo, Merlo & Ray who appreciating the gravel supply prospects of the property held by The Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited erected a breakwater out into Lake Huron at a cost of approximately $100,000.

Large Proposition

As a result of the breakwater the gravel supply obtainable is being sold in large quantities and is shipped by rail and also by the gravel boats to the Border Cities where it is used in various forms of construction. The Great Western is one of the largest gravel carrying boats on the Great lakes and is owned outright by the Canada Paving Construction Company. The gravel boat has been plying steadily since the opening of the navigation between the plant of Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited and the plant at Windsor. The officials of Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited who have been interested in the Canada Paving and Supply Corporation’s program here include Dr. A.R. McMillen, M.L.A., Walter D. Reid, James A. Ellenor and Frank Janes.

Recent Contracts

Major construction work recently performed by the Canada Paving and Supply Corporation have included King’s Highway No.7, from the city limits to Warwick village.

Highway number 21, from Reece’s Corners to Petrolia, and the county provincial highway between Walkerville and Chatham in 1930. The Canadian approach and the cross-river services of the Ambassador Bridge at Sandwich and the total paving done in the Detroit – Windsor tunnel were others of the many large contracts completed by this firm. Paving authorities throughout Canada and United States have frequently congratulated the corporation for the work done, hence the firm which has chosen Sarnia for its district plant is a major institution of its kind.

Will Assist Labor

Questioned by a reporter of the Canadian Observer today, Mr. Merlo and Mr. Willet, who will be directors in charge of the local plant, both said that considerable assistance would be given to the local labor situation because of the fact that the projected plant would serve a wide area. A fleet of motor trucks would be maintained here which would be of some assistance to garage men. They expressed faith in Sarnia claiming that if they were not certain of this community’s future, they would not have considered the establishment of a plant here.

Dr. McMillen when interviewed today stated that negotiations had been carried on between the directors of the Canada Paving and Supply Corporation and the Sarnia Cement Products Company Limited for some time past with a view of the establishment of its plant here and he was glad to be able to confirm that the negotiations had been brought to a successful termination.

Is Much Pleased

David Ross, chairman of the industrial committee of the Point Edward council, when advised today of the announcement said “I am very glad that the Canada Paving and Supply Corporation has decided to establish a plant in this locality. The name is known all over Canada.

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The corporation’s standing is of the very highest in its particular line and we need only to look around us to see the excellence of its work.”

The announcement will be especially welcome in Point Edward where labour has slumped recently. In fact, applications for municipal work or relief are again coming in, so that any opportunity of work will be appreciated by the many unemployed.”

Had Much to Do With It

“To Walter D. Reid, general manager, and J.A. Ellenor, the energetic secretary of the Sarnia Cement Products Company, Limited, whose efforts meant much in the success of the negotiations just concluded, we extend hearty congratulations, and we bespeak for the Canada Paving and Supply Corporation a long and successful term of service in its Point Edward plant.”

Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. Operations –1930 -

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March 31 p10: Gravel Steamer Here: The gravel steamer Great Western, owned by Merlo & Ray of Windsor arrived in Sarnia & anchored in the St. Clair River opposite IOL dock, where she will take on a cargo before proceeding to her regular loading area above Point Edward.

April 3 p20: Open Gravel Operation: The WSGC operated by MM&R interests, commenced operation with gravel boats at Point Edward yesterday. The steamer Western took out a cargo & was followed by the Aragon this morning. Other vessels are expected in the gravel basin shortly.

April 5 p12: Gravel Digger Busy: Much activity was noticed in the gravel basin above Point Edward yesterday & today. The gravel boat Western, which arrived recently from Windsor has been working continuously, while other gravel boats have already taken many loads to Detroit & Windsor.

April 9 p5: Point Edward: The Great Western cleared from the local gravel plant this morning with a cargo of gravel for Windsor. The Aragon is loading a cargo today.

April 10 p16: Gravel Boats Active: The all steel, gravel steamer Aragon, owned by M&R of Windsor arrived yesterday morning & immediately started loading operations which were completed within 5 hours. The Aragon which is the only gravel vessel of its type in these parts, is fitted with an automatic loading device installed expressly for gravel suction. The Aragon has a capacity of 1,000 yards of gravel. The Great Western, a clam loader, arrived in the basin north of Point Edward this morning.

