This maritime tragedy led to an act of philanthropy that has breathed life into a nondescript turn-in-the-road called Blackwater, Ontario, and a surprising tribute to a young officer killed long ago and far away.
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On the 24th of October, 1943 the British destroyer HMS Eclipse hit a mine in the Aegean Sea, breaking in two and sinking in five minutes with the loss of 119 sailors and 134 soldiers from the Royal East Kent Regiment. On board this ship was a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, Lt. Douglas Bond Symons – the son of David and Frances Symons of Toronto and brother to Katherine. No one could know at the time that this tragedy led to an act of philanthropy that has breathed life into a nondescript turn-in-the-road called Blackwater, Ontario.
Part of the extensive Beaver River wetland near Blackwater Ontario. – All photos by Brian Robert except where indicated
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Blackwater is a tiny hamlet strung out along Highway 12, about one hundred and twenty kilometres north and east of Toronto. Originally called Wick Station, Blackwater is surrounded by a very large wetland, with a number of gravel pits to the west and north. The only reason anyone ever settled in this poorly drained swamp was that the Toronto and Nipissing railway was built along the flat banks of the Beaver River that winds through these wetlands. An audacious scheme fronted by Mr. George Laidlaw, this railway was supposed to go from Toronto in the south to Nipissing in the north to ship grain to the Gooderham and Worts Distillery in Toronto.
A 1958 photo of Blackwater station in winter. The train on the left at the platform is heading towards Coboconk, while the train that departed on the right is heading towards Lindsay. – Photo by R. J. Sandusky
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A July 1926 photo showing the water tower and station in the distance. Lindsay would be in the opposite direction the photographer is facing. Note the turret on the station which doesn’t appear in any other photos. Photographer unknown.
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The first narrow gauge railway in North America arrived in the area by 1872 with the intent to continue north to join the CPR trans-continental line near Lake Nipissing, but this ambition was never achieved as the line went no further north than Coboconk. ‘Blackwater Junction’ became a strategic Y junction of this rail line, where the line split with one branch heading north to Cannington then Coboconk, and the other line veering east to join the five rail lines that ran through the important hub in Lindsay.
An original section house salvaged and moved by the Mann family.
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Section houses, a railway station and a fueling and watering facility were established at this important junction and a small railway town emerged from the marsh. In its glory days, the station included a lady’s parlour, quarters for gentleman and even a full-service restaurant. Trains travelling from Lindsay would stop for up to twenty minutes at the station. Trains travelling from the west would clear the station and passengers would either carry on to Toronto, or take one of six trains a day that went either north to Sunderland and points beyond or east to Lindsay. Blackwater boomed.
Part of the Beaver River wetlands near Blackwater Ontario.
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Like many pioneer railways, the TNR went through a series of consolidations with competing lines, eventually being absorbed by the much larger Grand Trunk Railway by 1884. Two mills set up shop in town, and a stockyard was built to ease the shipment of livestock from the local farms to market. A nearby inventor is given credit by locals for coming up with a revolutionary way of processing a local crop, revolutionizing the life span of the humble rutebaga.
J.H. Purvis of neighbouring Pinedale stumbled upon the idea of waxing turnips, and set up a factory to process the crop to lengthen its shelf life, and extend the market by shipping it by train. The factory was located right by the tracks in Blackwater, comprised of a multi-level series of ramps that could wash, dry then wax the turnips on a gravity fed system. The Blackwater Turnip Factory was a success, but Purvis balked at the trouble and expense of filing a patent for his invention, permitting competitors to take his idea and refine it. Increased competition priced the Blackwater factory out of business and it eventually closed its doors. The building disappeared in a mysterious fire in 1974, all but erasing any evidence of this pioneer industry. In its heyday fifty freight cars a year of waxed turnips made their way out of Blackwater to markets all over North America.
