Passenger Steamers

Early Steamers

With the advent of steamboats in the 1840's the number of sailing vessels on the canal declined. The first two steamers which sailed Lake Ontario and the Niagara River were the "FRONTENAC" and the "ONTARIO" and in 1847 the first iron steamers appeared.

They were larger and faster, making the transportation of perishables and bulky goods such as fruit, grain and lumber more feasible. The steamboats operating at this end of the Lake included the "CITY OF TTORONTO" the, "ROCHESTER" which ran between Lewiston and Hamilton from 1843 to 1849, the "ARMENIA", a frequent visitor to Muir dry dock. The "CHICORA", famed as the fastest of the lake steamers, was brought down the canal in sections from Port Colborne to Muir shipyard. MORE INFORMATION ON THE CHICORA .

Here "the two parts were put into the dock, the bulkheads taken out, the parts drawn together on launching ways (very cleverly done by Muir's men), and the plates and beams rivetted together again by rivetters brought down from Buffalo. The hull, both inside and out, was diligently scraped in every part and thoroughly oiled and painted."

The steamer "SILVER SPRAY" built by Donaldson, Andrews & Ross and launched in July 1864 plied the lake between Toronto and Port Dalhousie combining the qualities of "strength, speed and economy in fuel" as one advertisement read.

Just as sail gave way to steam, it was not long before the speed of rail transportation critically affected the steamship trade. By 1858 many steamers were idle and a single iron steamer, "PEERLESS", was sufficient to meet the demand.

With the outbreak of war between the states in 1860, the Lake Ontario steamers found new frontiers for their service. To help defeat the Confederacy, the northern forces set out to blockade the Confederate ports. As there was a shortage of American steamers with which to carry out this objective, the "PEERLESS" and other Canadian steamers were purchased.

In the years that followed, efforts were made to employ these steamers for passenger boat service. The "PERSIA", owned and operated by Norris Roller Mills, made weekly trips between St. Catharines and Montreal. It was a passenger and shipping line handling products of the Norris Mills.
"The "PERSIA" and the "ASIA" were the two passenger boats for awhile,"

In the summer of 1884 the St. Catharines, Grimsby and Toronto Navigation Company established the first line between Toronto and Port Dalhousie. They engaged the "EMPRESS OF INDIA" and later the "GARDEN CITY" and operated a passenger and freight service between Toronto and Port Dalhousie. The paddle wheel steamer "GARDEN CITY", built in 1892 made her maiden voyage between Toronto and Port Dalhousie July 1, 1893 docking at Lock Two. The "EMPRESS OF INDIA", a steamer built in 1876 and driven by paddle wheels at the side, operated in conjunction with the Grand Truck Railroad, which had taken over the Welland Railroad in 1883. Train connections were made to Niagara Falls and Buffalo and drew tourists to the area. The "EMPRESS" was built for A. W. Hepburn of Picton, Ontario, who was a very prominent Lake Ontario vessel operator. He put her into operation in 1876 under the management of the Toronto Navigation Co. She was to serve this route for many years and could be said to have started the Port Dalhousie service in that she was the first major vessel to operate on a permanent basis. EMPRESS was reboilered in 1884 and received further rebuilds in 1886 and 1891. She was commanded by four well-known Masters during the period 1876 to 1893, these being Captains Collier, Hodgins, VanDusen and G. O'Brien in that order. In 1888, the sixth year for the EMPRESS OF INDIA on the Niagara route, she was faced with her first serious competition as the Lakeside Navigation Co. placed its propeller LAKESIDE on the route under the command of Capt. Wigle. Over the years, this newcomer proved to be one of the most popular steamers on Lake Ontario. The competition between the two lines became hotter as the years passed and the companies fought for the patronage of the crowds seeking relief from the summer heat of the city. More on the EMPRESS OF INDIA

But if competition was fierce when only two ships were involved, it became deadly in 1892 when the St. Catharines, Grimsby & Toronto Navigation Co, placed its new sidewheeler GARDEN CITY on the Port Dalhousie route and, in addition, chartered the LAKESIDE. The very next year, the Niagara Falls Line and the S.G. & T. decided to bury the hatchet and merge their operations since the reckless competition could end only in disaster if it were to continue.

EMPRESS OF INDIA also sailed as the FRONTIER pictured here.

