War, fires and picnics all part of Beach Strip.

scotto

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Feb 15, 2004
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The Beach Strip
#1
Burlington Post
January 27, 199?

One could probably fill Lake Ontario with everything that has been written about Burlington's waterfront area, particularly the Beach Strip.
So the Looking Back column about the waterfront will be written in two parts, with this week's segment devoted to the Strip.
The Beach Strip is actually a huge sandbar, which originally consisted of two spits separated by a small gap or "outlet." The strip was created by wind and wave action over the ages.
When first seen by white explorers it was a four-mile long white sand beach separating Lake Ontario from a sheltered bay. The strip was a quarter-mile wide at most, withgrapevines and bamboo-like plants which were home to rabbits and raccoons.
It's believed the Strip was sold to Upper Canada for goods valued at 100 British pounds.
There were also willow trees with small marshy inlets and lagoons full of herons, loons, kingfishers, swans etc.
It's believed that Etienne Brule passed by it in 1615, while Sulpican priests, including the explorer La Salle camped there in 1669.
The first regular inhabitants were the Neutral Indians, so named because they refused to get involved in disputes involving other Indian nations. But they were wiped out in 1650 by the Iroquois.
According to one report the government of Upper Canada bought the Strip from the Mississauga Indians for goods valued at 100 British pounds.
White settlement started a few years after 1794, when Lieut. Gov. Simcoe had the King's Head Inn built on the south end of the
beach. The main purpose of the inn was for storing military supplies, and these were guarded by troops.
But King's Head was eventually destroyed in 1813 by Americans under General George Dearborn.
There were two other War of 1812 encounters on the Beach Strip, with one being an aborted landing by the Americans, and the other an occurrence known as "The Burlington Races".
This incident started with a naval battle between the Americans and British near York. After a fierce fight, the British ship Wolfe retreated with U.S. Commodore Isaac Chauncev's boat in pursuit.
The chase went to Oakville, where Chauncey (who'd earlier helped sack King's Head) gave up pursuit, figuring his rival would run aground on the Beach Strip.
But the water was high and the Wolfe, captained by a 22-year-old, was able to squeak through the outlet into the safe bay side.
As for early Beach Strip settlement, Lewis Corey, son of a United Empire Loyalist, and John Dynes, were believed to be the first.
When they initially settled there, wrote Corey A. Kume, the area was a mass of trees, foliage and a swamp full of water lilies.
Thousands of frogs croaked a night, and they were dubbed the Canadian Band by the early in habitants.
Smugglers and innkeepers were among the early residents.
Fishing was an important occupation during the Strip's early days with numerous varieties available, and later there were orchards and market gardens. Local hunters also visited the area, as game was plentiful.
Besides farmers and fishermen, laborers, smugglers and innkeepers were also permanent residents.
By 1833 the Beach Strip boasted four small hotels, three general stores, and two saloons. Jacob Spahn built the first hotel there, while O. McAffee, who ran the canal dredge, lived on the Strip.
Another interesting resident was schooner captain Edward Zealand, who owned three boats and had a forwarding business at Port Hamilton.
However, Captain Zealand was killed in December, 1869, when he was gored by a young cow that escaped at the Hamilton market.
There were many, many hotels and taverns over the years, with some of these being Martin's Pleasure Garden, the Arlington Hotel, the Road House, The Old Tavern, the Ocean House Wells' Tavern, the Lakeside, the Sportman's Arms, Corey House, Perry's Hotel.
Many of these were destroyed by fire. A spark from a passing train burnt the Perry House, while lightning razed Mrs. Fish's tavern, and a fire from the cellar destroyed the Ocean House.
