One of the main projects I have been working on is the creation of a virtual exhibit for the Digital Museum of Canada, looking at the history of Oshawa’s waterfront with a focus on the harbour. This exhibit is a collaborative project with content sourced from various community archives and our local community. Here is a sneak peak at one of the stories that will be highlighted in this virtual exhibit.
Oshawa Sea Rangers
The Sea Rangers were a branch of Guiding for teens until 1964 that eventually became known simply as “Rangers.” The Sea Rangers merged with the Air Rangers and became “Rangers,” who would specialize in sea or air activities, where facilities are available.
SRS Crusaders, Oshawa Cap and Scarf, Oshawa Museum collection, 022.4
The Sea Rangers gave their members a sense of pride working with others and created many long last friendships. Sea Rangers provided young women with the opportunity to develop their confidence and responsibility through the mentoring of other women.
Crest, commemorating SRS Crusader Cutter Champs, 1960; part of album, Oshawa Museum archival collection (A021.9.1)
The Oshawa Sea Rangers, known as the Crusaders, would meet at the Oshawa Navy League, Cadet Hall, to practice precision drills. The Cadet Hall, located at 44 Oshawa Boulevard North, is still in the same location today.
The Oshawa Harbour was the location where Oshawa’s Sea Rangers, practiced drills on the lake and their cutters were stored in the boat house that was located on the east side of the beach. The sea cadets and rangers both used the boathouse at the lake to store their cutters. The cutters were rowed by a team of ten with a coxswain who steered the cutter and set the pace. Practices took place once a week at the harbour, sometimes more as the regatta got closer, practices would increase to twice a week. When practicing, the cutter would be rowed out of the inner harbour, along the jetty and out into the open lake.
Sandra Gaskell
From the Oshawa Times, 1960; image part of album, Oshawa Museum archival collection (A021.9.1)
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Sea Cadet (Navy Club) boat house was located at the lakefront, west of the Yacht Club. The Sea Cadets took the cutters out in the spring, where it would be tied up, usually on the west wall or the south wall. In the fall the cutter would be placed back in the boat house. During this time, it was possible to drive right over to the inner harbour near where the cutter would be tied up.
SRS Crusaders Cutter Champs, 1960; image part of album, Oshawa Museum archival collection (A021.9.1)
There is a group of friends who talk about our Sea Ranger days every time we get together. All these Sea Rangers married Sea cadets except for two of us. The boat house at the lake was where we kept the cutters that both the sea cadets and rangers used. Several boathouse paintings of the boathouse hang in at least 4 homes. My sisters, Marg & Pat won the cutter races in the ‘50s. Cathy and I crewed wins in the ‘60s. We have photos to prove it. Not to mention the blisters on our hands and backsides. All the sea rangers kept log books and photos. Mine are long gone but a few others have theirs.
The Harry H began its life chasing down German submarines in World War I and spent years in the Oshawa Harbour. It remained floating on the west wharf of the Oshawa Harbour until it could float no more.
The Harry H docked at the Oshawa Harbour; Oshawa Museum archival collection (A996.16.4)
In July 1916, five ships were sunk in New York by German submarines, spurring the navy to design an effective anti-submarine vessel. Steel was scarce, and because of that, a new ship was designed of wood, built for speed rather than strength.
The Harry Hwas built in 1918 in New York City and spanned 110 feet long. Its original name was the Subchaser SC-238. In 1922, David Sullivan purchased the ship, renamed it the Allen, and brought it to Oshawa. In October of 1925, the vessel was found abandoned by George Hardy. An “action for salvage” warrant was then issued by the exchequer Court of Canada for George Hardy for the towing fee to Toronto.
The Harry H; Oshawa Museum archival collection (A996.16.3)
By 1933, the ship, re-named Harry H, had been in the hands of several different owners. During that year, it was seized by the R.C.M.P. for infractions to customs regulations. It was rumored that after the seizure, the R.C.M.P. used the ship for chasing Rum Runners on Lake Ontario.
Some confusion in the registration of the Harry H,as well as repairs, caused some to believe that the ship had been used as a Rum Runner herself. When owner David Sullivan brought the ship (then named the Allen) over to Oshawa Harbour, its New York registration was not closed; in fact, it was not closed until three years after the ship was found abandoned on Lake Ontario.
In June of 1934 there was a Court Order issued by the Registrar of Shipping in Toronto that the vessel be sold at public auction. She was bought by Stanley Grossett of Port Hope for $180. On October 2, 1934 the Harry Hwas sold to Oshawa resident William Leggott.
When Harry H was first found in Oshawa Harbour, it was noticed that the boat no longer had three engines. Instead, it had two. When the hull of the ship was inspected, it was found that the prop shaft had been plugged. In addition, the propellers of the ship were 9 inches shorter than the original 39 inches. It was customary then for Rum Runners to keep the propellers sharp for cutting through fishing nets dropped by patrol boats to catch Rum Runners. Harry H was no exception to this.
Harry Hwas found at the bottom of the Oshawa Harbour basin in the summer of 1965 due to a pump or battery failure. In the fall of the same year, it broke away from the dock during high winds. It was later found underwater next to a clay bank in shallow water at the Harbour. A mast, as well as part of the deck, showed through the water. They were later torn off by ice.
