The "CHICORA" Arrives at Niagara
Description
- Media Type
- Image
- Text
- Item Type
- Cards
- Description
- Folded card with black and white photo of steamship Chicora passing by the Queen's Royal Hotel.
Reverse:
"THE "CHICORA" ARRIVES AT NIAGARA
It was mid-morning on a fine summer day in the year 1908 as the "Chicora" steamed past the Queen's Royal Hotel at the entrance to the Niagara River. For thirty years, she had crossed Lake Ontario from Toronto, each morning of the sailing season, and had carried countless thousands of passengers to the River ports of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Queenston, and Lewiston. The first ship owned by the Niagara Navigation Company, this fine old paddle-steamer had become a popular institution on this route and was a favourite with old and young alike.
The "Chicora" was built in England in 1864 for service as a blockade-runner in the American Civil War and was christened "Let Her Be", which was soon contracted to "Letter B". Her oscillating-cylinder engines, the last word in marine propulsion at that time, gave her a fine turn of speed and she was able to run the Federal blockade of the Confederacy, sailing between the Bahamas and Charleston, South Carolina.
After the war, she was purchased by Canadian owners and, eventually, found her way to the upper Great Lakes. From 1869 to 1875, the "Chicora" provided passenger service between Collingwood and Fort William. During this period, she transported troops for service in the Red River Rebellion and served as vice-regal yacht when the Governor General toured the Upper Lakes. In the autumn of 1877, she was brought to Lake Ontario and commenced Niagara service the following spring.
The long career of the "Chicora", as a passenger steamer, came to an end at the close of the 1913 season, though she continued to serve as a tow-barge until 1942 when she sank following a collision in Kingston harbour. Few ships in history have had more colourful, adventurous, or useful lives than the "Chicora" and none have served their owners better. This pleasant scene as the "morning boat" arrives from Toronto evokes nostalgia for a leisurely way of life that is gone and one cannot help wishing that the melodious, chime whistle of the "Chicora" could still be heard on Toronto Bay." - Inscriptions
- Christmas wishes from Alan Howard inside this card.
- Date Of Event
- 1908
- Dimensions
-
Width: 18.4 cm
Height: 14.3 cm
- Subject(s)
- Local identifier
- QC00039
- Language of Item
- English
- Donor
- Huggins, Jean A. E. (1895-1989)
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Contact
- Niagara-on-the-Lake Public LibraryEmail:localhistory@notlpl.org
Website
Agency street/mail address:10 Anderson Lane P.O. Box 430
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0
905-468-2023
