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usual spread of the crown also the acorns have the right kind of cap but are very elongated white oak acorns will normally have a cap which is about 1 4 of the over all size of the nut there are over 500 recognized species of quercus or oak trees there are several flood control ponds on the southern portion of the park which enhance the area as a natural spot for the wildlife moving through the city from the lake toward northern destinations there are some less developed trails around the flood control ponds and up the back side of the southernmost cricket pitch danville park was named after the industrial street where the entrance is located in 2025 the name was changed to max ward park to commemorate max ward who founded ward airlines in 1952 he grew it into the third largest airline in canada before it joined canadian airlines in 1989 and was later absorbed in air canada in 2001 max ward park is relatively new with a few tree plantings and it will naturalize even more over the coming years it is an interesting place for a visit google maps link max ward danville park like us at http www facebook com hikingthgta follow us at http www hikingthegta com this entry was posted in mississauga and tagged avro arrow danville park max ward wardair on november 2 2025 by hikingthegta welland canal bridge 15 1 reply october 18 2025 i recently visited welland to see a new client and while passing through town i noticed an abandoned swing bridge naturally this provided an opportunity to get some pictures and learn a little about the local history the bridge is known as bridge 15 on the welland canal and was built in 1910 to replace an earlier wooden bridge at this location the bridge style is a baltimore truss swing bridge a baltimore truss bridge is reinforced by an additional brace in the lower section of the truss this is intended to prevent buckling in the beams and to reduce deflection this style of bridge was primarily used for railway construction but is not very common with few remaining examples the bridge was built to carry the canada southern railway caso across the welland river the railway was founded in 1868 and went insolvent following the financial crisis of 1873 it was taken over by railway magnate cornelius vanderbilt who claimed it for the price of guaranteeing the bonds that had been issued against it as ships became bigger the various bridges through town became an obstacle and a newer straighter canal was envisioned that would move the canal away from this part of the river the welland canal relocation project moved the rail line to the town line tunnel to the east of the river when the bridge was built the third welland canal was in operation and navigation was only possible on the east side of the bridge electrical power was brought by cable from the west shore to the centre of the bridge when the fourth welland canal opened in 1932 navigation was possible on both sides of the bridge this meant that the overhead power cable was no longer feasible an underwater power cable was run from the shore to the tower on the northern concrete fender these fenders protected the bridge from collisions with ships when the bridge was in its open position a power cable was run between the tower on the northern fender and the one on the southern fender pictured below visible in this picture is the structure at the top of the bridge where electricity was supplied to operate the controls and swing the structure originally there were two tracks crossing the bridge but one was removed after the main line was relocated in 1973 the other side remained in use until the late 1980s the bridge is now marked with no trespassing signs and the danger is quite real as there s plenty of ways to get injured on this rusty old relic where the rails are missing the gears and turning mechanisms can be clearly seen piers were sunk into the river bed on either bank of the river to protect the bridge abutments from impacts with wayward ships these are rotting and slowly falling back into the water after 115 years the bridge is now a relic to a time gone by when the trains rolled over the bridge and ships passed by on either side when it was open the railway line is gone and ships now pass a couple of kilometres east of the river in a new channel related stories the first three welland canals google maps link welland canal bridge 15 like us at http www facebook com hikingthegta follow us at http www hikingthegta com this entry was posted in historic site and tagged welland canal on october 18 2025 by hikingthegta gone but not forgotten 1 reply sep 27 2025 one of the purposes of this blog over the years has been to photograph historic sites in case they are destroyed and lost forever in the 11 plus years that we have been active we have photographed hundreds of historic buildings and properties unfortunately we are already seeing several of these places being lost forever this post highlights several of the ones that no longer exist there are many places along the bruce trail that have interesting stories to tell one of them is the remains of a house on the river and ruin side trail the house has been a ruin for a hundred years but it appears that recently the remains have been vanadalized and there is even less of it left now there are more pictures and our full article here the nodwell house in hillsburgh was built in 1868 and was used by several generations of the family the old farm was bought for a housing development and the home has since been demolished the story of the family and the home can be found at this link camp calydor had several uses including a tb hospital a german pow camp and a jewish retreat the remains used to stand in the forest in gravenhurst but even these have been demolished for a housing development the full story can be read here cabot head lighthouse was built in 1895 and although it still exists the road is closed and the lighthouse is also closed to the public there s more pictures and the full story here sunnybrook farm was created in 1909 and the barn was raised shortly thereafter when the farm was transferred to the city as a park the horse barn was used to house police horses it burned down in 2018 there are more pictures and the story can be found here cheltenham had an apiary for two generations that operated near the old saw mill this building burned down a couple of years after we took this picture there s more pictures and the full story at this link the toronto dry dock company was established in time to produce war ships for the military during world war 1 the business closed years ago and the buildings have recently been demolished as part of the port lands redevelopment more pictures and the story can be found here the old major mackenzie bowstring bridge was built in 1914 and was abandoned when the road was rerouted it has since been removed you can find the full story and more pictures here the speyside general store was the last surviving structure from the early days of speyside it stood vacant for a couple of decades and then fire destroyed part of it in 2024 the building has since been demolished the story of speyside and the general store can be found at this link the sudbury regional hospital dates to 1944 but was closed in 2010 a mural was painted on the outside much to the displeasure of some of the community and the structure was finally demolished in september 2025 more pictures and the story can be found