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: