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Life & Leisure on Lake Erie
Summer is almost here! In the coming months, Lake Erie will draw many of us to its beaches, watersports and other lakeside enjoyments. As lakes go, it has its own special style. An upcoming exhibit and a brand new book on Lake Erie will help us to reflect on the unique character of "our lake."
Exhibit: Life & Leisure on Lake Erie
The Elgin County Museum joins with the Port Burwell Marine Museum for an exhibit on Lake Erie. Sail shaped mounts will provide a pictorial guide and information about shipwrecks, ferry traffic, and the history of Port Stanley and Port
Burwell. Visitors will see salvage from famous wrecks, marine art and a unique selection of models. Much of the material has been supplied by the Port Burwell Marine Museum, and the unique signage developed for the display will be put to good use there when the exhibit ends.
Left: The Earl Bess from Port Burwell in the Harbour
at Sandusky with 33,000 pounds of herring, the
larges one-day catch to date on Lake Erie (1919).
Photo courtesy of the Port Burwell Marine Museum.
Book: The Lake Erie Shore, Ontario's Forgotten South Coast
Ron Brown will be at the Elgin County Museum on May 31st to talk about his brand new book on Lake Erie. Author of "Back Roads of Ontario", "Toronto's Lost Villages", and "Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage", Ron Brown traversed the Lake Erie shore to flesh out forgotten stories from the past.
"The Lake Erie Shore" will be launched in May. The complete book wasn't available at press time, but in the introductory chapter, Ron Brown notes that the shoreline lacks the magnificent geographical formations and bustling urban scapes of better known Ontario places, but that this lack of grandeur may be exactly why Ontario's South Coast is a special place. Here's a "teaser":
"Here you find the northern reaches of the lush Carolinian forests, plants found nowhere else in Ontario. Here too is one of Ontario's only three UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves, as well as cactus, and tall grass prairies, and one of Canada's Heritage rivers. The waters of the lake are among Ontario's most dangerous, their shallow depths littered with hundreds of doomed ships. It is a lake of unpredictable tidal waves and some say, its own 'monster'."
"Its shores harbour a string of active fishing ports, home to the world's largest fresh water fishing fleet, and indeed the last fishing fleet on the Great Lakes. Picturesque harbours contain fish stores, net sheds and historic lighthouses, and in one case, a castle. In other cases, the Erie shore can be a "ghost coast". Where schooners once set sail with barley or lumber, only rotten cribbing lies, hotels and stores sit empty, mill sites have only their overgrown ponds to tell of busy milling days." π
"Then there is its human history… of slaves escaping their humiliating servitude, of heroines rescuing the crew of a sinking ship, a "witch" doctor, an imperious "emperor" after whom many a place has been named, nefarious rumrunners, and the mysterious little-known pre-historic inhabitants."
For those of us who are drawn, perhaps inexplicably to this area, response to the book is likely to be "yes, that's why" and a desire to read more. Pick up your copy and hear Ron Brown speak at the Elgin County Museum on May 31st.
Port Burwell Marine Museum & Historic Lighthouse
The Marine Museum (20 Pitt Street, Port Burwell) guides visitors on a look at Port Burwell's past as an important shipbuilding centre in the Talbot Settlement, prominent shipping port, and Canadian destination of the coal car ferry Ashtabula. An incredible collection of lighthouse lenses, artifacts recovered from Lake Erie shipwrecks, and a model of the Ashtabula are just some of the items on display. A few steps away, The Port Burwell Lighthouse, built in 1840, is one of the oldest wooden lighthouses on the north shore of Lake Erie. Climb to the top for a panoramic view of the lake.
Right: The famed coal carrier Marquette and Bessemer in Port Stanley2 years before it was lost with all hands on board. This yearmarks the centennial of its sinking. Photo courtesy of the Elgin County Archives.
Lake Erie FAST FACTS
Name
It was called after the Erie, an Iroquoian tribe inhabiting the south shore.
Vital Statistics
338km long, 92km wide
up to 64m (210') deep; averages only 19m (62') deep
Character
Lake Erie has a reputation of being quick to raise waves of frightening size, a result of it being so shallow.
Comparison to the Other Great Lakes
The shortest water retention time; the highest population density, most farm land and largest number of major cities of the five lake basins.
From Canadian Geographic www.canadiangeographic.ca
35 million people live around the lake
it provides drinking water for 11 million people
360 chemical compounds & 161 invasive species have now been identified in the Great Lakes
Life and Leisure on Lake Erie runs from May 31st to September 1st, 2009. Author Ron Brown will speak at the opening on Sunday May 31st at 2pm. The Elgin County Museum is located at 450 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm.