Hamilton Shoreline Infill Map

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
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#5
Scott, in a number of threads, you and other members have alluded to various 'beach maps'. have you ever considered creating one thread, with links to all of those maps? It would be a quick and easy way of finding them.
 

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
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The Beach Strip
#6

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
218
63
The Beach Strip
#7
This article is from a community newsletter for the Crown Point community.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Points From The Past
The natural inlets

by Brendan Oliver
Did you know that Crown Point was once home to four natural inlets? One inlet traveled as far inland as the railway tracks behind Center Mall. Home to pioneer families and native flora and fauna, the inlets were lost to development long ago.
When the earliest settlers arrived in our area they found a vast sheltered bay punctuated by inlets on the south shore. Inlets are defined as narrow areas of
water that stretch inland from the shoreline. Around the inlets grew wild rice, sword grass and millet. Deer, bear, rattlesnakes and wolves could be
found and huge elm and willow trees stood along the banks. Each inlet was named after the pioneer families who settled the land around them. Families with
familiar names like Depew, Lottridge and Gage established farms, planted crops and buried their dead.
Crown Point's westernmost inlet was Lottridge Inlet, named after farmer John Lottridge. It was located at the foot of Gage Avenue just north of Burlington Street.
Stipe's Inlet was located at the north end of Depew Street and named after Simon Peter Stipe. The surrounding land was owned by his father in-law
Captain Charles Depew Jr. At the foot of Kenilworth Avenue North was Ogg's Inlet named after William Ogg, a tenant who once resided on the land.
The most popular inlet was Gage's, presumably named after John Gage. Located at the foot of Ottawa Street, it was a favorite skating spot in winter
and prized fishing hole in summer.
In a 1930's Spectator article, a man reminisced, "The boys spent many busy days around Gage's Inlet. Generally we were after fish but we could also get frogs, watercress, walnuts and hickory nuts. It was a boy's paradise, for we could get a market close at hand for some of these things and make a bit of pocket money. Schumacher's German boarding house stood at the north-east corner of Sherman Avenue and Burlington Street. They used all the frogs legs we boys could bring in, also sizeable fish and watercress."
As the city spread eastward the land surrounding the inlets was developed into Hamilton's industrial sector. The inlets remained in place for a time but the
dumping of human and industrial waste soon made them unfit for use. Today 25 per cent of Hamilton's original harbour has been filled including most of Crown Point's inlets. Stipe's Inlet still exists between Stelco and Dofasco, but not in its original form.
 

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