Kingston's Tour Train

It came from Niagara...for years, before Kingston Trolley Tours, there was the Confederation Tour Train. The Niagara Choo-Choo was temporarily lettered ‘Retail Merchants of the Kingston Chamber of Commerce’ and was touring downtown Kingston in November, 1966 (above, on Brock Street). A jeep hauled two single-axle trailers around downtown and across the causeway to Royal Military College:

The original Tour Train in Kingston was a train ‘shape’ cut out of plywood then painted. Passengers’ seats were constructed by local Canadian Penitentiary Service by Collins Bay or Joyceville Penitentiary prisoners. The power train was upgraded, but the weight of those seats eventually wore out the engine. 

Fittingly, the Tour Train was front-and-centre at City Hall during the visit of the Confederation Train, August 22-25, 1967:

New power! The tour train had an import pickup truck minimally-labelled 'Chamber of Commerce',  on July 31, 1969:

(All Queen's University Archives except fourth photo - from Vintage Kingston FB group)

 

Coal Boat 'PatDoris'

Sowards Coal operated the steel tow barge White Star and the PatDoris – a 200-foot steam-powered vessel in use between 1924 and the 1940’s. The PatDoris  brought coal to Kingston from ports on the New York side. The ship had been built in the UK and owned by local businessmen and coal merchants Crawford and Swift. Pat was one of the daughters of the Swift family, and yes; Doris was a daughter of the Crawford family. There were several more boats making the coal run across the Lake Ontario.

From the Toronto Maritime History Society 'Scanner' newsletter: The steam collier PATDORIS, (a) ARDGATH, (b) YORKMINSTER, which was operated onwards frm 1924 in the Lake Ontario coal trade by J. F. Sowards of Kingston. She later belonged to the Maple Leaf Steamship Company Ltd. of Montreal and we have one report to the effect that she was sold for scrap in 1946 although it is not confirmed. PatDoris is shown on the Kingston waterfront with the Richardson No. 1 grain elevator in the background, undated but pre-1941.

Bob Crothers sailed as a teenager during the mid 1930s on the PatDoris, bringing coal several times per week from Oswego, NY. Bob describes the work on coal boats in his own words:

She was a fast boat, she could run 22 miles per hour and it took her two hours to cross the lake from Oswego to Kingston. The crew, except for the Captain and one or two older sailors, were local teenage boys. Most of them lasted only a week. The loading at Oswego was fast. She was a bulk carrier and the coal was dumped from the coal trestles through chutes into the hold. That did not take more than a few hours, and then she sailed back to Kingston. 

We had only a few hours rest between the loading and unloading work. At the coal dock beside the Kingston Water Works, a crane did the bulk of the unloading with a grab-shovel. Two big steel shells that could be opened and closed at the end of the cable. The crane dumped each load in the coal bins on the dock. Besides the bins, there were also mountains of coal all over the place. 

The crane could only do so much until there were a few feet of coal left at the bottom of the hold. The crew had to shovel the coal manually to the middle of the hold so that the grab-shovel could pick up a load. After a while that no longer worked and we had to shovel the coal by hand into the grabber… That was by far the worst! The work was not only physically demanding, but it was dirty, lots of coal dust, and in the summer with high humidity in the hold, it was almost impossible to do. The pay was good, at least in the eyes of us young boys, but most of us did not stay long. For the Captain and older crew it was not too bad, as long as they had enough younger boys willing to do the dirtiest work.”

- This account from 'When Coal was King; The Nineteenth Century Kingston Water Works' by Henk Wevers, lightly edited.

Coal Dock at Rockwood Asylum

The Rockwood Asylum complex is notorious and now vacant - more likely to be used as a movie set than anything else. Yet the provincial government continues its upkeep and security patrols, mostly to keep urbex bandidos out, not the spirits within. The circa 1920 aerial view (top photo) clearly shows a dock along the Lake Ontario shoreline. It's just visible at left of this calm-water reflection shot (below) from Archives of Ontario. It appears there was a coal-fired boiler associated with that brick smokestack. It's easy to imagine a coal boat unloading its cargo onto the dock.

