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125th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, October 1, 1991 - 23 Crandell's Line of steamers engaged in passenger service and hauling of timber CRANDELL'S LINE OF STEAMERS _ Woodman, Ranger, Cham- pion, Commodore, Vanderbilt, Stranger, Eva, Dominion, Alice-Ethel, Crandella. The Stranger was later sold to Carnegie. Palace Barges - The Chem- ong, The Paragon, The Lind- say. Besides these steamboats and barges, Crandell owned eighty-five lumber barges. "Commodore" Crandell was operating the boats listed Scugog's steamship "Woodman" From Page 22 provement, the inhabitants of the townships adjoining the bor- ders of this inland lake are in- debted to the enterprise of Messrs. Cotton and Rowe. A number of gentlemen from To- ronto, Streetsville, Whitby and Oshawa, having accepted the in- vitation of the owners to be present at the trial trip, proceed- ed to the point of embarkation, by the really excellent road which leads from Windsor Bay, on Lake Ontario, to Port Perry on Lake Scugog. After some delay....the steamer Woodman got under way with a numerous party on board, and on reaching the foot of the lake, entered on the more intricate navigation of the River Scugog....The steamer at length reached Lindsay, where her ar- rival was hailed by a large as- semblage in the most enthusias- tic manner. Much of the excitement doubtlessly arose from the fact that many in the crowd, from having been born in these inland wilds, had never be- fore seen a steamboat...The Woodman was draughted and built by Mr. Chisholm who now sails her. Her engines are of twenty horsepower. ~ when the Victoria Railway was put through from Lindsay to Haliburton. The railway of- fered to buy the boats from the "commodore" for $150,000, but he rejected the offer. Therefore the railroad was constructed. Later this railway ran Crandell into bankruptcy. The machin- ery was then taken out of the boats and was sold; the upper works were taken out and used for the construction of houses on Crandell Street in Lindsay. "Commodore" Crandell's next act was to build the Sturgeon Point Hotel on Sturgeon Lake. After leaving this last project in care of his son he went to Win- nipegin the boom of 1882. In '84 he returned to Lindsay, bought the Dominion Bank building in Fenelon Falls, and remodelled it into a hotel and operated it during the construction of the Trent Valley Canal. Unfortu- nately this wonderful hotel was destroyed by fire. Once again Crandell returned to Lindsay where he built the "Crandella" and operated it as an excursion and passenger boat. After fol- lowing this occupation for. about ten years "Commodore" Crandell sold out to John Ca- rew and Joseph Parkin and lived in retirement until his death a few yearslater. Other boats were the "Beu- bacage,"Cyril Currier Captain; the "Lady Ida," Mr. Dyer, Cap- tain. A man fell off the front of the scow being towed by the Lady Ida, and was drowned. The "Anglo-Saxon" belonged to Messrs. Bigelow & Trounce, Hank McDonald, Captain. The "Victoria" was part of the equip- ment of the Victoria Railway, between Lindsay and Halibur- ton. The "Mary Ellen" was a Needler & Sadler boat, Bill Fee Captain. The "Novelty" was owned by M. Boyd. Then there was the "Alice Ethel" with Free- man Crandell, Captain. This boat was equipped with six scows and a "palace scow."" This latter craft was used for carry- ing excursion parties. The "Myrtle" was a Carew boat with COLDUWEGLL BANKECR O RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE ® COUNTRY LANE REALTY LTD. Residential, Farms, Commercial, Cottages & Land Development 5 High Street, Port Perry, Ontario L9L 1H8 16) 985-7351 A Member of the Sears Financial Network An Independently Owned and Operated Member Broker of Coldwell Banker Affiliates of Canada Inc.® ai "Commodore" George Crandell's line of steamships included this beautiful ship called the Crandella. It was driven by a paddlewheel along the side. Tom Carew, Captain. The "Omega" came from Lindsay, and had George Rose as Cap- tain. T. Caesar was Captain of a Crandell boat called "Eva." The Bowerman boats were the "Mary Louise" and the "Cora," the latter having been built by the late Capt. John Bowerman. It was run until a few years ago. One of the last steamboat trips was taken by the union Sunday School excursion to Washburn's Island. Upon that memorable trip the boat {from Lindsay) went to the bottom; but the bottom was not very far and by dint of "teetering" we managed to get the vessel off the mud bank upon which it had stuck. Nature helped the situation out handsomely - the rain came down in torrents. Two other boats were the "Water Witch" of which Jim Dunsford was Captain; and the "Seagull" belonging to the late Jonathan Blong. This summary of lake shipping would not be complete without some reference to the stone pier running out into the lake on an angle. It started at a point just opposite the water tank by the railway station, and ran out about a couple of hundred feet. The whole struc- ture seems to have sunk out of sight; but it can be located yet with a pole. It would surprise our people greatly if an esti- mate could be made of the freight that passed over that wharfor pier. The logs are gone. The boats are gone. The rollicking, brawny men who manned the boats are sleeping quietly in some church yard or cemetery. Year by year the lake is filling up. Ducks and fish thrive where freighting business used to flourish. A steamship hauls a scow along the Scugog River loaded with logs headed for Port Perry . Much of the traffic between Port Perry and Lindsay was to bring 1 along the Port Perry waterfront. y g logs and timber to mills