EMPRESS OF INDIA entering Port harbour

Niagara Falls Line - 1883 to 1893. The Niagara Falls Line, founded in 1883, Mr. A. W. Hepburn, of Picton, being the principal promoter, was projected for the purpose of securing a portion, at any rate, of both the freight and passenger traffic between Toronto, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, hence the name given to the undertaking. Steamer EMPRESS OF INDIA Their first and only vessel for some years was the Empress of India. This steamer is a very great favourite with travellers upon Lake Ontario and also with excursionists. She has side wheels, is one hundred and eighty feet long over all; has a breadth of forty-eight feet and a depth of upwards of eleven feet. She is of 353 tons burthen, and was built in 1876 by Jamieson, of Mill Point. She had a new boiler in 1884, was rebuilt in 1886, and again had most extensive repairs made to her in 1891. Her present commander is Captain G. O'Brien, and her previous masters have been Captains Collier, Hodgins and Van Dusen. Until 1888 the Empress, for so she is always called for brevity's sake, was entirely unopposed on her route, but in that year " a change came o'er the spirit of the scene," for when the season opened the proprietors of the steamer found they were to have a rival to compete with who wished also to share the risks and also the profits to be gained from the lake trade. The opposing vessel was the Lakeside, owned by the Lakeside Navigation Company, which had previously been running on Lake Erie, and was under command of Captain Wigle. The Lakeside is a propeller and has been used chiefly for excursions. She was built by Lane, of Windsor, in 1888, her capacity being 267 tons. The Empress and the Lakeside continued on the same route until 1892, when a new company was formed, who not only chartered the Lakeside, but built a new steamer of their own called the Garden City; so in 1892, between Toronto and Dalhousie, there were no less than three steamers running, namely, the Empress, the Lakeside and the Garden City. The name of the shipping company running the last two of these steamers was the " St. Catharines, Grimsby and Toronto Navigation Company." The Garden City was built at Toronto in 1892, by the Doty Company, in their yard at the foot of Bathurst street. She was intended by her owners, as has just been mentioned, to ply from Toronto to St. Catharines, and she did so for the remainder of that year. At the time of her launch she was spoken of being " likely to prove one of the handsomest and most commodious steamboats plying on Lake Ontario." Her length over all was 180 feet, her beam being 25 and her width over guards 44 feet, while her depth was 11 feet and she drew six feet of water. No iron whatever was used in her construction. She was of steel from stem to stern. Her decks were of British Columbia Douglas pine, imported expressly by the builders, the Doty Company. The Garden City commenced running on the lake on June 20th, 1892. Mr. John Booth is the engineer for these vessels, having been previously in the employ of the Chatham Navigation Company, where he served his articles. Messrs. N. J. Wigle and A. W. Hepburn are the joint managers, and Mr. Smith, of Milloy's wharf, is agent in Toronto. In 1893 the owners of the various steamers consulted together, and it was decided unanimously that it would be better for the public, better for the steamers, and possibly even better for the pockets of the shareholders in the various vessels, that this reckless opposition should cease, so a tentative proposal of amalgamation for at any rate the present season was made and entered into which possibly may be fully carried out, and the boats form the fleet of one company at a future date. Nous verrons. Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto http://www.hhpl.on.ca/greatlakes

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The "LAKESIDE", was a wooden propeller built in 1888 at Windsor by Lane from a design by Capt. A. M. Kirby. She was built to the order of the Lakeside Navigation Company of Walkerville, Ontario. Launched on Tuesday, April 10, 1888, she measured 121.0 feet in length, 26.0 feet in the beam and 9.3 feet in depth in 1888, made her first trip between Port Dalhousie and the old Young Street dock in Toronto on April 15, 1896.

In the year 1888 the steamer Lakeside was built, and Captain Wigle was at once put in command of her, continuing as her master until 1891. In 1892 he was captain of the Garden City, a fine side-wheeler, and in the following year he was appointed Toronto manager of the Niagara Falls line of steamers, a pool of boats which comprises the Empress of India, Garden City and Lakeside. In 1893 he resumed command of the Lakeside, on which he still remains, and his ability as a master and hearty courteous manner to all with whom he comes in contact have made him one of the most popular commanders on the lakes.

The Lakeside is a very popular boat with passengers and shippers; she is always the first to open the season and the last to give away to the rigors of winter and is noted for being at all seasons strictly on time.

Captain Wigle resided with his family on North Williams street, St. Catharines. Fraternally he was a Mason in good standing.

