[captionpix imgsrc=”http://netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/museum-waterfront.jpg” captiontext=”The Port Arthur waterfront about 1905- Image by Thunder Bay Museum ” width=”620″ height=”342″]
THUNDER BAY – Here’s a fascinating image dated from around 1904 of the area that now forms part of Thunder Bay’s new waterfront park. Front and centre is the then new CPR station, situated along Water Street. The old railway station had already been dismantled, moved and converted into nearby houses.
Also visible at the foot of the dock is the square, single storey CPR freight office that’s now erroneously named the Baggage Building. Note how close Water Street was to the actual waterfront in those days; the shoreline has been expanded by lots of in-fill over the years.
Two other things are worth noting. Tracks on the dock on the right shows that the trains travelled right out onto the dock to load and unload their cargos, and the building on the far left is the old Thomas Marks and Company Store at the corner of Water Street and what is now Red River Road. Opened in 1872, it was the first general store in the community.
Text and photograph by Tory Tronrud – Thunder Bay Museum.
