Well-Housed Wellington Street

Limestone foundations and painted details

A recent trip to Dollar Tree just about sleighed me. There on the North Pole end of one shelf were a few little houses. Should I tree-t myself? And my layout? A whole sh-Elf for a dollar-and-a-half each! So I put two of them into my sack and I bought them - two all a good night! It was out into the rain, dear.

Having kitbashed two Swamp Ward houses, I had a few residential holes to fill in the streetscape. Much like the current City of Kingston residential in-fill policy! Thinking these two hundred-cent-ury structures might fit the bill, I tried to find some prototypes. I soon realized they were a little too uptown for my waterfront neighbourhood. No matter, perhaps too professorial and not pedestrian enough, but OK or the transition between industry and downtown along Wellington Street.

A fine home on King Street

Fine homes on University Avenue

                                     

Fine homes on my mantle.

The progression can be tracked through the above photos. I made the decision to leave each structure intact, relying on painting and a few details to set them in Kingston. The models are meant to accommodate an LED tea-light, so they have half-open window panes. I painted the panes black, the frames grey. The stone house got a coat of grey paint, the other a weathered brick exterior. Roofs were darkened. Bits of snow on the roofs were painted over. The Dremel took care of the snow surrounding the foundations. The founcations were covered with limestone-printed paper. A few railing and roof-top details were added. 

Now, to place them into the model Wellington Street....

The Lilley Letter

Today I received a most welcome letter via the staff of the Queen's University Archives. The letter was from a member of the family of prolific photographer George Lilley. I first took the opportunity to pore over the George Lilley fonds in 2019. I am pleased to be able to feature George Lilley's fine photography in both of my books on Kingston's waterfront history -  Smoke on the Waterfront and Stories on the Waterfront. 

"Thank you so very much for the copies of your 'Waterfront' books which I received this week. I have enjoyed viewing the pictures and am looking forward to reading your research. George passed away 18 years ago this month. If he were alive, I know he would have enjoyed talking with you, especially about his beloved Kingston. He would be so pleased to know that his pictures have been helpful in the 'telling' of Kingston. I am so glad to have your books and thank you again. 

Upon publication, I provided a copy of each book to the Archives, as well as a copy to their Lilley family contact. The Archives staff told me that they do not put researchers in direct contact with copyright holders, though they do convey permission to researchers to use material, in this case from the Lilley family to use the photographs. It seemed to be the right thing to do to provide them with a copy, to show how George Lilley's photos live on!

From the 1940’s to the 1970’s, photographer George Lilley recorded a layer of Kingston’s history that no-one else did. A photographer who freelanced for the Kingston Whig-Standard, Lilley covered accidents, fires, weather events and train wrecks. He was also called out to document the results of car collisions for insurance cases, as well as crime scenes and the trials of local criminals and prisoners. He employed a sense of drama and adventure in his photography – life’s triumphs and tragedies. Lilley donated over 20,000 of his negatives to the Queen’s University Archives, where they are stored in a climate-controlled vault. He was a ‘road man’. When a deer got trapped in a Princess Street store window, he was there. When the Wolfe Island ferry caught fire, he was there. It was all part of his record of the city at the time. If George Lilley had not been such a prolific photographer, there would be a lot less Kingston history to see and to share.

Wandering Wellington Street - In Scale

What good is a model if we can't imagine ourselves in it? This often takes the form of photos taken from helicopter or drone height. Using a point and shoot camera, I'm able to 'get down' to layout surface height. Getting back into the modelling season of fall to spring, I am operating the layout most nights, combined with maintenance, building or photography. It was photography this night, and here are the results. Rideau Street (top photo) and Wellington Street (below):

The rear of the Bajus Brewery buildings:

Garage at Place d'Armes coal yard:

Rear of the City Steam Laundry on Wellington Street:

Another view near the coal yard:

Mileboard for CP's station, telltales, and the River Street bridge, under which CN and CP cross. Pay no attention to that secondary track at right. More heavily camouflaged seen from the layout edge, it provides (nearly) hidden track access to a (nominally Anglin) bulk fuel tank spur. Just because I could!

 

Photographing Work on the Waterfront

In an earlier post called "Watching Work on the Waterfront", I was inspired to build a scene of several workers at Canadian Dredge & Dock, on Wellington Street, working on an unspecified project. Returning to the layout room after a long, enjoyable summer, I did some layout-level photography. Specifically, exploring several angles around this scene. 

Kingston's Hanley Spur is most definitely a model railway, but it also comprises a compendium of discrete scenes. These scenes are built around trackside industries, or portray life in Kingston's Swamp Ward neighbourhoods, as well as those from Wellington to Montreal Streets. 

