Boatnerd Discussion Forum

theu used to go to the mill in Red Rock but the wharf is no longer there

southsideriverrat wrote:Red Rock looks like it is up in Nipigon Bay. Is there any reason for lakers to go in there anymore?

What is the name of the huge bay between Thunder Bay & Nipigon Bay (the bay that is guarded by Edward Island at its mouth)? Any history of lakers ever going up in there?

The bay between Thunder Bay and Nipigon Bay is called Black Bay.
Black Bay is only deep right up the center of the bay, very shallow around the edges. No good for any large ships.

Red Rock looks like it is up in Nipigon Bay. Is there any reason for lakers to go in there anymore?

What is the name of the huge bay between Thunder Bay & Nipigon Bay (the bay that is guarded by Edward Island at its mouth)? Any history of lakers ever going up in there?

When talking about small ports on the north shore of Lake Superior when I worked for CSL back in 66 we loaded paper products in a port called Red Rock which was just East of Thunder bay.

While not an active port recently, Jackfish used to receive coal for steam engines on the Canadian (National/Pacific?) In the early 80's my dad & I tried to find the road that ran to the old dock without success. Does anyone know when the last boats went in there? Thanks Mike

Herron Bay still receives cement from Lafarge.

I was into Michipcoten Hrb. 2 or 3 times in the mid nineties with slag out of Dofasco in Hamilton.
Marathon was getting a couple of tankers a year up untill about 2007.

Michipicoten Harbour was once a busy port handling outbound sinter ore and inbound coal, coke breeze and limestone. A large trap rock deposit nearby has been undergoing an environmental assessment process and could once agin be active with shipments of trap rock

Ashland still sees a coal drop or two at the steam plant there. Not too long ago they also had winter layovers at the Oredock. That ended when pieces of it started to fall off.

Thanks for all the info. What about Marathon, Ontario, or anything else on the north side of the lake besides Thunder Bay in the last 10-20 years?

Yalmer Mattila's Dock in Hancock gets one to two loads of salt a year, the last load of coal came to Dollar Bay in the late 90's. Either the Clarke or Callaway brought it, they were to deep to get into Ontonagan. Up til that time Upper Peninsula Power got regular loads of coal in Dollar Bay up til 91'-92'

Salt goes to the Yalmer Mattila dock in west Hancock. Nothing was at the Dollar Bay dock a few years ago when my daughter was attending (and graduated) from Tech with a BSCE. Tom Hynes is a fellow CE:) I recall the trucks were from Howes & Howes out of Mesick when I was there. I would think I would have remembered the red and lime green trucks:) Lived in 535 WWH all four years.

There were many ports on Lake Superior when the shipment of logs and coal were in vogue. Just in the Keweenaw waterway there were docks at Houghton, Hancock, Ripley, Dollar Bay, Hubbell, Lake Linden, Mason Location, Jacobsville, Chassell. I have compiled a list over the years of some 100 ports in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Isn't the salt for the Keweenaw actually unloaded at the old coal dock at Dollar Bay? Munising still gets coal. Unsure about Ontonagon. The paper mill there closed and is about to be dismantled. However there has been talk about keeping the power plant as a stand alone facility.

As for those coal trucks to L'Anse, they were running at least to 1986, probably until the power plant was converted to another fuel (waste wood I believe). Sounds like Raildude's Dad and I may have lived in the same dorm, although about 10 years apart. Here is a link to a photo of 2 of the trucks in action.

http://www.huskidrive.com/pic-week/pic-week-3-8-10

The Henry Ford 2 took a load of agricultural lime to L-Anse in 1976.

The dock in Dollar Bay received coal back in 1968-72. The double bottoms hauling the coal to Lanse would roll by my dorm room at MI Tech. Can't tell you about after 1972

I know washburn received shipments in the past but I've only seen a photo of a Bradley boat unloading there. Also Ashland still gets a load of coal least once or twice a year. Usually the john j boland, american mariner or h.lee white.

Some of the smaller ports (towns) around Lake Superior have seen vessel traffic in the past, and maybe still do. Did Washburn, Wis. get a load of coal from the Fred R. White in the late 80's? Is Ashland still active with the coal dock there? Ontonagon and Munising still get coal? When was the last time Dollar Bay got anything? Houghton/Hancock gets it's annual salt in the fall. What about Marathon, Ontario? Thanks.