When I was a kid growing up in London, Ontario, Port Stanley and its beach was like a consolation to going to Grand Bend. Lake Erie was dirty and had a dangerous undertow. The sand wasn’t as nice. The giant oil tanks beside the beach took away from the scenery. Grand Bend was located north on Lake Huron, lacked industry and was simply a beach resort.
As a teenager, the love for Grand Bend grew immensely because of the party atmosphere that all summer long was typical of Spring Break locations like Daytona and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (when it used to be a spring break party zone). The Bend on Lake Huron was where the hip, cool and drunk youth hung out and Port Stanley was where families went.
Thanks to the Zebra Mussel and other conservation efforts, the waters of Lake Erie have since cleaned up considerably. Grand Bend was bought out by the rich and Port Stanley became more popular with the young. The undertow is still an issue that will never go away but it certainly become much more of a resort town.
The town was originally settled as Kettle Creek in 1812. The name coincides with its location at the point where Kettle Creek empties into Lake Erie, forming a natural harbour. In 1824, the settlement was renamed Port Stanley. Originally, it was an important port of trade between the United States and Canada. Coal would come across from Conneaut, Ohio on rail cars shipped across Lake Erie on special rail car ferries. Going the other way was lumber from Canada.
The above lighthouse is at the west side of the harbour. I remember being allowed to walk out to the end of the pier. There are now gates prohibited people from doing this. The pier is rotting badly and even it better days, it took several victims when high waves swept over the top.
This beacon marks the east side of the entrance to the harbour. Nowadays, the harbour is used mostly for pleasure craft and commercial fresh water fishing.
The London and Port Stanley Railway was one of the first rail lines laid down in Ontario. In 1856, passenger service began between London and Port Stanley, with a stop in St. Thomas. The centre of London is about 40 kilometres away, while St. Thomas is just 15 kilometres to the north.
Passenger service continued for just over a century, ceasing in 1957 when everyone started taking their cars to the beach. Freight service continued until 1982. The rail line was run by the City of London from 1914 to 1965 before being sold off the Canadian National (CN Rail).
Since 1983, the Port Stanley Terminal Rail has run tourist trains between Port Stanley and St. Thomas. There are currently four diesel electric locomotives from the 1940’s and 1950’s operating on the line.
Below, Port Stanley is marked by the ‘A’.
The below HD Video was taken on the same day as the above images. This was taken in early May, 2014 on a not so pleasant day.