Wanja and Anika and William Mann at the Blackwater Bric-a-Brac Shoppe
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Another focal point of town was the general store called the ‘Allin store’ after the family that operated it for sixty years. Like many general stores, this one was a miniature department store selling a wide range of products as well as housing the post office. The store also served a vital social function as a gathering spot for a variety of local characters who assembled to talk politics, tell jokes and chew tobacco. They became known as the “Hot Stove League” as they tended to cluster around the wood stove, and an occasional stray spit of ‘chew’ would hit the stove and sizzle away. The store still stands; though now it is an eclectic, seemingly chaotic collection of antiques and artifacts called the Blackwater Bric-a-Brac Shoppe, owned and operated by the Mann family for the last thirty years.
Bicycle on Blackwater Ontario trail, eastern branch heading to Lindsay.
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The Grand Trunk Railway went bankrupt in 1923 and Canadian National Railway continued to operate two passenger trains a day as late as the 1970’s; but the glory days of this rail line were well behind it, and by the 1990’s the tracks were stripped away, leaving the rail bed behind. Abandoned, but not overlooked, the rail trail became part of another audacious plan as the line north of Uxbridge, through Blackwater and on to Lindsay and beyond, became part of the Trans-Canada Trail. The Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority acquired long stretches of this trail system with the intent to create a recreational corridor within the watershed of Lake Simcoe.
Blackwater Junction kiosk at the site of the original station at Y-Junction.
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Enter Katherine Symons and her gift in honour of her brother Douglas.
Lt. Douglas Bond Symons
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In 2005 the Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation, recipient of a generous bequest from Katherine Symons, acquired five hundred acres of provincially significant wetlands in and around Blackwater to assist in the preservation and restoration of twenty percent of the watershed of the Beaver River, an important source of water for Lake Simcoe. This contribution spurred additional efforts to rehabilitate the old rail beds, and the majority of the old rail line has been graded and resurfaced with crushed limestone, making it an excellent all-season corridor for people to enjoy this rich ecosystem.
Toronto-Algonguin Greenway, or TAG, introductory video
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Blackwater is a feature in another bold venture. Plans are well underway to create a “Toronto-Algonquin Greenway”, envisioned as a hike, bike and paddle route for those looking to explore a different view of Ontario. This four-hundred-kilometre tribute to ‘slow travel’ is an opportunity for travellers to make their way from the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto to the highlands of Haliburton, and will pass right through Blackwater and the Beaver River Wetlands. This low impact, sustainable approach to a road trip is gaining in attention and has a promising future.
Map of Toronto and Nipissing Railway from “Ghost Railways of Ontario” by Ron Brown
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The railway station that was the central asset of Blackwater was demolished in the early ‘60’s, and the land sat idle for decades. The place that was founded during the railway era, that became a tiny speck in the Trans-Canada trail map and now a feature of the Toronto-Algonquin Greenway continues to defy the odds. An impressive interpretative kiosk was erected in the last couple of years in the middle of the Y junction, where the station used to reside. Traffic is starting to increase again, especially during COVID times, as people look to get out without going far away, or getting close to others. A hundred or so metres east of Highway 12 sits the kiosk, and a surprising tribute to a young navy officer killed long ago and far away, lost but not forgotten by his sister, and their mutual love of nature.
The interpretive kiosk at Blackwater Junction
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Very interesting and well written article and I am sure there are more stories like this on the backroads of Canada.
Thanks Craig, there are certainly lots of stories like this on the backroads of Canada !
Been through Blackwater dozens of times barely slowing down for the curve. I have the Toronto/Nipissing historical book and will re-read the Blackwater part of the story. We live in Stouffville, another junction station on the rail line. It’s only a 40 minute drive to Blackwater for us to see the antique store and the site of the old junction.
In the early 1980’s I worked on a farm near Blackwater for Sunnyfield Holsteins it is a beautiful part of Ontario now in my 80’s I am back in the uk
Absolutely fascinating. History around us and a wonderful memorial to a young man lost in war. Thank you, Craig!
Who knew. Turnip factory. Excellent read. I’m on my way to check out the trail.
Please start slowing down on that corner. I live in the blue house next to the Brick a Beach. Children and pets are residing between the light at Durham road 13 , untill you get around that bend north of the antique store. Thank you
I was born and raised in Toronto. My mother’s family, (one of the Shier’s) had a farm on the south side of the 4th concession west of hwy 12 about a kilometer in. A gravel pit now.
