Canal Era Industrialization

scotto

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#1
This one was sent in by David, compares the canal era to the new train era.

Written by Robin Neill at the University of Prince Edward Island and Carleton University in 2003
____________________________________________________
Hamilton surpassed Dundas in size and activity between 1826 and 1832,
because the Burlington Bay Canal was opened in 1827, while the Desjardins Canal
to Dundas was not completed for another ten years. The Grand River Canal was built
by Sir Alan Napier McNabb and his associates in 1832. It was intended to bypass
Hamilton and Dundas as centers through which settlers were passing in increasing
numbers into what is now South Western Ontario. Neither the Grand River nor the
Desjardins Canals were fully operative when railways inland from Hamilton were
first projected. The London and Gore Railway and the Hamilton and Port Dover
Railway Companies were both incorporated in 1834. Hamilton began its climb into
the Railroad Epoch only five years after the first use of steam locomotion in the
United States, and only four years after the initial run of Britain’s Liverpool and
Manchester Railway, the first steam line built for the purpose of carrying passengers
as well as goods.
Read more;
http://economics.acadiau.ca/tl_file...A/Papers and Procedings/2003/R.Neill.2003.pdf
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
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#2
I've found what I think is a good reference site on canals in Upper and Lower Canada. It has a little bit on the Burlington Canal.

'66 Upper Canada, Statutes, 1823. "An Act to provide for constructing a navigable canal between Burlington Bay and Lake Ontario" (4 Geo. IV, C. 8); also "An Act to amend and extend the provisions of an Act at the last session of Parliament, entitled 'An Act to provide for constructing a navigable canal between Burlington Bay and Lake Ontario.'" (4 Geo. IV, C. 16).
67 Canada (Province) Journals, 1830, Appendix, Report on the Burlington Bay Canal.
68 Report 1867, Burlington Bay Canal.'

http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/chs/8/chs8-1m.htm
 

David O'Reilly

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Dec 15, 2012
481
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#3
scotto
08-11-2014, 12:22 AM
This one was sent in by David, compares the canal era to the new train era.

Written by Robin Neill at the University of Prince Edward Island and Carleton University in 2003
__________________________________________________ __
Hamilton surpassed Dundas in size and activity between 1826 and 1832,
because the Burlington Bay Canal was opened in 1827, while the Desjardins Canal
to Dundas was not completed for another ten years. The Grand River Canal was built
by Sir Alan Napier McNabb and his associates in 1832. It was intended to bypass
Hamilton and Dundas as centers through which settlers were passing in increasing
numbers into what is now South Western Ontario. Neither the Grand River nor the
Desjardins Canals were fully operative when railways inland from Hamilton were
first projected. The London and Gore Railway and the Hamilton and Port Dover
Railway Companies were both incorporated in 1834. (Hamilton began its climb into
the Railroad Epoch only five years after the first use of steam locomotion in the
United States), and only four years after the initial run of Britain's Liverpool and
Manchester Railway, the first steam line built for the purpose of carrying passengers

This is quite misleading, as these two railroads didn't begin operating until 1854 and 1869 respectively.

the London and Gore Railroad began operating as the Great western Railroad, and the Hamilton and Port Dover Railroad, commenced opperations as the Hamilton and Lake Erie (H&LE) Railroad. It was this latter railroad that ran along Hamilton Beach and opened in 1876, as the Hamilton and North Western Railroad.
Numerous references have been made to the H&NW) on this forom, but none have included information on the 1834 charter, so I have included a URl to Charles Cooper's Haldimand and Norfolk County Railroad history site (see below). This page of course doesn't give any information on the H&NW) on Hamilton Beach.

THE LONDON AND GORE RAILROAD

"In March of 1834, a group of businessmen combined efforts to obtain a charter for the name and construction of a railway, the London and Gore. This railway was to run from London, Ontario, to Burlington Bay in the District of Gore. Among the men involved was Allan MacNab, who was later to become Prime Minister.

Financial resources were difficult to obtain, so the project was all but abandoned until 1845, when the charter was renewed and amended. The name of the fledgeling freight and passenger railway was changed to The Great Western Railway (G.W.R.), and its mileage was expanded to cover the area between Windsor in the west and the Niagara River in the east. This new run was not originally intended to pass through Hamilton; it was MacNab who arranged for the line to bypass Brantford in favour of a route along Lake Ontario. He felt that Hamilton would be a "greater strength as a base for the promotion of railways." (Beer, p. 209) Once constructed, the G.W.R. would be the first railway in the city of Hamilton.