The Dynes' Hotel (established in 1846), was also damaged by fire in 1882, but was rebuilt and still exists on the same property today.(Edit, the Dynes Tavern was demolished in 2007).
Capt. Thos. Campbell described the Dynes in 1899 as a place ...where duck dinners cannot be excelled by any caterer in the Dominion."
It was was the site of many picnics including the Annual Beach Fete, a celebration which featured swimming and boat races, other sports, and even aviation stunts,
Steamers and ferries made frequent trips from Hamilton to the Beach Strip and on one storm, day three children drowned when a dock at Martin's gave way.
In wintertime, nearby Burlington Bay could be crossed on foot, on skates or by sleigh. Occasionally the canal would freeze and people would cross it using man ropes that were put out.
A canal was built in the 1820s for $94,000, ensuring that ships could pass through the Beach Strip reliably. A small swing bridge was built in 1830, and a year later, the first ship was constructed in the vicinity.
The old outlet was filled in, and a workman was injured there and left in a shack to die after his leg was amputated. His ghost was said to haunt the shack, while his leg was hidden in a whisky barrel that was drained of booze by unsuspecting thieves.
The first canal lighthouse was built in 1838, but burnt when sparks from a steamer set fire to the pier. A lighthouse made out of white dolomite limestone, which has stood up until recent times, was built in 1858.
George Thompson, a lighthouse keeper in the 1800s kept a diary that proved to be an important source of information about those early days.
Thompson kept his light polished and could see from one end of the Strip to the other, and once testified against two men who were fishing illegally.
The pair could not pay their fines and were jailed, but only temporarily. "Balderdash (one culprit was named Baldry) out of jail," said Thompson's diary.
Tracks were laid across the Beach Strip by the Grand Trunk Railway about 1855. The Hamilton and Northwestern Railway and the radial electric line also traversed the strip. Bridges were built across the canal to accommodate both railroads.
A double leaf bascule bridge replaced the radial bridge in 1921. Thirty one years later it was severely damaged when the W.E. Fitgerald, a 7,000 ton U.S. sand-boat slammed into it.
When the wreckage was finally cleared, the current vertical lift bridge was built.
Then in 1958, an engineering marvel, the multi-million dollar Burlington Bay Skyway, was built. The Beach Strip was widened to accommodate the bridge using fill pumped out to deepen the channel.
Toll booths were originally installed, but later discontinued after traffic problems resulted.
The Skyway has been twinned recently, and beach strip roads have been improved as well. Naming the expanded bridge system was controversial with the cumbersome "James N. Allan Burlington Bay Skyway" finally adopted. Hydro towers were originally built on both sides of the Strip, but the bayside ones were removed in 1982. The lakeside towers were built in 1908 to carry power from Niagara Falls to the rest of Ontario and were unofficial direction markers, water level markers, and firebuilding areas.
The Strip was a popular cottage area at one time for Burlington-Hamilton area residents. It was handy for summer stays as owners could easily commute to work and check up on their main residences. And the area was once known for its clean air.
Time and space limitations prohibit complete list of Beach Strip personalities, but here are a few.
They include Royston C. Kime, known as The Walker; "Old Bert" who was described as a type of hermit living at Station 10, "Butts" Fell, who was always looking for cigarette butts, George Stockfish, the Beach barber; and Bill Ryan, the first registered pharmacist, who also had a soda fountain at his drugstore.
The Burlington Beach Strip is eventually slated to become a waterfront parkland area, with local authorities taking over properties once leases run out in a few years.
Information for this week's column was obtained a book by Dorothy Turcotte entitled The Sand Strip: Burlington/Hamilton Beaches and from information supplied by the Burlington Historical Society
 

