History
Bear Creek Harbor saw its heyday during the iron ore mining days in the Town of Ontario in the mid-to-late 1800s when iron was discovered in a section, later designated as Furnaceville. A rich vein of iron ore was discovered to run most of the width of Ontario near Ore Bed Road, now know as Kenyon Road. The area was strip mined and the ore was transported to Bear Creek Harbor and loaded onto barges and shipped to Charlotte, NY. During that period, two large piers ran out into the lake at Bear Creek Harbor. One of the piers was wide enough for a team of horses to turn around.
In the 1873 “Report of the Secretary of War to Congress,” a description of Bear Creek Harbor was submitted by John M. Wilson, Maj. Engineer:
"During the year ending June 1872, the number of vessels entering and clearing during the year was 159 as follows: 75 schooners, 81 canal boats, 2 steam barges, and 1 bark. The imports were 10,865 tons of coal; 2,820 tons of limestone; 2, 529 tons of iron-ore; 130 barrels of salt; 9,000 feet board measure of lumber. The value of imports was $95,798. The exports were 16,340 tons of iron-ore; 6,000 tons of iron, 100 barrels of apples. The value of exports was $289,170"
At one point, the area around the harbor had one store, one grist mill and eleven houses. While the area around the furance, known as Furanceville had one store, two blacksmith shops and one hundred houses. A railroad spur ran between the two location.
As the iron industry began to wind down, Bear Creek Harbor was still used as a port to recieve other commerican goods. Over time, commercial fishing replaced the shipping industry where whitefish, sturgeon, pike, trout, redside, greenbacks and ling were all commerically fished. Eventually, the area became overfished and the area became neglected.
In 1960, Fay Thompson donated the land around the harbor to the Town of Ontario. This property is now know as Thompson Park.
These days, the harbor is primarily used for recreational purposes.
Passport:
Please leave the punch inside the cache. It is for the Passport and not available as swag to trade.
Information about the passport will be released soon at https://web.co.wayne.ny.us/694/Bicentennial-Geocache-Passport
Thank you to the Town of Ontario Parks Department for allowing placement of this cache.