April 12 p14: Load Gravel: The gravel steamers Great Western & Aragon operated by MM&R, Windsor, arrived in the Lake Huron gravel basin, north of Point Edward, this morning. Both steamers were to be loaded this afternoon with cargos for Detroit & Windsor.

April 15 p10: Gravel Trade Slumps: The gravel trade which started out actively recently has taken an unexpected slump according to the officials of firms operating here. The MM&R interests of Windsor which started out with three vessels have taken the largest of the fleet out of the gravel trade for the present time. Building, both in Detroit and Windsor, has slowed up somewhat, which has an important bearing on the gravel situation, it was said. It is believed, however, that the slump will not be of a long duration.

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April 18 p10: Gravel Ships Delayed: The gravel steamer Aragon which arrived in the gravel basin in Lake Huron early yesterday afternoon was unable to proceed down the river until 1 a.m. today. Officials of MM&R announced this morning that the outlook for the gravel business, although not as bright as last year, was slowly improving & that a substantial gain would be recorded within the next month. Only three of the company’s gravel steamers are in operation at the present time.

April 22 p12: Loads Gravel Again: The automatic loading sand & gravel steamer Aragon, owned by MM&R of Windsor, commenced loading a cargo of gravel in the sand basin above Point Edward this morning. The Aragon, after completing 2 trips, was laid up at her berth in Windsor for some weeks & only started again when special contracts for the delivery of sand for Detroit and Windsor were secured.

April 24 p16: Gravel Ships Active: With the completion of a gravel cargo taken on at the gravel basin, north of Point Edward, the steamer Western left for Windsor & her place was taken today by the self-loading steel steamer Aragon.

April 25 p8: Gravel Trade Improves: The gravel trade has again become active according to officials of MM&R, local office at Point Edward. The sand carrier Western left with a cargo for the IOL dock yesterday & the steel steamer Aragon moved into her place last evening & was able to leave for Windsor before morning.

April 25 p5: Marine News: The MM&R gravel carrier Aragon sailed this morning from the gravel basin north of Point Edward. The Aragon is destined for Windsor & will be tied up there indefinitely.

May 7 p14: Marine News: No gravel steamers have been reported at the gravel basin above Point Edward during the last week. An official of MM&R, Windsor, said today that business depression in building in Detroit & Windsor was chiefly responsible for the c slack period in the gravel trade business.

May 10 p8: Marine News: MM&R of Windsor have practically ceased gravel digging operations at Point Edward. Only two gravel boats have entered the sand basin in the week so no more are expected until Monday. Officials of the company stated that little or no demand for this commodity was expected for some time. Large piles of sand had been stored at Detroit & Windsor earlier in the season.

17244 – Agreement Between Louis A. Merlo &

The Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd. -

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Whereas by agreement made as of Feb. 1, 1930, between L.A. Merlo, John D. Chick & the Windsor Sand & Gravel Co. (WSGC), certain lands described in the said agreement were sold to WSGC, including the lands known as the Point Edward property (i.e. pink parcel on Map 0) Whereas Merlo represents the said Point Edward property contains not less than two million cu yards of gravel suitable for the purposes of Canada Paving & Supply Corporation Ltd., of which WSGC is about to become a subsidiary.

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Whereas the WSGC has required that Merlo enter in the present agreement as a condition of execution of the agreement made Feb. 1, 1930.

It is agreed to the following: 1. Merlo warrants that the lands known as the Point Edward property (exclusive of any leasehold lands) contain not less than two million cubic yards of gravel suitable for the purposes of Canada Paving & Supply Corporation.

2. Merlo grants to the WSGC the exclusive right to remove sand & gravel from the property described in the schedule hereto (area marked with red stripes on Map 0) from time to time in such quantity & such manner as the WSGC shall consider desirable & without payment to Merlo subject to the following conditions: a) Such right of removing sand & gravel shall only be exercisable in the event that the Board of Directors of the WSGC shall by resolution certify that it has been found that the Point Edward property does not contain two million cu yds. of gravel. b) Such right of removing shall only be exercised to the extent that the total yardage of sand & gravel removed from the property described in the schedule hereto together with the yardage of gravel removed from the Point Edward property shall not exceed two million cu. Yds. 3. In the event that the WSGC shall have removed from the Point Edward property two million cu yds of gravel or in the event of the WSGC having removed from the Pt. Ed. Property & from the property described in the schedule hereto a sufficient yardage of sand and/or gravel to comply with sub-paragraph b) above, Merlo shall be entitled to a release of this agreement.