Drogo

Moderator
Feb 8, 2005
402
2
18
#2
In the above article is the line

"Besides farmers and fishermen, laborers, smugglers and innkeepers were also permanent residents."

Is there any information about smugglers (I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll probably related) available? Like what was there to smuggle. I don't know that we had gun laws, booze you could make it was encouraged, diamonds weren't ever mentioned so what???? and why?????
 

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
218
63
The Beach Strip
#3
In the above article is the line

"Besides farmers and fishermen, laborers, smugglers and innkeepers were also permanent residents."

Is there any information about smugglers (I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll probably related) available? Like what was there to smuggle. I don't know that we had gun laws, booze you could make it was encouraged, diamonds weren't ever mentioned so what???? and why?????
My guess is that they (your past relatives and Co.) didn't smuggle anything into Canada, they smuggle it from Canada.

United States prohibition seems to go well back and it wasn't just the 1920's;

1830's - Temperance Movements begin advocating for abstinence from alcohol.

1847 - The first prohibition law is passed in Maine (although a prohibition law had previously passed in the Oregon territory).

1855 - 13 states have enacted prohibition legislation.

1869 - The National Prohibition Party is founded.

1881 - Kansas is the first state to have prohibition in its state constitution.

1890 - The National Prohibition Party elects its first member of the House of Representatives.

1893 - The Anti-Saloon League is formed.

1917 - The US Senate passes the Volstead Act on December 18th which is one of the significant steps to the passage of the 18th amendment.

1918 - The War Time Prohibition Act is passed to save grain for the war effort during World War I.

1919 - On October 28th the Volstead Act passes the US Congress and establishes the enforcement of prohibition.

1919 - On January 29th, the 18th amendment is ratified by 36 states and goes into effect on the federal level.

1920's - The rise of bootleggers such as Al Capone in Chicago highlight the darker side of prohibition.

1929 - Elliot Ness begins in earnest to tackle violators of prohibition and Al Capone's gang in Chicago.

1932 - On August 11th, Herbert Hoover gave an acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination for president in which he discussed the ills of prohibition and the need for its end.

1933 - On March 23rd, Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Cullen-Harrison Act which legalizes the manufacture and sale of certain alcohol.

1933 - On December 5th, prohibition is repealed with the 21st amendment.


Also it seems there was 19th Century Prohibition to some extent in Canada, so the smugglers could of been supplying dry communities with alcohol.

Various pre-Confederation laws against the sale of alcohol had been passed, including the Dunkin Act in the united Province of Canada in 1864, which allowed any county or municipality to prohibit the retail sale of liquor by majority vote. In 1878 this "local option" was extended to the whole Dominion under the Canada Temperance Act, or Scott Act.
 

Drogo

Moderator
Feb 8, 2005
402
2
18
#4
Thanks Scott
Didn't realize that prohibition went back quite that far. More than likely was booze. I just really couldn't come up with anything that needed to be smuggled into the area or out. Wasn't thinking of the US at that point. We had not long before gone our seperate ways. Knew it was'nt illegal aliens because Canada had a pretty open door policy probably up to WWI. I've been chasing a couple of stories about the ghost of the canal. Two different stories and now the one I need I can't find. Some days I need to lock myself in the cellar I'm that useless.
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
481
4
18
#5
War, fires and picnics all part of Beach Strip.
________________________________________
scotto
02-04-2006, 01:45 AM
Burlington Post
January 27, 199?

