Friday once again…
From the caption on the back of the photo:
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“Ojibway, Ont. Slip around which the Morton Salt Co. terminal is to be built.
Freighters shown in storage some years back; no longer there.”
The site in-between the boat and the trees was where the Ojibway steel furnaces once stood. There were obviously gone by this point in the early 1960’s.
Another interesting thing form the photo is this, the remains of a road, part of the failed city of Ojibway? An old riverfront road running from the boat slip to the salt mine?
No trace of that road exists today.
Have a good weekend everyone. See you back here Monday.
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I think the road runs from the terminal to the salt mine. Fighting Island was still being a dumping ground for lime and other things. I am glad to see that island is reverting back to nature today.
Andrew, what a wonderful view of the area. Any “boatnerds” out there who can identify the ships in the slip?
Neat shot Andrew. If I’m right, that road has “always” been in existance and is just Front Road. In a book I have called “township of sandwich”, it refers to the hangings that used to take place. They’d walk down Sandwich until it ended at “Lot street”…which I think is Watkins now, turn towards the river and go along “River road” to where it meets with McKee road…..that’s where they’d hang the bodies for display.
There are still traces of it today visible on the google map. And if you refer to the DTE areials of the area, you can really see where the remains are.
I would think these photos are taken earlier than 1965
A 1961 DTE aerial of the area shows all 4 freighters in the slip in those exact positions.
That little one would be very, very old at that time.
I also think that this river road was always there. I believe this was the original road (besides Huron Church and Malden) to travel from Windsor/Sandwich to the LaSalle area. Ojibway Parkway (year built ??) bypassed the area and the river road was truncated by these industrial developments.
I’m speculating, but I think the ends of this road can be found in Windsor (the dying Brighton Beach area) and in LaSalle (Old Front Rd that ends at Morton). A road is shown along the river in the County Atlas from the 1880’s.
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/showtownship2.php?townshipid=Sandwich%20West
Anyways, coming from LaSalle, I am always interested in topics from these areas. Great photo!!!
Picture is most likely from the mid-50’s.
The salt company bought the land from the failed steel co/marine terminal to get access to the salt deposits below.
It became Morton Terminal – the boat slip is still there today.
As a side note…I’ve heard that the boat slip was used during WWI as a loading dock for horses being sent to the war.
Tom D – I think the parkway was built some time in the teens.
forest – doubtful on the slip being used in WW1. The dock/slip was under construction in 1919. If horses left from anywhere, I imagine it was by train and then by boat from Toronto of Montreal or something.
They did build and launch ships in this general area during WW2 though.
The Parkway as we know it, I believe is much more recent. 1960’s or 1970’s?
There was a road along the same route, called Main Street. It took the same turn to the left from Sandwich and ran through Ojibway. That road was laid out around 1913 with the development of the Ojibway town site. The S.W. & A Streetcar to Amherstburg ran along that route.
There is a picture/writeup on here somewhere and it shows a lady in Victorian dress near a wooden lighthouse in the Brighton Beach area, it seems to me it was when that road was there. Interesting!