Plans were announced to rebuild and enlarge the dock as early as 1953 (Whig photo):

It was completely filled-in (below-SkEye Stream photo) to hold more coal. The dock was equipped with bollards and other associated docking equipment: tires, cables and davits for a small boat on the eastern side of the dock. These were all on the site until recently. 

The davits, with custom-cut steel bases and no identifying marks visible, are now down and likely headed for scrap:

The coal dock was originally built in 1878 to supply heating coal to the asylum, which later became known as Kingston Psychiatric Hospital. The concrete capped wharf with steel sheet pile walls became a popular place for swimming once its use as a coal dock ended, but it has been crumbling over the decades. It was closed for safety reasons in March 2011. The dock likely has contaminants due to the historic nature of coal storage in the area.

The site was used as a parking lot until a couple of years ago, when it was fenced and posted. Now a Doornekamp wheeled excavator is parked there, having cleaned away all the junk that littered the site and scraped it clean. 

The dock was a federal property until last year when Doornekamp Construction purchased it with the understanding that the dock would remain a marine asset.  :

Looking south-west, from the nearby Lake Ontario Park waterfront trail that reaches through the Rockwood property towards Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.

Currently sharing the site is the footbridge that forded another small dock-like inlet just west of the apartments on the Portsmouth Harbour western edges. The walkway is being upgraded and footbridge will likely be returned there after the work is complete.

Now...to find a photo of said coal boat disgorging its carboniferous cargo there! A blue tarped item appeared there at the end of August. Turns out the site will be a cruise ship dock as of 2022. Earlier plans included the Marine Museum and Queen Street areas for such a dock. This sign says otherwise; the letters wiill spell out the word Kingston: 

Irish Burial Site Dig at KGH

 

Close by our laboratory at KGH was a marker to these remains, now the site of KHSC's largest-ever  construction project. Other markers are sited along Kingston's waterfront. Aerial view, July 1964 (top photo) - before construction of the Kidd and Davies wings, FAPC and extension to Connell wing. Barely recognizable except for the heating plant! (Queen's University Archives, Kingston Whig-Standard fonds).We were told that this project would begin in 2015! I intend to visit the newly completed wing with my therapy dog on the Access Bus - that's how far in the future the completion of this most ambitious project seems to be projected! In this 1989 aerial view, the enlarge Connell Wing and Kidd/Davies wings dominate the scene: 

Archeological dig to relocate remains from Irish burial site at KGH

Historians aim to learn about the typhus epidemic and Great Famine of 1847

Please Share - Media Release August 11, 2021

KINGSTON, ONTARIO - Work is now underway at Kingston Health Sciences Centre’s (KHSC) Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site to uncover a sad chapter in world history. An archeological firm has begun the process of unearthing and relocating the remains of Irish immigrants who contracted and died of typhus while escaping Ireland’s Great Famine in 1847. 

An estimated one million Irish died in what is known as the Great Irish Famine (also known as the Great Irish Hunger and Great Irish starvation) and another two and a half million were forced to leave their homeland between 1847 and 1852. An estimated 1,400 Irish immigrants died shortly after arriving in Kingston and were buried on the grounds of Kingston General Hospital (just to the west of KGH’s original Watkins wing.) 

The work to relocate the individuals buried at KGH is an integral part of KHSC’s KGH site redevelopment project, which will see the demolition of a number of older buildings, to make way for the construction of a new patient tower. The new tower will house new operating rooms, a new emergency department, laboratories, labour and delivery department, neo-natal intensive care unit and two inpatient floors. 

“While our redevelopment project is essential for KHSC to continue to meet the highly-specialized needs of patients from across southeastern Ontario, we recognize the level of care and sensitivity required to relocate a burial site such as this,” says Krista Wells Pearce, KHSC’s vice-president of Planning. “We have been working closely with representatives of the local Irish community as well as with leadership from the Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic churches, to not only bless the site before the work began, but to respect the dignity, faith and culture of those who were buried here nearly 175 years ago.” 

In 1847, during the Great Famine, landlords were made responsible by the British government for the welfare of their Irish tenants. So, many landlords forced tenants off the land and aboard ships destined for North America. Irish citizens weakened by hunger and infected with typhus, were forced to come to Canada on these overcrowded ships. The close quarters and poor ventilation onboard, contributed to the quick spread of the disease. Many died before ever arriving in Canada, giving their vessels the grim nickname “coffin ships.”