One could probably fill Lake Ontario with everything that has been written about Burlington's waterfront area, particularly the Beach Strip.
So the Looking Back column about the waterfront will be written in two parts, with this week's segment devoted to the Strip.
The Beach Strip is actually a huge sandbar, which originally consisted of two spits separated by a small gap or "outlet." The strip was created by wind and wave action over the ages.
When first seen by white explorers it was a four-mile long white sand beach separating Lake Ontario from a sheltered bay. The strip was a quarter-mile wide at most, withgrapevines and bamboo-like plants which were home to rabbits and raccoons.
It's believed the Strip was sold to Upper Canada for goods valued at 100 British pounds.
There were also willow trees with small marshy inlets and lagoons full of herons, loons, kingfishers, swans etc.
It's believed that Etienne Brule passed by it in 1615, while Sulpican priests, including the explorer La Salle camped there in 1669.
The first regular inhabitants were the Neutral Indians, so named because they refused to get involved in disputes involving other Indian nations. But they were wiped out in 1650 by the Iroquois.
According to one report the government of Upper Canada bought the Strip from the Mississauga Indians for goods valued at 100 British pounds.
White settlement started a few years after 1794, when Lieut. Gov. Simcoe had the King's Head Inn built on the south end of the
beach. The main purpose of the inn was for storing military supplies, and these were guarded by troops.
But King's Head was eventually destroyed in 1813 by Americans under General George Dearborn.
There were two other War of 1812 encounters on the Beach Strip, with one being an aborted landing by the Americans, and the other an occurrence known as "The Burlington Races".
This incident started with a naval battle between the Americans and British near York. After a fierce fight, the British ship Wolfe retreated with U.S. Commodore Isaac Chauncev's boat in pursuit.
The chase went to Oakville, where Chauncey (who'd earlier helped sack King's Head) gave up pursuit, figuring his rival would run aground on the Beach Strip.
But the water was high and the Wolfe, captained by a 22-year-old, was able to squeak through the outlet into the safe bay side.
As for early Beach Strip settlement, Lewis Corey, son of a United Empire Loyalist, and John Dynes, were believed to be the first.
When they initially settled there, wrote Corey A. Kume, the area was a mass of trees, foliage and a swamp full of water lilies.
Thousands of frogs croaked a night, and they were dubbed the Canadian Band by the early in habitants.
Smugglers and innkeepers were among the early residents.
Fishing was an important occupation during the Strip's early days with numerous varieties available, and later there were orchards and market gardens. Local hunters also visited the area, as game was plentiful.
Besides farmers and fishermen, laborers, smugglers and innkeepers were also permanent residents.
By 1833 the Beach Strip boasted four small hotels, three general stores, and two saloons. Jacob Spahn built the first hotel there, while O. McAffee, who ran the canal dredge, lived on the Strip.
(Another interesting resident was schooner captain Edward Zealand, who owned three boats and had a forwarding business at Port Hamilton.
However, Captain Zealand was killed in December, 1869, when he was gored by a young cow that escaped at the Hamilton market.)
There were many, many hotels and taverns over the years, with some of these being Martin's Pleasure Garden, the Arlington Hotel, the Road House, The Old Tavern, the Ocean House Wells' Tavern, the Lakeside, the Sportman's Arms, Corey House, Perry's Hotel.
Many of these were destroyed by fire. A spark from a passing train burnt the Perry House, while lightning razed Mrs. Fish's tavern, and a fire from the cellar destroyed the Ocean House.
The Dynes' Hotel (established in 1846), was also damaged by fire in 1882, but was rebuilt and still exists on the same property today.(Edit, the Dynes Tavern was demolished in 2007).
Capt. Thos. Campbell described the Dynes in 1899 as a place ...where duck dinners cannot be excelled by any caterer in the Dominion."
It was was the site of many picnics including the Annual Beach Fete, a celebration which featured swimming and boat races, other sports, and even aviation stunts,
Steamers and ferries made frequent trips from Hamilton to the Beach Strip and on one storm, day three children drowned when a dock at Martin's gave way.
In wintertime, nearby Burlington Bay could be crossed on foot, on skates or by sleigh. Occasionally the canal would freeze and people would cross it using man ropes that were put out.
A canal was built in the 1820s for $94,000, ensuring that ships could pass through the Beach Strip reliably. A small swing bridge was built in 1830, and a year later, the first ship was constructed in the vicinity.
The old outlet was filled in, and a workman was injured there and left in a shack to die after his leg was amputated. His ghost was said to haunt the shack, while his leg was hidden in a whisky barrel that was drained of booze by unsuspecting thieves.
The first canal lighthouse was built in 1838, but burnt when sparks from a steamer set fire to the pier. A lighthouse made out of white dolomite limestone, which has stood up until recent times, was built in 1858.
George Thompson, a lighthouse keeper in the 1800s kept a diary that proved to be an important source of information about those early days.
Thompson kept his light polished and could see from one end of the Strip to the other, and once testified against two men who were fishing illegally.
The pair could not pay their fines and were jailed, but only temporarily. "Balderdash (one culprit was named Baldry) out of jail," said Thompson's diary.
(Tracks were laid across the Beach Strip by the Grand Trunk Railway about 1855. The Hamilton and Northwestern Railway and the radial electric line also traversed the strip. Bridges were built across the canal to accommodate both railroads.)
A double leaf bascule bridge replaced the radial bridge in 1921. Thirty one years later it was severely damaged when the W.E. Fitgerald, a 7,000 ton U.S. sand-boat slammed into it.
When the wreckage was finally cleared, the current vertical lift bridge was built.
Then in 1958, an engineering marvel, the multi-million dollar Burlington Bay Skyway, was built. The Beach Strip was widened to accommodate the bridge using fill pumped out to deepen the channel.
Toll booths were originally installed, but later discontinued after traffic problems resulted.
The Skyway has been twinned recently, and beach strip roads have been improved as well. Naming the expanded bridge system was controversial with the cumbersome "James N. Allan Burlington Bay Skyway" finally adopted. Hydro towers were originally built on both sides of the Strip, but the bayside ones were removed in 1982. The lakeside towers were built in 1908 to carry power from Niagara Falls to the rest of Ontario and were unofficial direction markers, water level markers, and firebuilding areas.
The Strip was a popular cottage area at one time for Burlington-Hamilton area residents. It was handy for summer stays as owners could easily commute to work and check up on their main residences. And the area was once known for its clean air.
Time and space limitations prohibit complete list of Beach Strip personalities, but here are a few.
They include Royston C. Kime, known as The Walker; "Old Bert" who was described as a type of hermit living at Station 10, "Butts" Fell, who was always looking for cigarette butts, George Stockfish, the Beach barber; and Bill Ryan, the first registered pharmacist, who also had a soda fountain at his drugstore.
The Burlington Beach Strip is eventually slated to become a waterfront parkland area, with local authorities taking over properties once leases run out in a few years.
Information for this week's column was obtained a book by Dorothy Turcotte entitled The Sand Strip: Burlington/Hamilton Beaches and from information supplied by the Burlington Historical Society

