Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Ferries

The stagecoach had a close connection with the ferry and navigation as the river was also part of the method of transporatation in the 19th and early 20th century as is illustrated in the top 1910 photo of the "Richelieu" ferry unloading the farmers at Quai La Tortue (Torchy Wharf) in Laprairie returning from the markets in Montreal.The lower undated photo probably from the 30s is the "St Louis" ferry-boat tied up at the foot of second avenue also called the Leblanc wharf. Horses where still around in the 30s and 40s delivering milk, bread and ice and us old-timers still remember that era.

3 comments:

Les F said...

Some milk was still delivered by horse drawn milk trucks as late as the early 60's (very early) as a kid I can remember seeing the last one I saw in operation was right on it's way up Willibrord Av at the corner of Verdun,.as I went to St Willibrord's School which was at Rielle & Verdun ,but it's schoolyard travelled right to Willibrord along Verdun Av. and then the yard ran along Willibrord becomming part of the Catholic High School which had a Boys entrance on the Willibrord side,ran parallell to VerdunAv where it had the Girls entrance to the same high school on that side. We had a 'de-miltarized zone' which was sort of a shared part of the schoolyard,that was more on the girls side, and we (the boys) were not supposed to go on that side,they even had a fence separating the girls & boys side of the high school.....as for the grade school the boys entrance was closer to Verdun Av & the girls entered the grade school from the far ended (closer to the high school) We all had to line up two by two ,when old man Doyle (the principal) would ring the bell,.the first ring you were to stand still and not move wherever you hapenned to be when it rang, then he would ring it again and eveyone would have to move quickly to get in line before they let you in the school......HF&RV

Ken McLaughlin said...

Yea, old man Doyle, also had a fairly red nose as I recall.

Ken M

Robin Turner said...

When I went to St. Willibrord school, the nuns ran the primary school and the brothers ran the boy's high school. I started in grade 1 in 1948 and graduated in 1960.
Robin T.