Thunder Bay Unseen

The Iron Ore dock sits next to Northern Wood Preservers. The harbour around Northern Wood was once one of the most polluted places in all of the Great Lakes, being home to 'The Blob' - a great accumulation of creosote that seeped into the harbour over the course of a half-century. The Blob has now been completely cleaned up and its former home is now a fish and bird sanctuary.

The deep water berth alongside the Iron Ore dock that once played host to giant lakers is now home to one of the harbour's tug boats, and a few mobile sea-walls, used in the dredging of the Blob from its lagoon.

The first grain elevator encountered at the Intercity Harbour is the idled Manitoba Pool Elevator. It has sat unused for many years now, but it is not decommissioned or for sale. It could be reactivated with a little work, and many things were left in place for that contingency.
The site currently sits abandoned, with many items laying right where they were on the day that the workers walked away with their pink slips. The tracks leading to the unloading sheds have been overgrown and some of the security fences have fallen in over time, but much of the heavy equipment is still in place.

Above are large holding tanks for the free seed products that the company once shipped out.

To the left lay the remains of business as they were dropped the day the elevator was finally closed. The chute connects to the overhead piping system which allows direct samples to be taken of the seeds. As to what purpose, possibly one of our readers might know.

To the right is the ruins of a small guardhouse or work shed, its windows smashed by vandals since the elevator was closed. In the photo above the true size of these holding bins becomes immediately obvious.

Following an overgrown trail alongside the grain bins brings you to this abandoned GMC Truck, with its Manitoba Pool Elevators label still on the side. The truck has certainly seen some better days when, no doubt, it was of vital importance to the upkeep of the operations here.

On the dash is a small foil pouch with three un smoked cigarettes left from the day the truck was parked in this final resting place.

Next to the former Manitoba Pool elevator is the Canada Malting Elevator, a bustling hive of activity when compared to its abandoned neighbour. The Canada Malting elevator is a curious collection of various industrial architectural designs.

The Canadian Malting Plant is found on Maureen Street, which was named by the City of Port Arthur in 1936. The choice of the name Maureen is unknown.

Unique to the Malting Elevator is this single bin line elevator with a rounded work house. All of the other elevators in the city have straight, box workhouses atop their grain bins.

The front building of the Canadian Malting plant is designed in a much more classic vein and has been in place for decades now although it sports a fresh coat of paint.
It age is easily visible in the three vertical doors on the right hand side of the building. Doors like this were used to bring materials into the building, directly from the trucks they were being delivered on. Note the pulley structure at the top of the building, directly above the doors.

The next elevator along the Intercity Waterfront is Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's Terminal 7. Comprised of two separate buildings Terminal 7 is the largest grain terminal in the Thunder Bay harbour with a capacity of 362,600 tonnes.

Terminal 7B, to the north of the main terminal, is almost as long as the main terminal but it is not as wide. It has its own railcar unloading facilities and docking facilities.

Adjacent to the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevator is an abandoned elevator, an increasingly common sight along the waterfront.
The elevator is quite small and has stood empty for many years. All of its external equipment has long been stripped, although the fire escape still is in place.

In the woods standing before the abandoned elevator is an equally abandoned shack.

Is the shack actually abandoned or does someone call this place home?

All grain terminals are smoke free workplaces and have been since long before it was fashionable. The reason is a dire one - the massive amount of grain kernels passing through the terminal throw a huge amount of dust into the atmosphere which is highly flammable. Highly flammable to the point of dangerously explosive. There are a number of instances in the Lakehead's history of elevator explosions touched off by sparking machinery.

The next structure along Maureen Street is the United Grain Grower's Terminal M. The facility is currently inactive, but it is hardly an abandoned site. It is frequently visited by workers who keep the facility in running condition, should it be needed in times of high crop yields. None of the heavy machinery has been stripped from the terminal, although the lights have been turned off and many of the ground level entry points have been boarded up.
United Grain Growers is a sort of anachronism - The company was purchased by Agricore, which owns the neighbouring terminal. They have not yet removed the UGG logo due to the parent company not being sure as to the final disposition of the terminal.

The tracks leading up to the unloading facilities are still used by the major railways to store rail cars before they are taken to other facilities or linked to trains heading back west.

The next terminal along Maureen Street is one of Agricore United's two active Thunder Bay facilities.

The rail car pier is actually longer than the main holding/loading facility, allowing for longer trains of cars to be passed through the unloading barn. Agricore's pier is somewhat unique in Thunder Bay, having concrete supports instead of timber.

The last grain handling terminal at the Intercity Harbour is owned by Parrish & Heinbecker. One of the smallest and oldest terminals still in operation in Thunder Bay, the P&H Elevator still sees a large amount of shipping traffic.

This image shows two historical aspects of the P&H Terminal - The 1st is the design of the workhouse on top of the older section of the terminal. It is merely an extension of the elevator columns, unlike the newer section of the terminal which features a more recent, boxy design. The 2nd is the faded name of Parrish & Heimbecker, scribed on the side of the elevator. The only identifying mark kept up to date on the terminal now is the small logo on the city-facing end.

Flowing through this portion of the Intercity Harbour is the former route of the McIntyre river. After it was re-routed through the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway, the mouth and natural course of the river have slowly become overgrown and silted. Still visible from the Main Street Bridge, the river used to run parallel to the rail yard before running underneath it and across the property that is now the home of the Thunder Centre commercial development.

Main Street derives its name from its once being the 'main street' of a proposed subdivision.

Island Drive was formerly known as 110th Avenue, before its name was changed upon the completion of the new causeway linking McKellar Island with both the East End and Intercity. 110th Avenue, itself, was originally 10th Avenue until 1974 when it was changed to prevent confusion in the newly amalgamated Thunder Bay.

The focal point of the entire Intercity Harbour area is Keefer Terminal, a loading and unloading terminal, designed with large bulk goods in mind.

Keefer Terminal is a sprawling complex that is home to many shipping oriented services, as well as the Anglican Church's Mission to the Seafarers. In addition to a loading and unloading terminal, Keefer Terminal is also boast long-term storage facilities, both indoor and outdoor.