"The City, and especially the shipping community, was saddened by the accidental death in December of Capt. Edward Zealand, a Naval veteran, who had served under Lord Nelson, a merchant captain, wharfinger and a highly respected citizen. He was buried on Friday, the 25 December."
http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/Brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1869#p11.69.8

this page indicates that when Captain Zealand died he was no longer living on the beach.

"The Zealand family did not waste any time in the settling of the affairs of their late lamented father. Edward Zealand's residence, which stood on Brock Street between A. M. Robertson's house and the big stone building, which in a few years would become the second glass works, was sold at auction on the 25 January.
http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/Brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1870#p12.70.2


there is some confusion in this thread regarding the railroads on the beach.

The Hamilton and North Western Railroad began opperating along the beach in 1876. It was purchased by the Grand Trunk Railroad in 1888. The Hamilton Radial Electric Railroad began running in 1896.
http://hamiltonbeachcommunity.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-2173.html






________________________________________
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
481
4
18
#6
"Hydro towers were originally built on both sides of the Strip, but the bayside ones were removed in 1982. "The lakeside towers were built in 1908 to carry power from Niagara Falls to the rest of Ontario and were unofficial direction markers, water level markers, and firebuilding areas."

I didn't know that there were hydro towers on both sides of the beach.

I think that The date for the construction of the towers on the lake side is in error, since these would have been built by the Cataract Power Company. This page has two pictures of Burlington Canal showing a Cataract power tower and are dated 1900. And I think that the Cataract Power Company began transmitting electricity from Niagara Falls to Hamilton in 1898.

http://vitacollections.ca/burlingtonhistoricalsociety/results?gid=5911595
 

scotto

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 15, 2004
6,985
218
63
The Beach Strip
#7
In one picture dated 1894(Attached), two towers are shown that are on different lines and the towers are slightly different. One on the lakeside and the other on the harbour side.
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
481
4
18
#10
David O'Reilly
10-20-2014, 11:56 AM
"Hydro towers were originally built on both sides of the Strip, but the bayside ones were removed in 1982. "The lakeside towers were built in 1908 to carry power from Niagara Falls to the rest of Ontario and were unofficial direction markers, water level markers, and firebuilding areas."

I didn't know that there were hydro towers on both sides of the beach.