“Around 50,000 Irish immigrants came to Kingston and about 1,400 men, women and children died of typhus and were buried at KGH,” says Tony O’Loughlin, Founder & President of Kingston Irish Folk club and the Kingston Irish Famine Commemoration Association. “At the time, KGH was a small, seasonally operated hospital and had fewer than 50 beds. It was totally overwhelmed by the large numbers of critically ill Irish patients arriving that summer.” 

Thomas Kirkpatrick, Kingston’s first mayor, and the local Board of Health set up large ‘fever sheds’ mainly along the waterfront near Emily Street, however, these were insufficient to meet the demand and filled quickly. In an effort to control the spread of the disease, the deceased were buried as quickly as possible. Remains were brought nightly by death carts to the grave site on the grounds of KGH.

“At that time the majority of citizens in Kingston were Irish and many brought the newly arrived sick individuals into their homes leading to further spread of the disease. About 300 Kingstonians also died while trying to help the newly arrived Irish. Those individuals were buried in Kingston’s upper cemetery in what is now McBurney Park. Mrs. Martin (who held the position of first Matron at KGH) and her daughter, as well as Sister Mary Magorian, a member of Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph who served Hotel Dieu Hospital are among those that contracted and died from typhus while helping the Irish,” says O’Loughlin.   

A small number of the remains, along with a large statue to mark the sacred ground, were moved to St. Mary’s cemetery during hospital expansion in 1966. However many individuals remain interred at KGH, including underneath a parking lot and under and around several buildings. Historic plaques were erected on the site, but they include incorrect information stating all of the remains had been moved from KGH grounds in 1966. The confirmation that the burials remain on the site was done by Ground Truth Archaeology in 2020. 

“Working with Infrastructure Ontario, we’ve hired a Canadian archeological firm, ASI, who bring expertise in cultural heritage conservation and experience working on both hospital and Irish famine projects,” says Wells Pearce. “They are treating this work with the respect it deserves, not only in honour of those that are buried here, but also from a greater historical perspective. They have told us that the excavation and respectful study of the remains is a unique opportunity, unprecedented in Canada, to learn more about their lives during and prior to the events of 1847.”

As part of their work, ASI has also consulted with representatives of local Indigenous communities before starting their work. 

The remains of the Irish will be re-interred in local cemeteries in the future. Kingston Health Sciences Centre has also committed to creating a public monument to these individuals once construction of the new patient tower is complete. It is expected that the excavation work will continue through the summer and into late autumn.           

Kingston General Hospital aerial view, July 1964. Before construction of the Kidd and Davies wings, FAPC and extension to Connell wing. Barely recognizable except for the heating plant! (Queen's University Archives, Kingston Whig-Standard fonds). 

The Angel of Mercy Monument was dedicated in 1894 on the grounds of the Kingston General Hospital. It marked the burial site of over 1,400 individuals: approximately 1,000 who were previously quarantined at Grosse Isle, but would pass away in Kingston, many at a local fever shed; another 400 were local Kingston residents who contracted typhus at the time.

The Angel is sculpted out of Carrara marble and holds a trumpet and a Bible that is open to the story of the Resurrection. The monument is engraved with the following passage: "In memory of his afflicted Irish compatriots, nearly 1,400 in number, who, enfeebled by famine in 1847-48, ventured across the ocean in unequipped sailing vessels, in whose fetid holds they inhaled the germs of the pestilential ‘ship-fever’ and upon reaching Kingston, perished here, despite the assiduous attention and compassionate offices of the good citizens of Kingston.  May the Heavenly Father give them eternal rest and happiness in reward of their patient suffering and Christian submission to His Holy will, through the merits of His divine Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen’

In 1966, the monument and some of the remains were moved to Kingston’s Upper Cemetery (St. Mary's), approximately two miles away from the original site to make room for an expansion of the General Hospital. There remains a plaque at the rear (morgue) door of the hospital to mark the approximate spot.

Thanks to Marc Shaw for additional information in this post.

The Tugboat 'Rival'

Long before the arrival of 'Theodore the Tugboat Too', a replica tug on its way from Halifax to Hamilton, Kingston harbour was home to actual working tugboats. 