4. This agreement shall be registered against the lands described in the schedule hereto (i.e.: area marked with red stripes on Map 0.)

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Merlo & Rays Demise: 1932 The advertisement for Merlo, Merlo & Ray Ltd. appeared in Lester’s City of Sarnia and Point Edward Directory for three years from 1928 – 1930. The advertisement for the Canada Paving & Supply Corporation Ltd. – Louis Merlo under another name – appeared in Lester’s directory for 1931. . In all 4 years the description in the directory listings is given as follows: “general contractors; sand & gravel, wholesale & retail. Maude Street (Point Edward).”

By 1932 the economic depression had resulted in a near total collapse of the sand & gravel market and Merlo & Ray went bankrupt. The Bank of Commerce, which held the mortgage on the 52.7-acre parcel, put it up for sale at a price of $30,000.

It is interesting to note that this is the second time in which a bankruptcy decisively changed the history of the Canatara area, the first being Thomson & Co. insolvency in 1879, which led to the demise of International Park. In 1932, Merlo & Rays insolvency led to the creation of Canatara Park. By an odd coincidence both, International Park & Merlo, Merlo & Ray were managed by men named Robertson. Talk about “fearful symmetry”!

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Map “O1”

Notes Related to Map 01,

The Canatara Gravel Pit What would have happened to the Canatara area if the depression had not occurred during the 1930’s? In all probability Merlo & Ray would have gone ahead with their plans for excavating the millions of cubic yards of sand & gravel from the Canatara property and shipped it to the Windsor & Detroit area to be used in the building of roads, houses & other construction projects. In the process, much of what is now Canatara Park would have been transformed into a huge gravel pit by sandsuckers & dredges which would have gradually worked their way from the SCPC land eastward through the entire M&R property.

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Map 01, shows how the Canatara area would probably have appeared by the 1940’s. The exact status of the land in this situation is, of course, pure speculation. However, assuming that the Parks Board retained a lease on the L-shaped parcel, then the park would have been limited to the area between the gravel pit and the railway right-if-way to the south & Lake Chipican to the west & having only 340’ of shoreline on Lake Huron.

After excavating all the gravel from their property, it’s probable that Merlo & Ray would have sold the “land” to the city. In that case, Sarnia would have gained 2650’ of beach, but not much parkland. On the other hand, it’s also possible that Merlo & ray could have bought the L-shaped parcel from the CNR & excavated the remaining area south of the gravel pit. Either way, most of the natural beauty of the Canatara area would have been destroyed.

Notes for Aerial Photo: IOL Sludge Dump: 1930 – 1944 From 1930 to 1944 Imperial Oil used a section of the marsh south of Lake Chipican and the present Children’s Farm for dumping oil-saturated clay or “sludge”. The clay was transported in railcars from the refinery to the dump siding which initially was located in the eastern area of the “Y” through the Canatara marsh (purple in photo).

As more and more sludge was dumped into the marsh, the tracks were moved eastward in stages as shown by the orange lines in the photo. When the oil began 93

spreading out from this dump, it created problems in the adjacent sections of Canatara as described in the following volumes: o Volume 6: 1) November 1937 fatal accident involving sludge cars.

2) Problems this dump caused the Parks Board in 1930’s and 40’s 3) April 1944 decision to stop dumping sludge in Canatara o Volume 9: City obtaining the 9-acre triangular property in March 2000 o Volume 10: Problems caused by oil seeping into Lake Chipican Nature Reserve, 1997 – Included below is the four-page lease that Sarnia obtained from the CNR in September 1930 for the 45-acre landfill site, which also permitted Imperial Oil to use the site for dumping purposes (see clause 24D).

It’s obvious that neither CNR, Sarnia or IOL took very seriously the conditions of the lease referring to: • #15 – no” inflammable” material • #24D – allows IOL to dump only “clean material” Also included below is one of the Observer items and photos that periodically appeared in the 1930’s and 40’s concerning oil fires at the sludge dump. On most occasions these fires were purposely started by Imperial workers in order to burn as much of the oil as possible that had spread into the surrounding marsh. Several times, however, they were started as a “prank” by other individuals.

