More Canal History

Sometimes an old house is all we have left of a forgotten part of the past.  In the case of the structure I am showing today, the forgotten piece of history is a canal.  And of course you can often find old early 19th century Georgians near a canal.  In the case of this instance, the city is Dundas, Ontario in Canada.

In this case, the old Georgian was not a residence, it was a customs house.  Along with a walking trail (which used to be the canal), this structure is part of an old and troubled canal that most people probably don't know about.  Here's a jumble of historic information....

Southern Ontario, near the Niagara was heavily populated on purpose. After the Revolutionary war, Britain wanted to populate the border near the United States as densely as possible.  Lots of incentives were offered for settlers to move there.  When you see Georgian structures they are often more elaborate in style keeping with homage to the mighty King George for whom the style was named.  You'll see more Georgians in Niagara on the Lake that conform to the more formal English style, and the more vernacular styles on the American side.

But on to canals....  When taking the train to Toronto, you'll pass over a bay/inlet in Burlington.  This is a sandy/loamy part of the lake that was never easily navigable.  Back in the early 1800's a gentleman by the name of Desjardin had the idea to build a canal.  He figured this would be a profitable way to help ships bring goods inlad through the bay in a less difficult fashion.  It was not easy for Desjardin to line up financing.  The Welland Canal was a competitor.  Investors were not easy to find.  But the canal was built.

The Desjardin canal was not a rousing success.  In fact, when it's creator died, he was found in a basement, killed by unknown means and his cause of death was said to be "by God's actions" or some such nonesense.  Some speculate he was trying to collect on debts owned to him.  Even though his venture failed in the end and he died broke, he was still in need of funds from his investors.

The custom house is on a very busy intersection in the City of Dundas. It is being used as a Physical Therapy offce.  It's never been a residence and although it is build of limestone and not brick, it still shares a very similar aesthetic to the Dayton House.  It also shares a canal history.

These isolated structures are often all that survive today when it comes to forgotten pieces of the past.