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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, May 2, 2000 - 11 Sketches of Scugog by Paul Arculus Sketches of Scugog is a historical column written by local resident and historian Paul Arculus and published in the Port Perry Star each month. HISJUNE 9, 10 £11 we will be celebrating the era of the steamboat on Lake Scugog. Our Steamboats on Scugog Festival will be our first attempt to bring a renewed interest in that fascinating period of history in our community. In the past quarter century we have witnessed dramatic changes in our lives. The advent of elec- tronic technology, particularly the computer, has had a significant impact on the way we live, work and play. But, fortunately, it has had little direct effect on the appearance of our community. On the other hand, the development of steam power and its introduction to our community a cen- tury and a half ago had a much greater impact, as did its disappearance a century later. As a result of Peter Perry's vision and his ability to entice others to take part in his vision, five saw mills were constructed at the Port Perry waterfront by 1850. The need to provide a greater supply of timber to the mills prompted Peter Perry to persuade two Whitby grain merchants, John Cotton and James Rowe, to finance the building of a steamboat on Lake Scugog. Peter Perry had been the leader of the Reform movement in Canada West, until his defeat in the 1836 elections. James Rowe was a political ally and personal friend of Perry. Rowe became Reeve of Whitby in 1852. John Cotton had become wealthy as a grain mer- chant in Whitby. They hired a successful ship builder, Hugh Chisholm, to supervise the construc- tion of the vessel at the waterfront of Scugog Village which was renamed Port Perry immediately after the maiden voyage of Chisholm's vessel. Chisholm hired local builders to carry out his plans and the work got underway in the fall of 1850. Among the workers was George Crandell, son of Reach Township's first settlers, Reuben and Catherine Crandell. George | CAPTAIN GEORGE CRANDELL 1823 - 1904 had become experienced in shipbuilding through his father's guidance. A year ear- Lake Scugog set for lier they had built a sail powered vessel named the Firefly which had carried goods around Lake Scugog. Chisholm's new vessel was named the Woodman and was launched without its engine on August 29, 1850. It had to wait for its steam engine to be deliv- ered from New York. This meant that its maiden voyage did not occur until April 25, 1851. Its maiden voyage was noted by all the major newspapers in what is now southern Ontario. The Woodman was the first steamboat to be built in the Kawartha region. As its name implies, it was primarily used to haul log booms down to the Port Perry waterfront. It gathered logs initially from the Lake Scugog basin. When the timber supply was exhausted it ventured into Sturgeon Lake to continue its task. Chisholm remained on board the Woodman as its captain until 1854 and then moved to Lake Simcoe where he built a number of successful steamboats including the Joseph C. Morrison, a huge 150 foot long vessel which he built at Belle Ewart. The Joseph C. Morrison was destroyed by fire in 1857. Fire damage was a common occurrence on board these early steamers. The Woodman was severely damaged by fire while docked at the Port Perry waterfront in 1854. Rather than finance the rebuilding, Cotton and Rowe decided to sell the vessel. George Crandell bought the Woodman and immediately set about rebuilding it. Crandell com- pleted the rebuilding of the vessel quickly and before the end of the year, the sound of its engines Steamboat Festival lake Caesarea also had large dock and ware- house facility to accom- modate the huge steamboats which plied the waters of Lake Scugog. The arrival of the first steam locomotive in 1871 brought with it new sounds and smells to the village. During the period from 1851 to 1910, over fifty different large steamboats plied the waters of Lake Scugog. All of these are docu- mented in my new book, Steamboats of Scugog, which will be officially launched on the evening of Friday June 9 at the Latcham Centre. This event will "kick off" the Steamboats on Scugog Festival. Les Parkes, a highly respected artist has illustrated many of the steamships for the book. During the festival we will be hosting steamboat, antique and classic wooden boats as well as model boats, radio controlled model boats, a display of antique outboard motors demonstrated by the Antique Outboard Motor Club and a model train lay- out by the Pine Ridge Model Railway club. In addition, the descendants of George Crandell JAMES CARNEGIE 1843 - 1930 and the toot of its whistle could be heard reverberating around the lake several times each day. The Woodman was the first of Crandell's steamboats. He later became the leading steamboat owner in the Kawarthas, owning fifteen differ- ent vessels. The Woodman fed the increasing number of saw mills, planing mills and furniture factories scattered throughout the growing village. All of these facilities were steam powered. The sound of steam whistles signaling the workers to their task and the continuous hissing and thumping of the steam driv- en machinery could be heard throughout the com- munity. Port Hoover, at the north end of Lake Scugog also shared in the glory of the steamboat era. This now quiet com- munity was once the site of a booming shipbuilding yard complete with 3 docks, warehouses and even a an elevator. \ NY The 72 foot long . ~_ Anglo Saxon was built at Port ~ Hoover over the winter of 1866-67. By this time the building of steamboats was so developed locally that the engines and machinery were no AIST . a --- longer imported ET yu but built here in Port Perry at the AM. Gibson The Woodman. No photographs of the Woodman are known to exist. This sketch of the Woodman is found ry. shown in a drawing of the Port Perry waterfront in 1853 which appeared in a magazine called the Anglo American the following year. On the south east shore of the The Anglo Saxon, built in Port Hoover have decided to have a family reunion as part of the festival, and will be arriving here from as far away as California and Colorado. Several descendants of James Carnegie will also be in attendance. Carnegie owned the last two major steamboats on Lake Scugog, the Stranger and the Cora. The Stranger was destroyed by fire and its hull remains in the water not far from the library at the waterfront. The last vessel, the Cora, built by John Bowerman in 1902, was pulled on shore near where the library now stands, and left to rot in 1922. Carnegie owned a huge mill on the library site at the Port Perry waterfront and used the vessels to bring logs to his mill. Charles White at Port Perry High School has arranged to have a group of his students perform dixieland music during the weekend and they will be accompanied by Bluegrass groups. One of the big attractions will be the Bobcaygeon/Fenelon Falls cruise boat which will be arriving at the Port Perry waterfront on Friday and will be conducting two hour cruises throughout the weekend, including a three hour dinner cruise on Saturday night. Details of all of these events will appear soon in a full page advertisement here in the Port Perry Star.