Depot Harbour has the distinction of being one of the largest towns in Ontario to become a ghost town.
It had its beginning in the 1890s when a Canadian lumberman, John Rudolphus Booth, decided to build a town and railroad that would be the shortest commercial route to the Atlantic.
Booth selected Parry Island as the site for his town. He built grain elevators, a hotel, boarding houses, and over a hundred family dwellings. It also had stores, schools, and churches for over 3,000 residents.
Booth also built a huge railway roundhouse to turn and service the engines of his railroad. The town prospered for Booth had created the shortest grain route from the American west to Atlantic ports.
In 1904, Booth sold his railroad to the Grand Trunk Railway for $14.2 million dollars. Fourteen years later, the Canadian National Railway took control of the country’s bankrupt railroads including Booth’s former railroad. To save operating costs, the CNR closed the roundhouse at Depot Harbour.
The beginning of the end was in sight. In 1933, the CNR closed the main portion of Booth’s old line.
The closure was the death knell for Depot Harbour for it no longer was the shortest route to the Atlantic.
Depot Harbour was once one of Ontario’s most promising Great Lakes ports.
Today, it is one of Ontario’s most extensive ghost towns. If missing replace it