From Queenston to Kingston. Ron Brown

date from the days when Port Nelson was a busy port.

      A small lakeside park at the foot of Guelph Line does little to recall the times when the masts of tall ships would tower above the Port Nelson pier. There is no record of whether small piers stood at the foot of either Walkers Line or Appleby Line, although both roads were early farm roads that linked the lake with the farmlands to the north. As access to the lakeshore became easier with the arrival of the auto, wealthy business people began to buy up the shoreline and build some of the period’s grandest summer retreats.

      East of Port Nelson stands one of the west coast’s grandest heritage homes, the “Paletta Mansion.” Whoever thought that “money couldn’t buy happiness” didn’t count on the wealth of Cyrus Albert Birge. It was Birge’s Hamilton foundry, the Canada Screw Company, that merged with four other companies in 1910 to form the mighty Stelco. Following his death, his wealth passed to his daughter, Edythe Merriam MacKay.

      In 1930, on five and a half hectares at the mouth of Shoreacres Creek, Mrs. MacKay hired architects to design a grand stone mansion that would give her and her family the finest views of Lake Ontario that her father’s money could buy. The three-thousand-square-metre palace was designed by Stewart Thomas McFie and Lyon Sommerville. Other structures on the property include a 1912 gatehouse, a child’s dollhouse, and a stable. The dollhouse was not your average child’s toy either — it came equipped with both electricity and running water.

      The mansion was restored by the City of Burlington in 2000 and can be rented from the city for conferences, banquets, and weddings. Now fully modernized, the three storeys still retain seven fireplaces and a grand staircase. A four-hectare “discovery trail” along the creek allows hikers the opportunity to observe birds and rare plant life. The gatehouse now contains a welcome centre and art studio, while the former stable is now the Tim Horton’s Learning Loft, offering youth camps and environmental programs.

      The history of the property dates back more than two hundred years to the time when a grateful King George III granted the land to War of 1812 heroine Laura Secord.

Bronte

      From the “Paletta Mansion,” Lakeshore Road traces an historic path, at times offering glimpses of the lake through small waterside parkettes, but for the most part cut off from those views by the endless rows of housing. The view opens up once more at the mouth of Twelve Mile Creek, where the port of Bronte developed.

      The port was founded in 1834, and William Smith found Bronte a “stirring” little village in 1846 — one that contained grist- and sawmills, a store, and two taverns, and was home to about one hundred inhabitants. He made no mention of any port activity. Five years later he estimated the population as being about two hundred, and noted four sawmills along the creek. By this time the port had begun to develop, and in 1850 it shipped out six hundred thousand metres of lumber and over eighty thousand bushels of wheat, oats, and barley. More than two thousand cords of cordwood were picked up to fuel the lake steamers. The Bronte Harbour Company was formed in 1856, and shipping and boat-building began to dominate the harbour. Continuing the trend of Wellington Square and Port Nelson, the post office took the name Bronte in honour of Admiral Horatio Nelson, British war hero, and holder of the Duchy of Bronte.

      With the arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1854, the port activity switched from exporting lumber and farm products to commercial fishing. From 1890 to 1950, more than a dozen fishing boats operated in the harbour, where the shore was lined with shanties and net-drying racks. With stonehooking⁴ a growing industry, the port also became home to a small fleet of stoneboats. One of the more prolific builders of the stonehookers was Lem Dorland, who between 1880 and 1885 launched five stonehooking schooners, including the Madeline, Rapid City, and Mapleleaf. By the 1950s, many of the commercial fishermen had moved away, and yachts began to take over the harbour.

      Today’s urban growth has utterly altered the face of Bronte. Condos have replaced most of the historic storefronts, and new waterfront development has removed most traces of the historic port. Few heritage buildings have withstood the onslaught. One that remains is “Glendella,” built in 1845 as Thompson’s Hotel. It was originally constructed by Ned Thompson on what was called the Old Lake Road, and served for many years as a stagecoach stop. The arrival of the railway put an eventual end to stage travel in the area, and “Glendella” went on to serve as a grocery store and post office before resuming its role as a summer hotel. In 1987 the building was designated under the Heritage Act, but the act, as worded then, was utterly toothless, and twenty years later the building was threatened with demolition or removal to pave the way for still more condos. Luckily, an agreement was reached, allowing it, along with the old wooden police building and post office, to remain on site. The buildings will form a heritage square within the condo complex.

      One of the other structures to survive is “Stoneboats.” Built in 1846 out of Dundas shale hauled from the lake, it was originally the home of one of Bronte’s prominent stoneboat captains. Today it is a restaurant.

      On July 21, 2007, as part of the waterfront redevelopment, a fishermen’s memorial was unveiled. The granite stone, two metres high and four metres long, has laser etchings that depict images of a local fisherman named Thomas Joyce and smaller scenes from Bronte’s days as a busy fishing port. The new waterfront offers extensive walkways, a replica lighthouse, and a busy marina. On the west side of the harbour (a much more tranquil side) stands the Sovereign House. Built in 1825 by Charles Sovereign,⁵ it was relocated a short distance from its original site to a wooded promontory known as the Bronte Bluffs. The building, which was occupied briefly (1910–15) by Mazo de la Roche, author of the Jalna series of novels, is open to the public and offers period displays and travelling exhibits. Located at 7 West River Street, south of Lakeshore Road, it also houses the offices of the Bronte Historical Society.