As described in Volume 6, the City obtained ownership of the 45-acre landfill site in May 1938.

B-25766 This Indenture made the seventeenth day of September in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty in pursuance of The Short Form of Leases Act (Ontario).

Between CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY hereinafter called “The Company” of the first part, And THE MUNICIPAL CORPORTATION OF THE CITY OF SARNIA,

Of Sarnia in the County of Lambton in the Province of Ontario, hereinafter called “the Lessees” of the second part, Witnesseth that in consideration of the rents, covenants and agreements, hereinafter reserved and contained, on the part of the Lessees, the Company do demise and lease unto the Lessees, his/their executors, administrators, successors and assigns, all that parcel or tract of land situate, lying and being in the station yard of the company, at Point Edward being part of lots 67,68, & 69 from the Township of Sarnia in the County of Lambton (now in the village and Province of Ontario; of Point Edward) 94

And more particularly described as follows: Being all those parts of said township Lots 67.68 and 69 butted and bounded as follows: on the northerly side by one hundred (100) foot right of way of the Company crossing said lots and adjoining lots ; on the west by a line perpendicularly distant one hundred (100) feet measured easterly from and at right angles to the easterly limit of Sarnia Road; on the southerly side by the production easterly of the northerly limit of Michigan Street, and on the east by a line perpendicularly distant 500 hundred (500) feet measured westerly and parallel to the westerly limit of the Road Allowance between ,lots 66 & 67, and shown red yellow on the plan annexed hereto , which is hereby declared to be part and parcel of this lease, and containing in all an area of forty five and forty five hundredths (45.45) acres, ……… square feet more or less, (with the ………… building situate thereon): To have and to hold the said demised premises for and during the term of five (5) years to be computed from the first day of October one thousand nineteen hundred and thirty and from henceforth next ensuing and fully to be complete and ended, unless sooner terminated by written notice or hereinafter mentioned.

Yielding and Paying, therefore yearly and every year, during the said term hereby granted, unto the Company, its successors or assigns, the sum of one ($1.00) dollars in advance, to be payable on the following days and times, that is to say in two equal instalments on the first day of October and the day of …………., in each year, during the continuance of said term, without any deduction or abatement whatsoever; the first of said payments or any fractional part thereof to be made on the first day of October, 1930.

The said premises are hereby leased to be used, subject to all the conditions hereof, for the following purposes only; for erecting, maintaining and using on said premises, suitable buildings, and other structures, for the purpose of dumping clean material provided such buildings, and other structures to be constructed, shall not be placed at a less distance than six feet at rights angles, from any railway track of the Company, and that the Lessees shall, so long as this lease continues, keep all building and other structures on said premises in good repair, including painting, so as to present a good appearance, so far as required by the Superintendent of the Company and to said Superintendent’s approval.

1. The said Lessee covenants with the said Company; 2. To pay rent; 3. And to pay taxes, this includes all taxes payable in respect of drainage and for local improvements; 4. And to repair, reasonable wear and tear and damage by fire, lightening and tempest only excepted; 5. And to keep up fences; 6. And not to cut down timber; 7. And that the Company may enter and view state of repair, and that the said Lessees will repair according to notice in writing, reasonable wear and tear and damage by fire, lightening and tempest only excepted; 95

8. And will not assign or sublet without leave; Assigning

9. And that he/they will leave the premises in good repair, reasonable wear and tear and damage by fire, lightening and tempest only excepted; and will also leave the premises in clean and neat condition and satisfactory to the Superintendent of the Company in charge of that portion of its railway; 10. Provided that the Lessees may remove his/their fixtures; 11. Provided that in the event of fire, lightening or tempest, rent shall cease until the premises are rebuilt; but the question of the unfitness of the premises shall be decided by the Vice-President or General Manager of the Company alone, and there shall be no obligation upon the Company to rebuild the said premises or restore them so as to be again fit for the purpose of the Lessees.; 12. Proviso for re-entry by the Company on non-payment of rent or non-performance of covenants; this proviso shall also apply to all remaining covenants of this lease; 13. And the Lessees also covenants with the Company as follows; 14. That he/they will comply with and conform to all municipal, sanitary and police regulations with respect to the said premises and the goods or property thereon; 15. That no goods of any explosive, dangerous or inflammable nature or character shall in any case be stored in or upon said premises, nor shall said premises be used in any way considered objectionable by the Vice-President or General Manager of the Company.