When I was a kid in the early 60’s used to go with my cousins to the store in Blackwater for milk and candy. I think this is the Bric a Brac now.
Like Mr. Brownsberger I also live in Stouffville, (from the late 80’s), and you used to be able to ride the trail through Sunderland from the feed store and from there to I think Cannington?
I ended up working with one of the Allin clan in Oshawa in the early 1990’s
Thanks for letting us know John.
Glenn
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I am fascinated by the history of Blackwater as my grandfather was sent there as a child during war from England & stayed/lived/worked on a farm run by the Rennie family. Really hoping to visit when Covid restrictions allow!
Interesting footnote, Linda – there are still members of the Rennie family in the area of Blackwater – I taught two of them at the local high school!
Thank you Brian, he was sent there from England aged 8 yrs old until he was 21 years old. He then returned back to England. He was called William Dodimead & worked on the Rennie farm. Hoping to visit with my husband this year.
This is all very interesting. My mother used to ride the train from Markham to Gooderham to visit family when she was a young lady, stopping at the Blackwater Station. She never dreamed that someday her daughter would live a short distance from Blackwater!! My husband and I enjoyed a lovely walk on the trails yesterday.
My grandpa, Dan Glover loved in Blackwater and worked on the railroad. He was given one of the old chairs from either the train (break an) or the station…still have in my possession.
We kids would walk the tracks and try to avoid being yelled at by the station master. I even remember the telegraph being used just up the line in Sunderland.
On hot summer days, we’d walk down to the store in Blackwater, buy some white Wonder bread, come back for a lunch in the summer kitchen of fresh leaf lettuce with home made mayonnaise on the soft white bread, with a glass of cold well water to wash it down.
Lots of memories.
This is the kind of anecdote that enriches my story – I love those simple memories of another time. Thanks for writing this!
i grew up in blackwater. i worked on farms and hunted on the beaver river. good memories. i was small but remember all the gradual changes with the railway.
My grandmother lived in Blackwater in the 1950s when I was a child. Her property backed onto the railway station and I was fascinated by the comings and goings of the trains. One of my uncles explained to me how the Y junction functioned. Thank you, Brian, for your wonderful and informative article!
A wonderful history of Blackwater station I have great memories of the trains rolling through Sunderland.
Thanks for reading the article, Roger – I hope all is well with you and I’m glad the article sparked a memory or two for you!
Brian
Roger, wondering if the Rennie family mentioned is the same connected to Shier/Speiran families?
Hey Brian, So that was my mother Jo-Anne that commented above…
We own the “crappy looking” blue place right on the highway in Blackwater. The backyard backs out to the old railway. The reason my Father bought this place was because of my fascination with railway relic stuff that I found when we came here to view the property in 1995. I had found some old rails stashed in the bushes, as well as old railway spikes that had been left behind after they ripped up the tracks. Where the keyosk stands there was still a large platform at the time, as well as the large concrete base from the water tower.
One thing is that the 1926 picture you have captioned as “Lindsay being behind the photographer” in incorrect.. That photo is taken pretty much at the spot the old trail crosses the highway now, looking north. The house you can see in the photo is my neighbors house just to the south. It’s got red vinyl siding now. One very interesting part of that photograph is that it appears that on the east side of the trail, there used to be trees there, and it’s now swamp and part of the river, (to the right of the watertower in the 1926 photo), I assume they dredged out that part of the river to come closer to the tower and provide more water.
At the back of our property is an old foundation, I beleive it was the barn for the “stockyard” you wrote about, and it can somewhat be seen in that 1926 photo, the foundation is still there, all crumbled.
There are two names in the concrete in my basement, “Rennie” and “McCully” I beleive, (the exact spot is inaccsesable at the moment)
In 2020, there was an older woman that stopped by in the driveway, and she told me that her aunt used to own this house and she had visited here in the 50’s. She declined to see inside due to covid at the time. Didn’t get her name…
I have fond memories of growing up here and imagining what it was like “back in the day”. Have used the old trail for many years and had tons of fun “out In the swamp”.