Depot Harbour
Posted by: 
ThePh@ntom
N 45° 19.046 W 080° 05.798
17T E 570804 N 5018611
Depot Harbour was a major rail terminus and harbour to ship grain and lumber from Western/Central Canada to the St.Lawrence Seaway.
Waymark Code: WM9HJ0
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 08/23/2010
Views: 16
The town was constructed by J.R. Booth as the western terminus of his Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound railway. The area had a natural deep water harbour. This joining of the harbour and the railway was the shortest route fro shipments coming from the uppger Great Lakes to the Eastern seaboard.
Booth sold the rail line to the Grand Trunk Railway in 1904.
The town's population reached a maximum of 1,600 in 1926, but with the opening of the newer, larger Welland Canal in 1932 and the fire destruction of a key trestle bridge on the rail route through Algonquin Park, the town started to lose importance.
Parts of the town were still used for a time. The warehouses were used to store cordite that was manufactured in nearby Nobel. On August 14, 1945 a fire in the partially dismantled grain elevators caused a massive explosion that destroyed almost all of the harbour facilities.
The main pier was still used until 1979 as various companies used it to ship coal or pelletized iron ore.
The land was expropriated to the Anishinaabe native people in 1987.
Not much is left of the town. The first thing you will see as you approach the townsite is the remains of the railroad roundhouse. Various foundations are scattered here and there. The pier is still in good shape. The bank can be found near the pier.
Reason for Abandonment: Economic
Date Abandoned: 01/01/1934
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