16. That in the maintenance and use of said premises, no injury shall be done to the other property of the Company, nor shall any obstruction be made, or any inconvenience caused thereby to its business; Erections

17. That the said premises shall not, without the written consent of the Vice-President or General Manager of the Company, first had and obtained , be used for any other purpose than for use as aforesaid; and that no goods, merchandise or produce shall be stored therein , except only such as have been received from or will be forwarded over railway lines owned or operated by the Company; and that no buildings other than those hereby authorized shall be erected upon said premises; nor any erected or painted advertising signs, except in connection with the Lessees own business without the consent in writing first obtained of the Vice-President or General Manager of the Company.

18. That should the Company at any time or time s desire to resume possession of the said premises or any portions thereof, before the expiration of this lease, it shall have the right to do so, and to terminate this lease, as to the whole or portion, on condition that the Company shall give to the lessees one month’s prior notice in writing of the intention of the Company so to resume possession of said premises or portion thereof, and to terminate this lease with respect thereto, and that every notice be given by the Company under this lease to any party, person or persons, or which the Company may desire to give any party, person or persons with respect to the matters arising out of this lease or to the said premises or the property thereon, shall be sufficient if signed by the Vice-President or General Manager of the Company, without the seal of the Company, and may be given either by posting it up on some part of said premises, or by mailing it in any public Post Office, in Canada, addressed to “The Municipal Corporation of the City of Sarnia,” and every such notice so posted up or so mailed 96

and addressed shall be taken to have been then sufficiently given to the Lessees and to each every of them, and to his and their and every of their executors, administrators, successors and assigns (if assignment consented to), and to any and all parties and persons claiming under or through him or them, or any of them, and as of and upon the date of such posting up or mailing; it is understood however that such notice of termination will only be given by the Company for good and sufficient reasons, or to carry out any orders of the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada.

Damages

19. That the Lessees assumes and takes all risk of injury, loss or damage by fire, theft or any cause whatever, whether due to the negligence of the Company or its servants or agents or otherwise, to all property of or in the custody of Lessees on or alongside of the said premises, or arising by reason or in consequence of or incidental to the use and occupation of said premises, and the Lessees covenants and agree with the Company to insure and keep fully insured while this lease continues in force and the Lessees remains in occupation of all such buildings and property thereon as are insurable, or alternatively to assume and bear all loss and consequences resulting from his / their neglect or failure to maintain at all times such insurance in force, and it is declared that the provisions of this clause is one of chief considerations moving the Company to grant this lease; that in case of any such loss or damage by fire in any suit or claim against the Company, the value of said property shall not be claimed by the Lessees or the owner or owners thereof, to exceed the sum of ten dollars in currency, which sum, in consideration of the granting of this lease, shall be taken as agreed upon by the parties hereto, and all parties and persons concerned therein, as the value of said property, at the time of such damage or loss by fire, and that no insurance company insuring any property whatever which may be at any time on or alongside of said premises will be subrogated in any of the rights of the insured as against the Company: 20. That in the event of its being necessary for the Lessees or his / their agents servants, workmen and customers to pass over other lands of the Company and railway tracks of the Company, to have access to and from the said lease premises, all such persons shall make use only of the way that the Superintendent of the Company shall point out for that purpose, and the Lessees hereby expressly assumes all the risk of accident and injury to the person and property of all such agents, servants and workmen and all others resorting to the leased premises in connection with the Lessee’s business, whether the same be occasioned by the negligence of the Company’s servants or in any other manner whatever, and the Lessee’s shall indemnify the Company from and against all claims, suits, costs and charges made upon or incurred by the Company by reason or in consequence of any such accident, loss and injury; 21. That at any time before the termination of this lease either by lapse of time or by notice or otherwise, as herein provided, the Lessees shall have the right to remove from off the property of the Company all buildings, erections or materials thereon, not belonging to the Company, leaving the said property in clean and neat condition and satisfactory to the said Superintendent. If the Lessees shall not remove such buildings, erections and materials before the termination of this lease, the same shall become the property of and belong to the Company without any right to the Lessees to have compensation therefor in any form, and the Lessees shall quit and quietly and 97

peaceably deliver up possession thereof to the Company on such termination accordingly.