Stern view of the steamer LAKESIDE

Intended for the service from Windsor and Detroit to Leamington and Pelee Island, she entered service in 1888 under the command of Capt. N. J. Wigle. She did not last long on Lake Erie, however, for later the same year Capt. Wigle brought her down the Welland Canal to Toronto. The Lakeside Navigation Company entered into direct competition with A. W. Hepburn's Niagara Falls Line when they placed "LAKESIDE" on the Toronto-Port Dalhousie run. She travelled this route until 1911. The opposition line was operating the wooden sidewheeler "EMPRESS OF INDIA" on the route at the time and competition became fierce between the two steamers as the companies fought for the patronage of the crowds seeking relief from the summer heat of the city. With the steadily increasing trade, the "LAKESIDE" was unable to meet the demands and so in 1899 the company chartered a second steamer, the "LINCOLN". As incentive for travel on this steamer, free trips were offered; but she only lasted a few seasons.

In 1892 authority was granted to the Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines & Thorold Street Railway to build a line to Port Dalhousie on the east side of the canal to create a further link betweer land and lake. Around the turn of the century, there sprang up at Port Dalhousie an amusement park and bathing beach area located on the lake shore to the west of the piers. Lakeside Park was developed by the N. S. & T. railway and its local electric cars operated to it. The "LAKESIDE" docked at a wharf on the lower harbour's west pier immediately adjacent to the park and its rail connection. Passengers arriving at Port Dalhousie by steamer could board the electric cars and ride on into St. Catharines or over to Niagara Falls.

On February 26, 1901, the N.S.&T. (Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto) Railway which had absorbed the Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines and Thorold line, completed an electric line to Port Dalhousie, on the west side, to connect with the steamers from Toronto. The track ran down Main Street to the Park. It provided excellent transportation facilities and attracted many visitors. That season the "GARDEN CITY" returned to service and operated until 1916 when she sank.

"GARDEN CITY " First Passenger Boat to Toronto

Navigation service between Port Dalhousie and Toronto commenced on July 1st, 1893, with the paddle wheel steamer ''GARDEN CITY" maKing her maiden voyage between Toronto and St .Catharines, via the old Welland Canal, docking by Lock 2. The steamer was built in 1802 for a company formed by fruit growers of the Niagara Peninsula. These owners finally got into difficulties and sold the steamer to James Nihan of St. Catharines, who transferred her to service between Buffalo and Crystal Beach. While on the latter route she contracted a coal bill which her owner could not pay, and to avoid attachment and seizure the ship was run out of Buffalo by her crew "under cover of night " and restored to service between Toronto and St. Catharines, until her purchase in 1901 by the St. Catharines and Niagara Central Railway when Port Dalhousie waa made the terminus.

GARDEN CITY

On September 14, 1889, the Lakeside Navigation Company Limited, was incorporated under Dominion letters patent and operated by the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway and a new company the Niagara, St. Catharines ana Toronto Navigation company was organized.

The "LAKESIDE" operated for them from about 1800 to 1811 when she was replaced by the steamer "DALHOUSIE CITY" which was built in Collingwood. In 1920 the steamer "*NORTHUMBERLAND" which had been in service in the Bay of Fundy between Picton and Charlottetown, P.E.I., was chartered to replace the "Garden City," which hud been withdrawn from service in 1916.

Another steamer, known as the "LINCLON" operated on this route before 1900 for two or three seasons in competition to the SS. "GARDEN CITY " and SS. "LAKESIDE" and some residents of St. Catharines may recall the free trips offered by the operators of the SS "LINCOLN" to induce them to travel on this steamer.

Another steamer, the "EMPRESS OF INDIA" operated to Toronto connecting with the Welland Railway.

 

Quick Passage for Favorite Old Steamer Recalled
(From The Standard of Api-il 21, 1891)
The popular and well known craft the Lakeside made her initial trip of the season to Toronto yesterday and as usual made quick passage both ways. There were a large number of guests aboard, among whom were: Messrs. George Barnes, Albert Pay, Capt. Mcllwain, J. G. Holmes, Capt. James McMaugh, O. P. St. John and Edward Adams, inspectors of boilers. W. H. Kck-hardt, Fred Southcott, T. H. Fitzsirnmons, J. A, Grobb, K. Dwyer, James F. Lowe, Charles Southcott, Joe Quinn, William Cloney, Albert Cloney, Peter Nicholson, E. A. Jukes, W. B. Towers, John Notman, Jr., C. A. Kyle (Thorold), G. K. Campbell, and about 450 others.

Capt. Wigle was the host. Mr. Alex Cowan officiated as purser while Mr. William Booth was the engineer. The trip proved pleasant and rapid, and there is little doubt that the Lakeside will be more popular than ever during the present season.

The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Navigation Co.

By Skip Gillham

Many of the early passenger and freight lines had ties with one or more railways. Rather than look on water transportation as competition, the rail lines saw it as an extension of their service. The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Navigation Company was one of these operations.