Great Western Railway's Locomotive #113, which was built in Rhode Island in 1871 (click for a closer look)
Construction was begun on the G.W.R. in 1851, after the municipalities along the projected route bought great amounts of stock to finance the effort. Materials and locomotives had to be brought in from England and the United States, making their way to their final destination by ox-cart. On January 17, 1854, the first train set off from Niagara to Windsor."

http://trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/GWR/history.htm
THE HAMILTON AND PORT DOVER RAILWAY

In 19th century Ontario, all lakeshore communities recognized the development of their harbours as the key to local prosperity, even before the emergence of railways as the dominant force in the development of commerce. As early as 1835, while still a town, Hamilton had chartered the Hamilton & Port Dover Railroad in recognition of the need for traffic to be brought to its harbour to stimulate local trade of goods, produce and natural resources. At that time, the charter's intended purpose was to establish a portage link between the harbours of Port Dover and Hamilton to divert traffic from what was then the fledgling and hence very slow and congested Welland Canal.
http://www.railwaypages.com/haldimand-norfolk-counties
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
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#4
I've found a few snippitts of information on the Hamilton and Port Dover (H&PD) the Hamilton and Lake Erie (H&LE) and the Hamilton and North Western (H&NW) Railroads. And the construction of the H&LE and the H&NW along Hamilton Beach.

1860 - Though there was cheering and flag-waving in the streets, there was little, if any rejoicing in the City Treasurer's Office. Hamilton had been on a wild spending spree and the game was just about over. Back in 1850, the sum of £12,500 was set up as capital for the Hamilton Gas Light Company and this could be doubled. Two years later, the City financed an Orphan Asylum and then began to pay out money for the new water works. Then there was good money thrown away on shares in the Hamilton & Port Dover Railway, a scheme of that master con artist Allan MacNab. It would be 20 years before a tie was laid on that line.
http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/Brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1860#p09.60.12
1861 - William Hamilton Merritt also came in for criticism for the construction of the Welland Railway, while Hamilton was attempting to scrape up enough money to build the Hamilton & Port Dover and bankrupting itself in the bargain. http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/Brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1861#p09.61.2

"Much discussion took place in the press in 1876 regarding the construction of the Hamilton & North Western Ry., with which was merged, the Hamilton & Lake Erie. The difficulties of obtaining a right-of-way through Hamilton and around the west end of the Bay appeared insurmountable and so the company had decided upon a route across Burlington Beach and then, northward through Georgetown and Beeton to Barrie. This was finally accomplished, as was a branch from Beeton, through Alliston and Creemore to Collingwood.
When this plan was made public, the Shipping fraternity split into two camps - for, and against a swing bridge over the Burlington Bay Canal. Petitions were drafted and sent to His Excellency, the Governor General, the Earl of Dufferin. Those merchants, forwarders and shipmasters opposed to the bridge were basing their objections on the supposition that a centre pier would be placed in the canal, thereby seriously reducing the width of the channel. Those members of the community who were in favour of the railway's proposal understood that the bridge was planned with its turntable on the North Pier, leaving a clear opening and they bore in mind also, the tonnage of grain and forest products that this new railway would bring to the port."

"A news item on the 11 August stated that the Hamilton & North Western Ry. line to Georgetown was making good progress and that the company intended to build a grain elevator at Hamilton. The contract for the pile bridge over the mouth of Red Hill Creek, in the southeastern corner of the Bay, was let to Mr. Hiram King. The contract for construction of the elevator was let, on the 24 August, to Mr. McDermott, the lowest bidder.
By the 1 September, the Hamilton & North Western Ry. rails had reached the Burlington Canal and work was being done on the foundations for the swing bridge."

"A news item on the 21 October stated that the swing bridge over the Burlington Canal would be placed in position in a few days. The bridge was being built by the Hamilton Bridge & Tool Company, which had been established in 1863 on Barton Street at Caroline. The line to Georgetown was to be completed by the 1 December, but this date was not met. The bridge was not completed before the 21 December."

http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/Brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1876#p13.76.1
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
481
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#5
This is an interesting history on sailing crafts on the Great lakes.

Sailing craft on the Great Lakes date to the first ships constructed on Lake Ontario in the 17th century. The first ships on the Lakes were built at Lake Ontario due to the natural barriers posed by the St. Lawrence River rapids and the falls at Niagara. Robert Sieur de La Salle built the 70-foot "galliot" Griffin above Niagara Falls in 1679, inaugurating navigation on the upper Great Lakes. Louis Denis, Sieur de la Ronde, French commandant at Chequamegon, built a sailing craft on Lake Superior around 1734 to exploit the copper of Keweenaw Point and Isle Royale. By the 1740s, the French had four ships on Lake Ontario. The British had begun shipbuilding there as well, in order to assert their influence over the lucrative and growing fur trade.
All the earliest Great Lakes' craft were brigs, schooners, or sloops of traditional European design. The ships were probably designed in either France and England by naval personnel. Between 1756 and 1763, the British and French were involved in the Seven Years' War. Shipbuilding during that period followed Admiralty designs. Even so, the fore-and-aft schooner rig had begun to demonstrate its suitability for the confined waters and shallow rivers of the Great Lakes.

Passenger and Package Freight Steamers

Bulk Freight Steamers

Small Craft

http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecks/mpdf/mpdf2.php
 
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