Port Arthur and its Harbour

Port Arthur and its Harbour. . , For many decades, lake commerce was the life's blood of the community and the focus of much business activity. Port Arthur and Fort William, which joined in 1970 to become Thunder Bay, once fought over who had the better harbour. But things changed in 1883 when grain began to move through the port. That year, the steamship Erin carried 10,000 bushels from the Lakehead's only elevator, all of it loaded by shovel and wheelbarrow. From this humble start, the combined harbour of the two old cities grew to become the world's largest grain port. , Until recently, citizens had little access to the lakeshore. Wharves, elevators, ore docks, sawmills and freight sheds fed by bulk freighters, tug boats and trains dominated the full length of the harbour. A shipyard and several paper mills and factories dotted its shoreline. Anyone stepping off a ship or train was greeted by the industrial roar of a city at work. , But tourists and immigrants also encountered the Pagoda, now Canada's oldest continuously-operating tourist information building, as well as hotels, restaurants, shops and many bars, first along Water Street and then up Red River Road and along Cumberland Street. , [photo captions] , . This distinctive CPR station was built in 1906-07 at the foot of Red River Road, replacing an earlier 1884 station on Van Horne Street. The building was demolished in the mid-1970s to widen Water Street. , . The steamship Noronic, built at the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company in 1913, was a frequent visitor to the city's harbour carrying passengers to and from eastern ports. The ship burned in Toronto's harbour in 1949. , . The Pagoda has greeted visitors to the Lakehead for over 100 years making it the oldest building of its kind in Canada. The polka dots were first painted on it as a prank by the Port Arthur Jaycees in 1961. , . Water Street was Thunder Bay’s first main street featuring big hotels and a wide variety of businesses even in the early 1880s when this view was shot. , Text and design by Tory Tronrud (© 2010) , Illustrations courtesy of , Thunder Bay Museum.