Portsmouth Harbour, in its previous life prior to rejuvenation as the 1976 Olympics sailing venue, also contributed lay-up space. Sincennes-McNaughton (Sin-Mac) was originally a tugboat line based in Montreal and Sorel, QC. When Sin-Mac was part of Mohawk Navigation Ltd., several of its ships wintered here. The Red fleet like Redwood, Redcloud and Redriver were repowered tug-barges built for Red Barge Lines Ltd., later part of Sin-Mac, and wintered at Portsmouth for many years. 

Tugboats like Rival (top photo) and identical sister Felicia (above - OhioLINK Digital Resource Commons photo) were coal-burning steam tugs. Rival was on station at Portsmouth Harbour for 25 years, usually with her master of 17 years, Captain Lewis Orr.

The tug Frontenac, another familiar sight working eastern Lake Ontario for 30 years, was built by the Calvin Co. of Garden Island in 1901. Sunk in 1929 during her first year of ownership by Sin-Mac, she is now a diveable local wreck. Sin-Mac was acquired by McAllister Towing & Salvage in 1959.

Built in 1923, by Sorel Mechanical of Sorel, Quebec as the Rival for Sincennes-McNaughton of Montreal, Quebec. Interestingly, Rival was converted to oil but sank in the Welland Canal in 1931 as a result of an explosion, recovered and converted back to coal! The 85-foot tug was under the service of Lloyd Tankers in the 1930's. Rival was still in service in Montreal in the 1970's.

Lots o' links:

• Tug Rival with overturned Bruce Hudson, barge in Toronto Harbour, 1935.
• Tub Rival on the bottom, Shotline Diving image.

The R-100 over Kingston, 1930

A picture of an airplane, a ship, a train is just a picture - unless a local landmark or scene is included in the photo. This Whig-Standard photo, published March 1, 1978 and credited to Mrs. George Moy of RR1, Glenburnie clearly shows the R-100 flying over the lake with Kingston City Hall in the foreground on August 11, 1930. Mrs. Moy noted that she took the photo with a Brownie box camera while standing in the vicinity of the New Canton Restaurant on Brock Street. Interestingly, though thousands were alerted to the fly-by of airship R-100 from Toronto to Montreal, Mrs. Moy believed she was the only person to have snapped such a photo! To solidify the moment, it appears someone has touched up the print, highlighting the R-100 lettering on the side of the airship.

Unfortunately, the captioning and subsequent articles by columnist Lynn Jones published in August, 1980 and October, 1993 contained quite a few inaccuracies. (1950, not 1930 for instance!) Knowing my Dad was a fan of all things British, and the fact that he grew up during the airship era, I was not surprised to find a documentary summary of information on 'His Majesty's Airship R-100' on its visit to Canada, and I can certainly trust his facts:

 

You'll note under the second bullet point, my Dad's capital-letters account of seeing the R-100 on its way from Montreal to Ottawa. The R-100's flight from Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto would have been made at night, under a full moon, heading west over Kingston 12 hours before its daylight appearance (top photo).

Over 2,000 Kingston residents gathered on rooftops, with the largest crowds atop the LaSalle Hotel and the Mutual Relief Insurance building. Crowds also filled Market Square and lined Ontario Street. At King and Brock Streets, a Colonial Coach Line bus driver obligingly let his passengers disembark to see the passing airship. Large crowds also filled Macdonald Park and waterfront along King Street. Its route took it from the lake and Wolfe Island, towards land at Kingston Penitentiary, then along the waterfront flying as low and slow as practicable. A great roar went up from the crowds and handkerchiefs waved as the airship continued on over Navy Bay, thence east to Brockville and Montreal.

Interestingly, the newspaper including the account of the August, 1930 passage R-100 also included this tidbit: "Twelve year-old George Lilley won first class honors in intermediate piano and passed principal theory at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. As a result, his prowess was featured in a Saturday night edition of the Toronto Evening Telegram." Just a junior pianist? No, Mr Lilley would go on to become a prolific photographer for the Whig and many other newspapers, and he took most of the photos featured in my two books on Kingston's waterfront history!

Uncredited photo of R-100 over Wellington and Clarence Streets (above) and a Martello tower (below).