I think that The date for the construction of the towers on the lake side is in error, since these would have been built by the Cataract Power Company. This page has two pictures of Burlington Canal showing a Cataract power tower and are dated 1900. And I think that the Cataract Power Company began transmitting electricity from Niagara Falls to Hamilton in 1898.

http://vitacollections.ca/burlingtonhistoricalsociety/results?gid=5911595

I was talking to Fred and he said that in fact in 1907, the Toronto Niagara Hydro Company built hydro towers along the beach and were on the Lake side. He said that the wires went all the way from Niagara to Toronto. So obviously I was wrong. The Cataract Power Company had built towers and strung up wires before 1907, and was bought out by Ontario Hydro about 1933. So I thought there was only the one set of towers.

Fred said that the Cataract Power towers and wires only went as far as the canal, whereas the Toronto Niagara (it might have been called Niagara toronto Hydro Company, I'm not sure now) went across the canal to Toronto and beyond. And he also said that the tower on either side of the canal, had to be quite a bit higher than the rest, in order to have the wires clear the tops of the ships. He also said that one of the company's towers, (I think it was the Niagara Toronto company) were much shorter than those of the other company.

I'm trying to find something on this company, but haven't been successful yet.

________________________________________
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
481
4
18
#11
I was talking to Fred and he said that in fact in 1907, the Toronto Niagara Hydro Company built hydro towers along the beach and were on the Lake side. He said that the wires went all the way from Niagara to Toronto. So obviously I was wrong. The Cataract Power Company had built towers and strung up wires before 1907, and was bought out by Ontario Hydro about 1933. So I thought there was only the one set of towers.

Fred said that the Cataract Power towers and wires only went as far as the canal, whereas the Toronto Niagara (it might have been called Niagara toronto Hydro Company, I'm not sure now) went across the canal to Toronto and beyond. And he also said that the tower on either side of the canal, had to be quite a bit higher than the rest, in order to have the wires clear the tops of the ships. He also said that one of the company's towers, (I think it was the Niagara Toronto company) were much shorter than those of the other company.

I'm trying to find something on this company, but haven't been successful yet.


I think what Fred said was, that in 1907 the Burlington Beach Commission granted the Niagara Toronto Hydro Company permission to build towers along the beach. And there's more to that story, but I'll let fred tell it. I haven't been able to find anything on this company, but there is information on two other companies that were transmitting hydro from Niagara to Toronto (presumably via the beach) about this time. So maybe the larger one (the Hydro Electric Power Commission)(HEPC) bought out the Niagara Toronto Company before the latter was up and running. And maybe even before the latter had built their towers.

Fred, can you help out on this one?

During the Ontario Provincial election of 1905, the main issue became "Niagara Power". At the urging Adam Beck, Mayor of London Ontario, the Provincial Conservative Party ran on an election platform of "water power of Niagara should be free".
The Conservative Party won the election. Premier James Whitney immediately declared that no further private franchises would be granted for the generation of hydro-electric power at Niagara Falls. Whitney brought Adam Beck into his Government and named Beck as the chairman of the newly created Ontario Hydro Electric Power Commission. It became the worlds first publicly owned power authority. Private companies fought hard to oppose its creation.
Initially, Adam Beck could not generate electricity. He could only buy and distribute it. The first major project of the Ontario Power Commission was to build a 110,000 volt transmission line from Niagara Falls to Toronto.
The Canadian based Toronto Electric Light Company already had a 60,000 volt transmission line from Niagara to Toronto. The private company lobbied against the plans of the publicly owned commission and were even accused of fear mongering.
In November of 1908, work began on the Ontario Power Commission power transmission line. It was completed in October of 1910 when the first public power was switched on.

http://www.niagarafrontier.com/power.html
 

Drogo

Moderator
Feb 8, 2005
402
2
18
#12
I was trying to find when the second was built today online and wasn't finding anything. I have alittle trouble with the date of 1907. My grandfather and my husband's grandfather worked together building them. My grandfather was born 1893 so in 1907 he was only 14. Doesn't seem to work with that date.
 
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