Post by Steve on Oct 25, 2010 22:00:12 GMT -5
I first became aware of the G.T.R. Elevator in Point Edward while searching for fire insurance plans on the Canada Library and Archives web site. I found a special FIP showing an isometric drawing of the elevator, as well as Sarnia's elevator on Front St., both on a single sheet. Although, I was already aware of the Sarnia elevator, I'd never known about the Point Edward one before that.
The discovery of this FIP happened about the same time that I was beginning to experiment with building 3D models using Google SketchUp and placing them on Google Earth. So, with a scale isometric drawing to measure from, it was just natural that I would use it to create one of my first 3D models.
The problem though, was that although I had a very detailed drawing and was able to build a model from it, the drawing didn't indicate where exactly the elevator was located. All I could do was take an educated guess based on the orientation of the shoreline shown in the FIP.
Nevertheless, I shared this info and model with LLF member Reg Lamarche (weggiecan). I think it's safe to say Reg was fascinated with the model and the mystery of its location, so much so that he was inspired to begin researching and digging for more info on the elevator.
What follows is almost all thanks to Reg's work and so, this thread is dedicated to him...
The first thing I started to receive from Reg was images; lots of them. I had the elevator modeled just as shown in the FIP, but I didn't have photos of it. So, Reg began sleuthing and sending me the results.
The first one (shown below) is a detail from a bird's eye view of Port Huron from 1867 that also showed Sarnia and Point Edward. I was aware of this 'map' for years, but Reg brought it back to my attention. Ok, so it looks like it's a fairly crude sketch. But, as I was to eventually learn, the accuracy of this illustration is pretty amazing when you consider that it was made 35 years before the invention of the aeroplane.
The elevator is marked with the arrow. Compare it to the 3D model here. If you look closely, it's surprisingly accurate.
(Make sure to come back to this drawing later, after looking at the map below and compare its details. Btw, can you find the Balmoral Hotel in this image?)
Next was a sketch (below) from 1876. Unless you know what Sarnia Bay used to look like back in those days, this drawing will confuse you to no end. At one time the bay extended almost as far north as Michigan Rd. The east side of the bay ran approximately along where the Bluewater Bridge is and St. Clair St. in Point Edward ran along the bay shoreline and was where the line of the Sarnia Street Railway ran (notice the horse drawn street cars). That's what we see in this sketch. We're looking south and a bit to the west, from about where the Point Edward Arena now stands. For sure there have been some perspective distortions introduced by the artist, but you can clearly see the Point Edward elevator across the bay. (I can't be sure, but I believe the elaborate structure shown on the extreme left is either the casino, or an exhibition building, both of which were located in Bayview Park and/or the fairgrounds that were adjacent to each other and about where Marcin Bowl and the Hwy. 401 interchange now stand.
Now, one of the problems we had with figuring out where this elevator was stemmed from the fact that we eventually learned that there were actually two elevators along the Point Edward waterfront during this time (about 1900). We had FIPs showing an elevator located to the south of the present Point Edward Charity Casino (former CNR sheds) and we were able to deduce it's exact location from the remains of a stone wall, right on the shoreline, that still exists just south of Purdy's fishery (see image below). But, for a while there was some confusion as to whether this was the location of the GTR Elevator, or the somewhat newer, but contemporaneous, Point Edward Elevator Co. elevator.
The newer FIPs (from 1913) showed a building footprint that looked quite different than the 1900 FIP. But, the way these structures sometimes burned, or were otherwise rebuilt and/or expanded, meant that at first, we couldn't be sure whether we were dealing with one structure, or two, or if two, which was which. Any doubt we had about the number of elevators was resolved when Reg found the image below...
Reg found this image, taken from the U.S. shore, online. The larger elevator in the foreground is the Point Edward Elevator Co. and the one in the background is the G.T.R. Elevator. How do we know? Read on...
Here's what's left of the Point Edward Elevator Co. elevator, shown in the foreground in the above image...
But, we were still unsure of the exact location of the G.T.R. Elevator. Finally, Reg's tenacity paid off. I received a map from him. A rather poor copy of a map. But, it was clear enough to see that it showed right where the G.T.R. Elevator had been.
I've enhanced and annotated this version for clarity. North is to the right in this orientation. Michigan Rd. runs up the middle to the "G.T.R. STATION", which is where the Bluewater Bridges now cross the river.
Notice the confirming give-a-way? It's the outline of the elevator's footprint showing the main structure and the boiler room offset and attached. Compare this to the more detailed FIP plan here and I'm sure you'll agree we've found our elevator.
Whoever drew the above map didn't have to show the elevator as anything more that just a representative box, but by including just a little more detail, he's made our presumption that we have the right elevator that much more reliable.
The only thing left to do now, was to geo-locate the elevator by overlaying the map on Google Earth and hope that it had been drawn to an accurate enough scale that it would fit the 'real' world well and provide us with a good location to place our 3D model of the elevator. The overlay of the above map for GE is attached as a .kmz file (see below) and will open in GE when you download it...