22. That should the term hereby granted be, at any time, seized or taken in execution, or should the Lessees (or either of them, if more than one) become insolvent or make an assignment by, through or under the operation of any law whatever for the benefit of creditors, or take the benefit of any Winding-up Act or Acts of Bankruptcy or of Insolvent Debtors, the then current half year’s rent shall at once become due and payable and the term by this lease created shall become forfeited and void, and the Company shall be entitled and shall possess the right to take possession at once of the said premises, and all erections and buildings then situated thereon, and to have and possess the same free from all claims on the part of the Lessees, or any person or party claiming under the Lessees, or under the said Act or Acts or otherwise; the liabilities of the Lessees to the Company under said lease, however, to remain in full force as to anything that may have accrued to the Company prior to the said seizure or other acts in this clause above mentioned; 23. That if the Lessees continue to occupy the said demised premises after the date above fixed for the expiration of this lease with or without the consent of the Company and without any further written agreement, the Lessees shall be a monthly tenant at the rental calculated for a monthly rental proportionate to the yearly rental hereinabove fixed and on the terms and conditions in this lease set out, except as to length of tenancy and as the same may be applicable to a monthly tenancy; 24. That every condition, covenant, agreement and obligation in this lease entered into by and every risk assumed on the part of the Lessees are hereby also entered into and assumed by and on behalf of him / their executors, administrators, successors and assigns and the same shall also be binding upon and affect, and be taken to have been entered into and assumed by every party or persons who shall at any time have any interest or ownership in or under this lease or in the property on the same premises , and every such person or party as aforesaid shall , with respect to their property or interest, be, as regards the Company, subject to all conditions, terms and stipulations of this lease as if such property or party had been the Lessees herein named; − 24 a - Notwithstanding the provisions above contained, it is understood that no buildings are to be erected on the demised premises. − 24 b – That the Lessees shall not fill in the demised premises to a height exceeding the surrounding level and shall at all times during the continuance hereof keep the demised premises in a tidy condition, all to the satisfaction of the Company. − 24 c - The Lessees shall at all times indemnify and save harmless the Company from and against all claims and demands, loss, costs, damages, actions or suits by whosoever made, brought or prosecuted in any manner based upon, arising out of or connect with this lease, or anything done or maintained in any manner hereunder. − 24 d - Permission is hereby granted to the Lessees to allow Imperial Oil Limited to also dump clean material on the demised premises on the understanding and subject to the due observance and carrying out of all the terms and conditions as are herein set out. Provided that this consent shall

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not authorize any further sub-letting without the written consent and authority of the Company.

Lessee to sign opposite seal in space on right.

Witness to sign in space on left.

If Lessee signs BY MARK there must be TWO witnesses to such mark.

If Lessee is a corporation, affix corporate seal.

Landfill Site Boundary Marked Yellow

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Many Sarnians got a real scare shortly after three o’clock yesterday afternoon when they saw huge billows of black smoke in the neighborhood of Point Edward / Sarnia dump on Michigan Avenue.

Caused Apprehension Sarnia Observer – July 30, 1935 P12

Heavy black smoke billowing over the Imperial Oil Refineries Limited refuse grounds on the Point Edward road, north of the city, caused apprehension among citizens that fire was doing damage in that vicinity today at noon. Firemen of the city reported however, that the burning of the refuse is well under control at all times, and there is no danger of the fire spreading to surrounding territory.

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Notes Relating to Map 02: White Subdivision Plans In July 1932, the eastern section of the White property was subdivided into lots for a residential development. (Plan #264, Lambton Registry). Map 02 shows the 25 lots as they were originally surveyed outlined in orange. The first 14 were located along the west side of Christina Street and north of Charlesworth Lane & east of the Parson’s property.

Lots 15 – 24 were all 100’ by 406.1’ and ran from Christina Street westward down into Lake Chipican marsh. Lot 25, adjacent to the CNR right-of-way, was somewhat larger.

Although the plan was registered in Sept. 1932, none of the 11 lots bordering Lake Chipican were sold until 1939. In 1933, White donated the western portion of the lots 16 to 24 – which was covered with marsh & marked yellow on Map 02, to the parks board & in return the city built a road along the new western limit of these lots – which was opened in 1938. The houses fronting on Lake Chipican weren’t built until the 1945 – 1955 period. Their present locations are marked purple on Map 02, and the current property boundaries are shown in the two shades of green.

