Living along our mighty river for over 20 years,
I have seen many things go up and down this river.
The Staten Island ferry came by en route to
being upgraded once.
Have seen many boats and freighters.
Once I even saw a 2 story house on a barge
float by.
It was being moved to one of the many islands here.
Last week the SS Keewadin floated downriver
assisted by 2 tugs.
(pronounced KEY-WAH=DIN)
I took several pictures up until she passed by.
This ship was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1907.
She was a passenger liner that sailed between
Port Arthur
(now known as Thunder Bay)
and Port McNicoll.
She was 336 ft long with 4 coal fired boilers.
108 staterooms and held 288 passengers
86 officers and crew.
Her maiden voyage began across the pond
on 9/14/1907 and began passenger service on
10/7/1908 until 9/14/1965.
Her purpose was to take passengers between these
port cities where the Canadian Railway
stopped at both the east
near Lake Huron and west near Lake Superior.
It took 2 1/2 days one way at a cruising speed
of 16mph or 26km.
In 1967 she was towed to the Kalamazoo River
as a museum for the Michigan town
of Saugatuck.
2012 found her being towed once again
back to Port McNicoll to be restored.
Winter of 2022 she was donated to the town
of Kingston, Ontario to be once again displayed
as a floating museum.
Let's hope this journey is her final one and many
who visit will enjoy the history of this fine passenger liner.
In other news,
we finally had some sunshine yesterday after
5 days of rain. Our lawn is spongy.
Bob and I decided to add some antiques into
our gift shop...maybe in a few weeks.
When we first started in the antique business
we created vignettes with flowers and my crafts.
We are once again going back to our roots so to say.
Just a small section for now.
Trying to evolve.
Well hope you enjoy your weekend!
Looks like we might have a nice one.
Weekend Blessings To All!
Janice
Interesting lesson and great photos of the ship. Sounds like a great plan to intermingle your antique vignettes with the gift shop. Will make closing one store a little easier on you and train your buyers where to go.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the history of this great passenger ship. A lot of history. They sure built quality in those days, to last so long in all kinds of weather. I can't imagine how much it would cost to build a full size replica today. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to add some antique pieces to your gift shop. Much cheaper running only one shop.
It's been cold and breezy here but it looks like its finally going to get warmer.
Have a great weekend, hugs.
Julia
What an impressive sight. She certainly weathered the storms better than some of her counterparts and she deserves a well-respected rest. Rainy, dreary and cool here once again. Saw a brief few minutes of sun yesterday (or was it the day before?) I think a merger of sorts of your two stores is a perfect transition...it is the type of store I know I enjoy. ~Robin~
ReplyDeleteThe river in my childhood hometown was very 'naughty' , always overflowing after rains. Sometimes we got cut off from the neighboring areas. My mother used to tell me - don't live near a body of water! Well, it so happened that I'm not close to a river , lake, or sea.
ReplyDeleteThat is neat that you were able to get some photos of history. I too, hope she will find her forever home.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! We are finally getting a nice weekend too after 10 days of rain Everything is soggy
ReplyDeleteCathy
My yard is soggy too. We've had the rain and cold also now it's more like warmish and off and on rain. What a cool thing to see when the ship went by. Wonderful, rich history along with it. It would have been fun to be a passenger back in that time! It's a bit smaller than fancy cruise ships today. What a good idea to blend both shops into one. I still want to head up to see your shop and perhaps I will this summer on a quick get-a-way weekend! Have a good week Janice.
ReplyDeleteA floating museum would be wonderful...what a great ideas! And so nice you could see it as it passed by. I love that you're adding antiques to your shop...that's a terrific idea and I can see that generating more sales. You have such an eye for displays...looking forward to seeing more! Mary
ReplyDeleteWhat a view!!
ReplyDelete