Thunder Bay Unseen

Superior History

Old River Street

Lying adjacent to the former McVicar family farm is the original River Street, now called McVicar Street. The road used to run along the side of the McVicar's Creek from Cumberland Street to Farrand Street. The old route is contained almost in its entirety within the McVicar's Creek Nature Preserve. The route offers up some tantalizing glimpses of a Port Arthur long gone.

At the lower end of the old River Street lies the Cumberland Street Bridge. A utilitarian construction of concrete and asphalt the current bridge was constructed in 1983 and has been nearly swallowed by the growing foliage and sediments built up by the creek's movements.

Although the bridge is not even twenty-five years old there is already talk about replacing the structure.

This is one of the oldest areas in Port Arthur and the infrastructure is a testament to that. The above drainage pipe is stamped from 1907 while the grate on the right covers a direct line to the storm sewers where excess rainwater (and everything else) is allowed to flow directly into the watershed untreated.

Interesting conglomerated match for a storm sewer cover. The manhole cover is from the City of Fort William while the fitting is from the City of Port Arthur.

Although it is barely visible from McVicar's Creek due to the foliage, the design of this house gives away its original orientation to a lane which ran along the other bank of the Creek.

None of the other homes along Elgin street are oriented in this way, many being built in the last seventy years.

McVicar's street is the only portion of the old River Road to survive into the modern day as a city street. It was renamed McVicar Street in 1966 after the extension of the current River Street east down the hill to Court Street. Originally the lower part of what is currently River Street was named McVicar's Street.

Just below the Court Street Bridge lies evidence of some environmental engineering projects.
In an effort to slow the expansion of the sea lamprey into the Thunder Bay watershed a naturalized fish ladder was constructed at the falls found along this stretch of the creek.

The Court Street Bridge still looks much the same as it has for over 50 years, although there are plans to convert it to a more modern structure.
It was recently modified to allow a sewer main to pass under the bridge.

The walking parth along the lower stretch of McVicar's Creek.
The path is newly paved in the last few years ago.
For many years prior to that it was a dirt path.

Once one crosses Court Street the real journey into history begins. This route was established as a walking path in 1906, stretching from Court Street to Farrand Street. Though the path itself has been modernized with a layer of blacktop its route remains largely unchanged.
This structure used to be used to maintain a swimming area for the neighbourhood children. Wooden beams were placed into the brackets creating a large swimming area. The brackets have not been used for this purpose in more than 30 years. The swimming area has become largely filled with sediment as well.

Stone retaining walls are common place throughout Port Arthur due to its variable landscape. They help to stem the eventual slumping of hills in areas such as McVicar's Creek. Here they stand out in sharp relief to the green and quiet nature of the park's setting, yet they do not seem all that out of place.

There is a stand alone island just below the Algoma Street Bridge.
In the past the owners of the neighbouring house maintained this island as a garden. It hasn't been done in any years.

For decades the path along McVicar's Creek was accessible from Algoma Street via a staircase at the base of Dawson Street. The stairs were removed a few years ago due to the decay of the wooden structure and its sharp angle of descent. The path still leads to where the base of the stairs once sat. At the top of the hill a sign also betrays the former staircase.

The Algoma Street Bridge is a new replacement for the older bridge that spanned the creek for decades. Built in 1987 the bridge incorporated some elements of the original bridge, such as the retaining walls to control erosion along the south bank of McVicar's Creek.
The bridge itself has found great use by graffiti artists. It was proposed, at one point, to designate it as a 'Graffiti Wall' for legal use by local artists. Opposition from neighbourhood groups succeeded in City Council abandoning this plan.

Directly beside the Algoma Street Bridge lies a small vehicle bridge that leads to nowhere. Before the construction of the Creekside Manor condominiums this bridge led to the loading bays of Northern Brewery.

This bridge and the brewery's commercial store are only a few of the remains of the former Port Arthur institution. The Brewery's commercial store has been replaced by a florist shop.

Lost in the trees on the opposite bank is the lamp pole that used to illuminate the Brewery's yard.

Across the creek from the site of the former brewery is the site of one of Port Arthur's first hospitals - the Railway, Marine, and General Hospital. The former hospital has since been replaced by the Dawson Apartments.

In the shadows of the trees along the walking path are the remains of a city park bench, almost swallowed by the foliage and soil.

More water control works along the course of McVicar's Creek. Note the apparently non-functional concrete structures in the rear of the picture, hidden amongst the foliage.

This path marks the entrance to Regent Park, an undeveloped parcel of green space. Regent Park was once home to toboggan runs which attracted children from the surrounding neighbourhoods during the long northern winters. The runs were dismantled many years ago.

These culverts (lost in the summer foliage) mark the end of the old River Street walking trail. The giant culverts allowed the new River Street to bridge McVicar's Creek at Farrand Street, linking other sections of the new River Street with the waterfront.

The stairs from the creek's valley up to street level.

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Old River Street