In August of 1978 a dredging operation by the Porter Dredging Company ended the life of the Harry H. Although the boat put up a good fight, tangling in the wire ropes in the 36 inch diameter auger that was used for the dredging, Harry H eventually gave in and the ship was destroyed.
Through the Great Depression and the Second World War, the harbour was a focal point of shipping for Oshawa, including huge supplies of coal, which was the primary means of heating homes in Oshawa during that time.
In the 1930s the harbour continued to expand, and with the opening of the Welland Ship Canal with eight locks, this opened up Lake Ontario to larger ships, increasing business for the harbour in Oshawa. Due to a serious flood in 1937, the coal piles and roads around the harbour were significantly damaged. A new west pier was constructed by the firm William Bermingham and Sons of Kingston, Ontario. The new pier was 1,082 feet and was constructed 42 feet west of the old structure. In 1939, the outer harbour was dredged to a depth of 24 feet and the inner harbour and turning basin to 22 feet.
The harbour in the 1930s
Unfortunately, the improvements that were being made to the harbour had a negative impact on the shoreline along Oshawa’s waterfront. The shoreline was receding and the original breakwater was extended inward. Portions of this cement wall can still be seen along the shoreline.
The Thomas Bouckley Collection, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
In 1959 the St. Lawrence Seaway opened with excitement from the shipping community. Unfortunately, it would soon be discovered that the lock system and sections of the seaway were not large enough to handle the anticipated ocean-going vessels. These issues were not a concern for Oshawa; as the harbour continued to expand, due to municipal growth, Oshawa officials lobbied for a commissioned port. Michael Starr, MP for the Ontario County riding, was instrumental in getting the Oshawa Port commissioned under an act in Parliament. Federal money would continue to flow if they became a federal port.
The new Harbour Commissioners Act, 1960, was proclaimed in 1962 with an autonomous body of commissioners – two federal appointees and one City appointee. The Oshawa Harbour Commission was one of seven commissioned deep-sea ports in Canada. At the time, Hamilton and Toronto were governed by their own acts, which were passed through Parliament much earlier.
The first meeting of the commissioners took place at the Genosha Hotel on December 12, 1960. Their first order of business was staff and land holdings. Staff of the harbour at the time included a wharfinger, who managed the wharf, and a harbourmaster, who booked ships. The first Harbour Commission also set out to create a yacht basin, a project that would become very controversial over time.
The port area was bordered by a line 600 feet east on the north of Harbour Road, 3000 feet south into Lake Ontario, west to Simcoe Street South, and 600 feet east on Farewell Street. (See image from 1960)
Large tracts of land in the port area were either purchased or acquired and included the Second Marsh and surrounding land, such as the Beaton Properties and the former Gifford Farm, where the original Port Oshawa Pioneer Cemetery was located. In the 1990s the City of Oshawa obtained ownership of the Second Marsh Lands and continued to work in collaboration with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Friends of Second Marsh.
Two decades later, a major recession hit Canada, and the Oshawa Harbour suffered along with the rest of the country. Competition was increasing from other modes of transportation. Through good years and bad, ships continued to call in at the Oshawa Harbour for goods of all types bound for destinations all over the world. According to an article from the Oshawa This Week, in 1992 the Oshawa Harbour handled over 52 ships; one shipment included 22,000 tons of steel products from Lasco Steel (Gerdau). That year, the first ship arrived on April 17, 1992 and its captain was welcomed with the traditional top hat ceremony.
In 2012, it was announced that the Oshawa Harbour Commission would become a Canada Port Authority. The Port of Oshawa was the last port in Canada to be overseen by a harbour commission. Between 1999 and 2001, 17 other ports in Canada became Canada Port Authorities. Oshawa couldn’t make the transformation because of an ongoing land dispute that was finally dealt with in a 2010 settlement agreement between the City of Oshawa and the federal government.
In 2014, the City of Oshawa acquired the land located on the southeast corner of Simcoe Street South and Harbour Road, land that was returnted to the City as part of Oshawa’s settlement agreement with the federal government and the Port of Oshawa. The Larry Ladd Harbour Trail on the City harbour lands opened to the public on July 1, 2018. Designed with accessibility in mind, the Larry Ladd Harbour Trail comprises a pedestrian bridge and walkway and is an important link to the Waterfront Trail, Second Marsh and Oshawa Museum, as well as to Lakeview Park.
On June 18, 2019, the Oshawa Port Authority became amalgamated with the Hamilton Port Authority, known today as the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports). Over the past decade, the Port of Oshawa has handled more than 500 vessels carrying over 3 million metric tonnes of cargo. The Port handles an average of $23 million worth of cargo annually from salt and steel products to sugar, asphalt and grain. In 2020, HOPA, completed a Land Use plan for the harbour lands in Oshawa. You can learn more through this link:
In 2021, the Oshawa Museum is excited to partner with the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority to share the story of the Oshawa Habour in a new exhibit, From Ship to Shore: Looking at Oshawa’s Relationship with Lake Ontario.
Missed the first part of the Harbour History? Read it here:
Oshawa Museum Blog 