Once you've checked out the overlay on Google Earth, don't forget to visit the LLF3D thread showing the elevator in 3D.
Again, I want to thank Reg Lamarche for being so persistent in his research. This is what LLF is all about and this find qualifies as our first significant member generated 'find'.
The discovery of this FIP happened about the same time that I was beginning to experiment with building 3D models using Google SketchUp and placing them on Google Earth. So, with a scale isometric drawing to measure from, it was just natural that I would use it to create one of my first 3D models.
The problem though, was that although I had a very detailed drawing and was able to build a model from it, the drawing didn't indicate where exactly the elevator was located. All I could do was take an educated guess based on the orientation of the shoreline shown in the FIP.
Nevertheless, I shared this info and model with LLF member Reg Lamarche (weggiecan). I think it's safe to say Reg was fascinated with the model and the mystery of its location, so much so that he was inspired to begin researching and digging for more info on the elevator.
What follows is almost all thanks to Reg's work and so, this thread is dedicated to him...
The first thing I started to receive from Reg was images; lots of them. I had the elevator modeled just as shown in the FIP, but I didn't have photos of it. So, Reg began sleuthing and sending me the results.
The first one (shown below) is a detail from a bird's eye view of Port Huron from 1867 that also showed Sarnia and Point Edward. I was aware of this 'map' for years, but Reg brought it back to my attention. Ok, so it looks like it's a fairly crude sketch. But, as I was to eventually learn, the accuracy of this illustration is pretty amazing when you consider that it was made 35 years before the invention of the aeroplane.
The elevator is marked with the arrow. Compare it to the 3D model here. If you look closely, it's surprisingly accurate.
(Make sure to come back to this drawing later, after looking at the map below and compare its details. Btw, can you find the Balmoral Hotel in this image?)
Next was a sketch (below) from 1876. Unless you know what Sarnia Bay used to look like back in those days, this drawing will confuse you to no end. At one time the bay extended almost as far north as Michigan Rd. The east side of the bay ran approximately along where the Bluewater Bridge is and St. Clair St. in Point Edward ran along the bay shoreline and was where the line of the Sarnia Street Railway ran (notice the horse drawn street cars). That's what we see in this sketch. We're looking south and a bit to the west, from about where the Point Edward Arena now stands. For sure there have been some perspective distortions introduced by the artist, but you can clearly see the Point Edward elevator across the bay. (I can't be sure, but I believe the elaborate structure shown on the extreme left is either the casino, or an exhibition building, both of which were located in Bayview Park and/or the fairgrounds that were adjacent to each other and about where Marcin Bowl and the Hwy. 401 interchange now stand.
Now, one of the problems we had with figuring out where this elevator was stemmed from the fact that we eventually learned that there were actually two elevators along the Point Edward waterfront during this time (about 1900). We had FIPs showing an elevator located to the south of the present Point Edward Charity Casino (former CNR sheds) and we were able to deduce it's exact location from the remains of a stone wall, right on the shoreline, that still exists just south of Purdy's fishery (see image below). But, for a while there was some confusion as to whether this was the location of the GTR Elevator, or the somewhat newer, but contemporaneous, Point Edward Elevator Co. elevator.
The newer FIPs (from 1913) showed a building footprint that looked quite different than the 1900 FIP. But, the way these structures sometimes burned, or were otherwise rebuilt and/or expanded, meant that at first, we couldn't be sure whether we were dealing with one structure, or two, or if two, which was which. Any doubt we had about the number of elevators was resolved when Reg found the image below...
Reg found this image, taken from the U.S. shore, online. The larger elevator in the foreground is the Point Edward Elevator Co. and the one in the background is the G.T.R. Elevator. How do we know? Read on...
Here's what's left of the Point Edward Elevator Co. elevator, shown in the foreground in the above image...
But, we were still unsure of the exact location of the G.T.R. Elevator. Finally, Reg's tenacity paid off. I received a map from him. A rather poor copy of a map. But, it was clear enough to see that it showed right where the G.T.R. Elevator had been.
I've enhanced and annotated this version for clarity. North is to the right in this orientation. Michigan Rd. runs up the middle to the "G.T.R. STATION", which is where the Bluewater Bridges now cross the river.
Notice the confirming give-a-way? It's the outline of the elevator's footprint showing the main structure and the boiler room offset and attached. Compare this to the more detailed FIP plan here and I'm sure you'll agree we've found our elevator.
Whoever drew the above map didn't have to show the elevator as anything more that just a representative box, but by including just a little more detail, he's made our presumption that we have the right elevator that much more reliable.
The only thing left to do now, was to geo-locate the elevator by overlaying the map on Google Earth and hope that it had been drawn to an accurate enough scale that it would fit the 'real' world well and provide us with a good location to place our 3D model of the elevator. The overlay of the above map for GE is attached as a .kmz file (see below) and will open in GE when you download it...
Once you've checked out the overlay on Google Earth, don't forget to visit the LLF3D thread showing the elevator in 3D.
Again, I want to thank Reg Lamarche for being so persistent in his research. This is what LLF is all about and this find qualifies as our first significant member generated 'find'.
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