I like the perspective that actually placing my point & shoot camera (hey, should try with a smartphone - note to self!) on the layout and manoeuvring it around to various angles. This not only lets us view these scenes not from the traditional drone/helicopter height, but helps us sharpen our modelling and scenery skills. 

These guys are working on Canadian Dredge & Dock tugboat Traveller in the drydock, that unnamed project and also show the company's stores buildings and heavy industrial equipment.

Woolen Mill For Sale

A piece of the Woolen Mill on Cataraqui Street, about 3,237 square feet is for lease. Although I've modelled the exterior, these are rare interior photos of what used to be the Boiler Room climbing gym:

and brochure information: 

Another 'Dear Photograph' Tour of the Waterfront

Was it really a year ago? The day that I wandered the waterfront snapping archival photos in today's context in the style of Dear Photograph. Last week, having just come from Kingston's PumpHouse Steam Museum, my first stop to the east was the dry dock along Ontario Street. Holding some photo prints of images from the Queen's University Archives, it was neat to position each photo (taken in the 1940s, 1950s or 1960s) to fit today's scene. My first stop was the Ontario Street dry dock. The Wolfe Islander, 1951 (above) and HALCO's Cove Transport, 1964 (below):

                                        Motor yacht Chanticleer in the dry dock, 1967:

The former Canadian Locomotive Company office building sat at the corner of Ontario and William Streets, now the site of parking behind Empire Life:

This row of buildings has been occupied by a variety of tenants over the decades, but it's no longer a Meat Market like it was in 1950, and its annex is no longer standing.

At the foot of Brock Street, I had several images of The Way Things Used To Be, which in Kingston sometimes means The Way Things Still Are Today. Not in all cases though, and these historic grain merchants are long gone, replaced by the hotel on this site. A central waterfront location, once desired for easy grain-handling to and from ships, now used to house tourists.

Looking up to Brock Street over the 'cobblestones' to City Hall (above). CN and CP reached the locomotive plant and shippers in the vicinity of City Hall. Their tracks headed north at the foot of Brock Street, where the angled backs of buildings belie the tracks' former location:

It was soon time to return to my parking spot at the PumpHouse. I managed to keep myself and the photos dry! The former Kingston & Pembroke station hasn't changed much, but that Ford city station wagon is no longer parked in front!

A Milwaukee Road boxcar was behind the station in the mid-sixties. The Milwaukee Road itself has long since gone bankrupt! CP moved its operations away from City Hall to make way for Confederation Park and the Centennial celebrations.

As I walked back, I reflected on the grey day, its grey sky, the grey of limestone and concrete and those long-ago images with their own shades of grey, black & white.

Muse-ology

Summer is not model railway season. It's outdoor season. So that's why there is very little modelling being blogged about. But now winter is here. Kingston went from Shorts Weather to Sweater Weather in less than a week. Cold beer has been replaced by Pumpkin Spice Latte. So just before I return to the basement layout, it's Connection Season. Hot on the heels of the Kingstonist interview, I'm trying to get my layout out of the basement, virtually. As long as pandemic precautions are in place, it's tough to justify a visit. Plus my wife says the basement is too messy and I'd probably have to vacuum or something. But I'm thinking about creating a model of the K&P station on Ontario Street.

In all cases, whether it's local media, Queen's University Archives, ARK or local book readers, it's interesting to see where this process is leading. It's worthy of muse-ing.

 

When Kingstonist Calls

Back in August, I got a message from Tori Stafford, Editor at Kingstonist.com, Kingston's premiere online news source. Tori was interested in profiling my work on the Hanley Spur layout. It took a little while, with various intervening events, but Tori got me in touch this past Wednesday with Kingstonist journalist Terry Bursey. After a short and enjoyable phone interview with Terry, and supplying some photos, this nice online news article was the result. Click here to read the article.

My family has subscribed to the Kingston Whig-Standard for decades, and when I look back through my files, it's clearly evident that its local coverage is a shadow of its former self. Online sources like the Kingstonist have effectively filled that vacuum!

Chinese Laundries in Kingston

 

Perusing some online Queen's Journal editions in Qspace of the turn of the last century, the advertisements aimed at the young men of Queen's were interesting. A wide variety of enterprises like bookstores, travel opportunities and even laundries were advertising. One recurring ad was for the Hong Lee Laundry on Princess Street (1903 top ad, 1900 below):

1903 Queen's Journal advertisement:

Three 1908 Queen's Journal ads:

Here's an even older one, from 1881:

An excellent story on the Chinese laundries was posted in Stones Kingston - Exploring Kingston's Social History. The site contains many other informative accounts of Chinese history in Kingston. Though I've already modelled the City Steam Laundry, a storefront laundry might also be a subject for structure modelling in my layout's future!