at this link the former community of ringwood has several abandoned historic buildings that are all likely to end up demolished the first to go was the ringwood diner which was taken down last year more pictures of the abandoned buildings in ringwood and the story can be found at this link one of the most eccentric homes in toronto was built by an individual who kept adding all kinds of different architectural styles to his home after he passed the home fell into disrepair and has since been demolished more pictures and the story at this link historic sites continue to be lost due to neglect fire and new development it appears that both the mountain sanitorium in hamilton and the london insane asylum may both have been demolished but these are still unconfirmed no doubt other properties will lose their heritage structures as time goes along google maps links are within the stories themselves like us at http www facebook ca hikingthegta follow us at http www hikingthegta com this entry was posted in historic site and tagged demolished historic sites on september 27 2025 by hikingthegta vanished communities of highway 10 leave a reply as you drive between shelburne and markdale on highway 10 you may notice several pioneer cemeteries that appear to be in the middle of nowhere in fact they were located in small communities with houses stores hotels schools and churches for different reasons the communities faded from prominence and disappeared the buildings were lost to fire neglect and demolition some were lost as the highway was widened and realigned the first of these communities was just north of shelburne and was known as melancthon the melancthon methodist episcopal church was operating as early as 1858 as part of a circuit that included shleburne hornings mills and maple grove it became part of the methodist church of canada in 1885 and the united church of canada in 1925 the church was informally known as the gravel road church and the gravel road cemetery the archive image below is from 1964 and shows the cemetery when the church building still stood beside it the stones were gathered into a central display when the road was widened and some stories say that the deceased may now be interred under the roadway this cemetery can be found here a hewn log catholic church was built in 1858 which also served as a school and was later named st patrick s catholic church this building was used for twenty years before it was decided to replace it with a brick building as the community of melancthon slowly disappeared the attendance in the church dropped off by 2017 there were only about 40 people left in the congregation and the building was deteriorating badly it was decided to leave the building and amalgamate with the trinity united church in shelburne the building has stood empty now for the past 8 years and its fate is in the hands of the catholic diocese of hamilton melancthon soon had 4 hotels a blacksmith undertaker and several stores an orange lodge was built in 1858 and a methodist church in 1860 a town hall was added in 1874 things changed rapidly after the first world war as the lumber industry was finished and changes in agriculture styles left the town in a continual downward spiral soon all the commercial buildings and industries were gone and now only the church remains in the cemetery beside the derelict building are 171 headstones that mark the graves of some of the areas earliest pioneers this cemetery can be found here on the 1877 county atlas the community of inistioge doesn t look like much it was founded around 184 when the toronto sydenham road now highway 10 was being opened up george armstrong and his family arrived from inistioge ireland and started to build a community methodist church services were held in the home of george snyder until about 1850 when a log church was built on the armstrong farm a cemetery was opened up beside it with the first burial being in 1851 that same year a post office was opened in the armstrong home under the name of proton but this name was changed to inistioge in 1865 inistioge attracted a growing number of businesses including a blacksmith shoe maker harness maker hotel saw mill general stores and hotels when the railway passed them by in 1872 and the decline of the community began the log church lasted for 20 years but was replaced in 1871 with a new larger building it was closed in 1961 and later demolished the school was built in 1865 and replaced with a new building in 1889 this new building remains as a private residence and is about the only surviving remnant of the town with the exception of the forgotten cemetery with its wrought iron sign this cemetery can be found here south of markdale there is an isolated cemetery on opposite sides of the road the one on the east side of the road is the irwin cemetery and on the west side is the orange valley presbyterian cemetery these are both found in the upper circle on the 1877 county atlas image below the orange hall a few lots south was all that existed at this time to show the location of another public building methodism followed the settlers into the area and by december of 1849 worship services were being held in the home of the miller family a log church was opened in june of 1856 at the cost of 150 it was on land donated from the irwin farm and had seating for 150 people when a new methodist church opened in markdale in 1870 the congregation of the irwin church went there or to annesley methodist the church is gone but the cemetery remains the stones are mostly all of the burials are from the 1870s and earlier as usual they were gathered together into a cairn this cemetery can be found here orange valley presbyterian seems to be a bit of a mystery with limited information available although there is no community marked on the map in the 1870s when many of the burials took place there are close to three hundred individuals laid to rest in the two cemeteries mostly in the 19th century this suggests a sizeable local community or that most congregants were coming down from markdale as well as from local farms the burials are commemorated with 127 memorials beginning in the same time period as those across the street most burials here are prior to 1925 when the presbyterian church joined with the methodist church to form the united church of canada that spelled the end of this small congregation and later burials appear to be spouses who were later laid to rest with their departed loved ones this cemetery can be found here these cemeteries are the last remaining vestiges of small rural communities that thrived and then faded away during the pioneer period in ontario related stories pioneer heartbreak pioneer cemetery cairns google map links in stories like us at http www facebook com hikingthegta follow us at http www hikingthegta com this entry was posted in ghost town and tagged cemeteries inistioge irwin cemetery melancthon orange valley pioneer cemetery shelburne on august 23 2025 by hikingthegta woodside national historic site leave a reply august 9 2024 a former country estate has become surrounded by kitchener waterloo but still retains its earlier charm now known as woodside the home was originally built in 1853 by james colquhoun when he passed away in 1877 the property underwent several tenants until it sat empty for several years the image below shows the home in the victorian era between 1886 and 1893 the house was occupied by the king family john and isabel king...