In 1881 the St. Catharines and Niagara Central Railway was established. Their goal was to build a steam line from St. Catharines, west to Smithville, Caledonia and Canfield. Branches were to extend to Hamilton at one end and Queenston at the other.

The westward extension ran into competition when the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway was constructed. As a result the St. Catharines and Niagara Central went into receivership in 1899.

Meanwhile the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway Company (N.S. & T.) was incorporated the same year and based in St. Catharines. The line was controlled by the Hudson Valley Railway and they were allowed to acquire the assets of the St. Catharines and Niagara Central. The new line was to extend to Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, Port Dalhousie and Toronto. They also got permission to operate vessels on the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.

Originally the line was to be a steam railway but in 1900 permission was obtained to run as an electric line.

Their involvement with lake shipping began in 1900 when three gentlemen who were principals in the N.S. & T. got involved. These were J. H. Plummer, J. W. Flavelle and Z. A. Lash. They acquired the Lakeside Navigation Company and the St. Catharines, Grimsby and Toronto Navigation Company. These two firms had been operating passenger ships on Lake Ontario in a pooling arrangement. This had not always been congenial for the two firms had once been bitter foes.

Lakeside Navigation had begun the service in 1888 when they moved their Lakeside to Lake Ontario. She had been built that year and operated briefly from Detroit and Windsor to Leamington and Pelee Island. On arriving on Lake Ontario the 121 foot (36.80 metres) vessel competed with A. W. Hepburn's Niagara Falls Line. The latter was operating Empress of India in the cross lake run to Toronto.

Things heated up in 1892 with the arrival of Garden City. This new steamer represented the St. Catharines, Grimsby and Toronto Navigation Company. A rate war ensued. To add pressure on the Niagara Falls Line the S.G. & T. chartered Lakeside part way through the year.
The cut throat competition halted in 1893 when the Niagara Falls Line and the S.G. & T. merged operations and formed a shipping pool. Thus Garden City, Lakeside and Empress of India carried on through 1898.
The 180 foot (54.80 metres) Empress of India, which had been built in 1876, left the scene in 1898. She was rebuilt at Picton and returned to service as the Argyle. Her new duties were from Toronto to Newcastle, Port Hope, Cobourg and Olcott Beach.

Later the Argyle came under the Grimsby Beach and South Shore Navigation Company and served Grimsby Beach and Jordan Harbor. She was renamed Frontier in 1914 and operated only briefly. Finally in 1918 the hull was towed to a swamp near Windmill Point on Lake St. Clair. There it rotted away and was covered by landfill.

In 1899 the 130 foot (39.62 metres) Lincoln, which dated from 1888, was chartered to run alongside Lakeside. Meanwhile Garden City was released to go to Lake Erie to cash in on the lucrative Buffalo to Crystal Beach trade.

Lincoln, which had been launched in Hamilton as Greyhound, also served Lakeside Navigation in 1900. She went on to have an interesting career. Her name became Premier in 1906 and the vessel lasted until being destroyed by fire at Bruce Mines, Ontario, on November 13, 1920.
This then was the situation and the background as the Twentieth Century began. The N.S. & T. Navigation Company was then established and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the railway in 1902. Lakeside and Garden City served the traveling public.

The service was very popular and both the passenger and freight trade prospered. Toronto citizens, eager to escape the summer heat, saw the south shore as a pleasant vacation retreat. Fresh fruit from the orchards of the Niagara Peninsula was transported back to Toronto. Special excursions also proved to be popular and Lakeside and Garden City took groups out on .the lake or to Hamilton or Toronto Island.

Lakeside Park, a large amusement area just west of the Port Dalhousie piers became a very popular outing spot. The area attracted people from Toronto and this added to the growth of the shipping market.
The park was served by the N.S. & T. Railway and patrons could go from the ships to the park or board the electric cars to visit St. Catharines or Niagara Falls. Business was so good that a new vessel was ordered from the Collingwood Shipbuilding Company. This was Dalhousie City. She was launched at Collingwood and christened June 24, 1911. Originally the ship was to be called Dalhousie but this was changed prior to launching, perhaps because her running mate would be Garden City.

The new ship made her first appearance on the run arriving at Toronto August 21. This meant that the Lakeside was no longer needed. She was laid up briefly and then went on to a new career.