Lot 25 was sold by White to the Park Board in 1933, as described in more detail below.

Plan of White Subdivision– illegible

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Feb. 28, 1945, Observer, p3:

Died Suddenly

Charles A. White, well known retired businessman and former Member of Sarnia Board of Education, who died suddenly last evening at his home, 203 north Vidal Street.

C.A. White Passes Here Well-Known Sarnia Man Died Suddenly Charles A. White, retired businessman and former member of the Board of Education, died suddenly last evening at his home, 209 north Vidal Street. He had been in poor health for several years but was able to be up and around yesterday.

Born in Moore

Mr. White was a native of Moore Township and received his education in the Sarnia high school and in Business College. His first employment was a bookkeeper with the Edmund Hall Lumber Company, predecessors of the Cleveland-Sarnia Sawmills, with whom he remained for two years. On the formation of the John Goodison Thresher Co., in 1897, he became chief accountant there. In ******was appointed secretary-treasurer of the company and on the death of W.T. Goodison, M.P., in 1928, he became general manager. Mr. White continued with the company until 1931 when he retired.

On January 7, 1927, Mr. White was appointed to the Board of Education to succeed the late W.L. Doherty, who retired from the Board at that time. He continued as a trustee until he also retired from the Board in 1942 on account of his health. In the interim Mr. White devoted a lot of time to the schools and was chairman of the Management Committee from 1931 – 1941. In addition to his interest in educational matters, since his retirement from actual business, Mr. White found diversion in the sale & development of acreage which he owned at Woodrowe Beach.

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Map O1 – Canatara Area 1923 – 1932

Map 03: 1923 – 32 – Activities & Operations Map 03 summarizes the activities in the Canatara area during the 10-year period 1923 – 1932, just prior to the parks creation.

1 – 4 are the cottages in the NW corner of the area.

5 – The Quarantine house was demolished around 1920 and a cottage was built by Captain Cawthorn about 1926.

6 – is a short laneway on the west side of Lake Chipican known as “Lovers Lane” at this time. It may date from the quarantine era or even International Park.

7 – Is the old main line GTR tracks which were used for storing ore & box cars at this time.

8 – Is the rail line used by IOL to bring in flat cars loaded with oil saturated clay from the refinery. It was shovelled off the rail cars & spread into the marsh by a team of horses.

9 – Is Hayne’s Lathe Mill & the short siding used for bringing logs to the mill.

10 – Is the sand siding used by the CNR for taking out sand from the dunes area. At this time sand was loaded onto the cars by a steam shovel.

11 – Is the SGC loading dock built in 1925 & consisting of the derelict steamer Gladstone & two schooner hulks. It was operational during 1926, after which it was abandoned.

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12 – Is the HSGC dredge, the Huron, which removed gravel from along the bottom & shore of Lake Huron & transferred it to the loading apparatus on top of the Gladstone.

13 – Is the 500’ breakwater-pier built in 1928 by Detroit River Construction Co. for MM&R of Windsor.

14 – Is the HSGC dredge, the Great Western, which scooped out a channel into the SCPC property, leased by MM&R in 1928.

15 – Is the SCPC plant where blocks, Tile & other cement products were manufactured.

16 – Are the old houses in the Government Reserve. This area as well as the SCPC property, was flat sandy land covered with scrub popular at that time.

17 – Are the two range lights used for ship navigation at the foot of Lake Huron.

18 – Is the narrow laneway or trail to the Canatara beaches? It went from the corner of Michigan & Woodrowe Road through Tarzan land & along the ridge on the east side of Lake Chipican to Andover Lane & then around the north end of Lake Chipican to the east beach at Canatara. Sarnia residents referred to the beach area as the “sand hills”. Point Edward residents simply walked up the various streets leading to the rail line and crossed through the “Quarantines” to the beach north of the village, 19 – Is the line to Sarnia used by the iron ore trains & other rail traffic moving in & out of Point Edward.

Sarnia Observer – March 13, 1950 P3

NAVAL VETERAN – Ill for the past three years, Lieutenant Command – Bewick Scott Cawthorn, technical engineer of the service division of Imperial Oil Limited, died at his home, 312 North College Avenue, Saturday.

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