The story of Nottawa’s Scottish immigrants, a ship design impressed by a whale’s again, a picket steamer named Collingwood, and the celebrity of the World’s Fair.
This ongoing collection options historic pictures from the Collingwood Museum assortment and is researched and written by Museum Supervisor Melissa Shaw.
Collingwood has a minimum of two maritime connections to the 1893 Chicago Ward’s Fair.
One is a captain named Alexander MacDougall, and the opposite is a picket ship referred to as the City of Collingwood.
Alexander McDougall’s identify is probably not as well-known as others concerned in native shipbuilding, however his position within the evolution of Collingwood shipbuilding is indeniable.
McDougall immigrated to Nottawa from Scotland together with his household when he was younger. During the summer season of 1861, he labored as a deckhand on a ship named Edith, which sailed between Collingwood and Chicago. This place subsequently led to employment as helmsman, porter, second mate, navigator, pilot, and captain.
He additionally oversaw the development of ships and ended up designing a brand new model of cargo ship often known as the Whaleback. This new design featured a rounded prime and excessive bow and stern to forestall water from accumulating contained in the vessel. Some accounts liken this design to a cigar with an upturned tip.
Although this new design is not going to be in-built Collingwood, whales have been visiting the native port for a few years. McDougall himself was a number one determine in Collingwood, and within the early twentieth century he advocated the transition from picket to metal shipbuilding.
Original drawing of Whale Cruiser Christopher Columbus by WD Bryan. Collingwood Museum Collection, X973.821
The Christopher Columbus Whale was in-built Superior, Wisconsin and launched by the American Steel Barge Company on December 3, 1892. The ship was designed as a day boat, and he or she entered service within the spring of 1893 as a ferry between downtown Chicago and the World’s Fair in Jackson Park.
The unique-looking Columbus reportedly carried greater than 2 million passengers in its first 12 months of operation and was the second spotlight of the Expo. Of the greater than 40 Whalebacks constructed between 1887 and 1898, the Christopher Columbus was the one passenger ferry. Today, the one remaining whaleback ship, the SS Meteor, operates as a seasonal museum in Superior, Wisconsin.
The picket steamer City of Collingwood was in-built 1893 by John Simpson in Owen Sound. The ship then made a brief however spectacular journey to the lake, plying between Collingwood and varied ports till 1905.
This is the oldest {photograph} of town of Collingwood within the assortment of the Collingwood Museum, donated by Jenny Quah. This ship seems within the Owen Sound stock shortly earlier than her launch on May 3, 1893. The unique Huron Institute paper label is seen within the decrease left nook. Collingwood Museum Collection, X974.311.1, Huron Institute No. 265
Thanks to the foresight of native resident Jenny Quar (née Bassett), artifacts associated to the founding and inauguration of town of Collingwood have been preserved.
Jenny’s father, Captain William James Bassett, was the primary Captain of the City of Collingwood, and it’s doubtless that Jenny got here to own {a photograph} of this very distinctive ship on its launch date, in addition to the ribbon that adorned the baptismal bottle. This could also be why it occurred.
Both the picture and the ribbon have been donated to the Huron Institute 104 years in the past by Bassett’s residence at 219 Maple Street.
Collingwood City Baptismal Bottle Ribbon launched in Owen Bay on 3 May 1893. Collingwood Museum Collection, X976.361.1. Huron Institute No.265
Like Christopher Columbus, Collingwood’s first 12 months of operation revolved across the Chicago World’s Fair.
The City of Collingwood departs from Collingwood (Town) and travels across the lake in the course of the six-month Expo, which attracts greater than 27 million guests and averages greater than 150,000 guests per day. Did.
It is hoped that Captain Bassett will have the ability to disembark and revel in a few of the expo’s sights. Or perhaps you bought your first glimpse of the enduring Ferris wheel that wowed attendees.
Captain Bassett continued to sail via Collingwood City because the flagship of the North Shore Navigation Company.
In 1889, the North Shore Navigation Company and the Great Northern Transit Company shaped the Northern Navigation Company. The City of Collingwood continued to serve below this flag till it was destroyed by hearth in 1905.
A mannequin of town of Collingwood is at the moment on show within the Collingwood Museum exhibition gallery.
If you recognize of another connections between Collingwood and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, please contact Collingwood Museum workers. [email protected].