Lakeside first carried supplies for construction sites and was then rebuilt as a tug. Renamed Joseph L. Russell, she towed barges and acted in salvage work. Her end came on November 15, 1929, when she foundered on Lake Ontario off Point Petre. She was towing the barge Augustus at the time and the tug's crew took to the lifeboats. All were spared as they rowed ashore at Cobourg. The barge also survived having been picked up by the freighter Calgarian.

A special company was set up to operate Dalhousie City. This was the Dalhousie Navigation Company Limited. Meanwhile the owners, the N.S. & T., became part of the Canadian Northern Railway in 1908 and then a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway in 1917. Dalhousie City was a popular ship but never measured up to expectations in the area of speed. They had hoped to achieve between 15 and 19 miles per hour (24-30 k.p.h.) from her 1520 horsepower triple expansion engine but the ship only managed about 12 m.p.h. (19 k.p.h.) on the cross lake run. She also had an uncomfortable habit of rolling in a heavy sea.

Bilge keels were added to help stabilize Dalhousie City. About 1920 her propeller was redesigned and this resulted in an increase in speed.

The run to Toronto usually took two and one half hours. At first she and the running mates docked at the foot of Yonge St. but after about 1926 they moored further west at York St. Dalhousie City proved to be one of the last "Day Boats" built on the Great Lakes. She was 199 feet, 8 inches (60.88 metres) long and had a capacity of 1,050 passengers. An upper deck was added in the 1920's and a dance floor was located at the stern of this deck.

Business boomed and again expansion became warranted. Rather than build a new vessel, the N.S. & T. chartered the Northumberland in 1920. She was rebuilt by the Toronto Drydock Company for the lake excursion trade. Her capacity was also 1,050 passengers. Freight was accommodated on the lower deck by the crew quarters.

Northumberland had been built at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1891 for the Charlottetown Steam Navigation Company. They operated her between Pictou, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
In 1896, however, the ship had other duties. That year she was chartered to the Florida-Bahamas Steamship Line to run between Palm Beach and Nassau on a tri-weekly basis. This lasted only until April.
Later purchased, Northumberland was the longest vessel to sail for the N.S. & T. having an overall length of 232 feet (70.71 metres). A triple expansion engine of 2,500 horsepower provided steam and Northumberland was able to generate more speed than Dalhousie City.

Northumberland's arrival spelled the end for the old Garden City. She had served N.S. & T. well but was no longer needed. Garden City had been listed as being built at Toronto in 1892 but there is some suspicion that the vessel was actually a reconstruction of the New Dominion. This, then, would date the hull from 1864. Garden City was 178 feet long (54.25 metres) by 44 feet (13.41 metres) over the guards. A sidewheeler, she was powered by an inclined compound engine.

On August 3, 1915, Garden City could not complete her run across the lake. A terrible summer storm battered the vessel and windows were smashed and the hull holed. Still, Garden City was fortunate for the same storm destroyed the Alexandria off the Scarborough Bluffs, east of Toronto.

Garden City later ran out of Toronto to Whitby, Newcastle and Port Hope. In the early 1920's she went to Montreal for service to King Edward Park and later St. Helen's Island. The depression ended her usefulness and late in 1936 she was towed to Sorel, Quebec and there the hull was broken up.

Dalhousie City and Northumberland carried on the freight, passenger and excursion trade from Port Dalhousie to Toronto. The route was popular and the ships did well despite the depression. There were deficits in 1939 and 1940 but profitability returned with the war. The service continued with two round trips daily for each ship and they managed to squeeze in three on weekends. After 1946 other forms of transportation became serious competition. Red ink returned to the ledger and this remained to the end.

On June 2, 1949, Northumberland was destroyed by fire a day before she was to start the new season. She burned at her Port Dalhousie dock and the crew of thirty-three escaped with only one minor injury. Damage was listed at $250,000 and the ship was considered beyond economical repair. The hull's last trip was to Port Weller where the remains were scrapped.

Northumberland's three part chime whistle, which had come from the Garden City, was spared and is now part of the Marine Museum of Upper Canada at Toronto.

Dalhousie City completed the 1949 season on Lake Ontario and then was sold to Lake Shore Lines. She left Port Dalhousie for the last time April 21, 1950, and headed for new duties at Montreal.

Renamed Island King II, she operated around Montreal in the excursion trade with special outings as far east as Sorel.

Fire also claimed this ship. She burned November 14, 1960, while tied up at Lachine, Quebec. The remains were scrapped in 1961 bringing to an end the last of the N.S. & T. vessels.

Though not one of the best known passenger lines around the lakes, the vessels of the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Navigation Company provided almost a half century service between Toronto and Port Dalhousie. They are fondly remembered by those who rode their decks.