At least one - Lee's Laundry existed on Division Street at Earl Street, near the Queen's campus. In this 2009 image, the laundry name still shows, though renovations have erased it by 2020:

Brownfields Interview with John Gerretsen

I've been making my way through search results for 'Kingston' in the Queen's University QSPACE database. The results comprise a plethora of documents on diverse topics ranging from the 19th century up to today - urban planning to three sermons on the parable of the prodigal son! Many of the recent documents are case studies and essays written by students in various faculties. This one on brownfields included an interview with John Gerretsen, Ontario's Minister of Environment. 

ASSESSMENT OF BROWNFIELD REMEDIATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN KINGSTON: BLOCK D AS A CASE STUDY by Jacquelyn Norris. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science, Honours Queen‟s University 2008. 

 "1960s – Used to be two main industries – Canadian shipping yards and Canadian locomotive

company – since mid-1950s fully familiar with both operations

- Involved as a councilor and a member of provincial parliament

- Waterways main method of transportation

- Kingston was going to be the capital of Canada, public limestone buildings built all over

the place

- Never materialized

- Harbour still used for transportation of goods

- Big change in Kingston when decision was made to have the main channel of St. Lawrence

seaway on other side of Wolfe island, need for transportation diminished, transportation

changed, rail, road, etc.

- Industries were terminated (mid-60‟s)

- Bill Teron – influential builder in Ottawa area, bought both sites, convinced council of the

time that he was going to build into a residential developed area, Block D and two blocks

beside, Harbour Place and Shipyards close to marine museum and steam museum.

- Approval where harbor place is and landmark, city of Kingston got the land immediately in

front of city hall, now city park

- Bill Teron makes arrangements with the city, whereby he is going to turn industrial into

residential land use

- Nobody understood the magnitude of developments

- Nobody had seen what 100units/acre meant then

- Became chairman of CMHC, put everything he owned in blind trust, so that accusations

could not be made that the decisions made for CMHC would directly benefit him

- Came on the scene in 1972-3 developers came along that had bought it from Teron, wanted

to make some changes to the original agreements made with council at the time (1960s)

- Utilized the best information that they had, everybody seems to forget about Block D

- Can remember in the 70s, people would not venture past Prince George hotel, derelict area,

homelessness etc.

- Early 1980s landmark and harbor place get built – built as part of separate agreements

negotiated with Teron, the units per acreage is the same as what Teron had originally

negotiated – council was not heavily involved in that process

- Too much development? Concerns at this point

- Block D lay fallow for so many years – blind trust – Maurice Rollins Construction of

Belleville and Sonia Neilson Realty of Kingston, people came up with new proposals for

development – the zoning wasn‟t appropriate for the site 

62

- 1981 – tried to buy block D for the City – regrets not purchasing the property, could have

called for a development proposal that would have better integrated public uses along

waterfront with private use on the property

- Put an offer in Neilson-Rollins counter-offered, only about 300-400K difference (1.7m –

2.0m) – turned down on vote

- What is built there is much in line with what the original zoning that Teron got. Some

don‟t like high-rise buildings

- Waterfront belongs to the public, not to anyone individually – as much public access and

ownership of waterfront as possible – there are certain elements of that in Block D,

although the Admiralty place is wonderful – was a square warehouse, built into beautiful

building it is today – probably built in early 1980s – marine museum next to it and then

steam museum associated. "

German Prisoners Kingston Ont., 1917

This captioned photo was posted to the Kingston Love Facebook group with the handwritten caption in this post's title. But where in Kingston? Far left gasification tank; middle wooden and stone structures, right a coach with a large crowd and sentries in foreground. 

I think it's plausible that these POW's are being escorted to Tete du Pont Barracks or directly to Fort Henry. The Grand Trunk had better connections to eastern Canada, so the single track may be GTR somewhere in the area of Place d'Armes/King/Barrack/Ontario Streets. Efforts to pinpoint location underway. Thanks to Marc Shaw for sharing this photo and correlating with fire insurance maps and aerial photos, plus city directories of the period!

Update: Three years after publishing this post, knowledgeable Kingston historian Peter Gower posted that these are not German prisoners, but aliens who had been kept in Fort Henry and are on their way to Kapuskasing. They will just have come off of the new Causeway and so are very near Fort Frontenac.

Until we pinpoint, I'm adding images that may assist:

Fire insurance map, 1908 (above) and 1920 aerial view of the area (below):

If I could get the buildings confirmed, I think it's possible the single Grand Trunk track crossing Barrack Street near the gasification tank could be the location. Then a short escorted march down Ontario Street toward Tete du Pont or Fort Henry across the Causeway!