Memorial Park

Memorial Park. The Port. Port Credit developed relatively late because of the Native claim on the river's mouth. In 1834 under order of government the Credit Harbour Company was organized. Its task was to construct a commercial harbour and build shipping piers. The majority of shares were held by the Native Mississaugas., In the earliest days of settlement, water traffic was essential since roads were too poor to carry heavy loads any distance. Wood, wool and grain were floated or sent by boat down river from the various mills. Farmers would travel from their farms to the port with loads of grain, potash and other products to sell in Toronto and other large lake ports in Canada and the United States., The early village of Port Credit was laid out on the west bank of the river. By 1846 it had grown from a small huddle of houses into a population of 150 people. Due to the low clearance of the Lakeshore bridge, the harbour then, as today, could not extend upstream of this obstruction. Until the late 1850s after the construction of the railway, Port Credit was a busy commercial port., Much of the business disappeared with the coming of the railway and the harbour reverted to a fishing port and harbour for the stone hooking fleet. Port Credit did not get a lighthouse until 1882, long after the harbour had lost much of its traffic. In the late twentieth century, recreational and commercial boating once again made the port a busy place., The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 promised a great new future for the Port Credit harbour. Canada Steamship Lines relocated its operation to Port Credit from Toronto, constructing a large marine terminal on the east side of the harbour in anticipation of greater traffic which never came. The building is used today for various marine and light industries.