Port Dalhousie, Ontario

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The historic lighthouse and pier

Port Dalhousie, in relation to other nearby lakeports.

Port Dalhousie ( /dəˈluːzi/) is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its waterfront appeal. It is also home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three (19th century) routes of the Welland Canal.

The city's most popular beach, on the shore of Lake Ontario, is located in Port Dalhousie at historic Lakeside Park. The park is home to an antique carousel which was carved by Charles I. D. Looff in 1905 and brought to St. Catharines in 1921. It continues to provide amusement for young and old alike, at just 5 cents a ride.

Etymology

Port Dalhousie is named for George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Governor General of British North America. Dalhousie also gave his name to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and to the town of Dalhousie, New Brunswick.

Dalhousie pronounced his name 'dal-HOW-zee' during his time. All of his namesakes carry this pronunciation except Port Dalhousie, which is pronounced 'duh-LOO-zee'. It is said that this is a result of the accent of the Scottish sailors and shipbuilders who frequented the Port's establishments (Dalhousie, himself a Scot, used the more upper class English-sounding pronunciation).

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  Aerial view -1920

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  Aerial view -1920

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  Aerial view -1920

Miscellaneous

• Neil Peart, drummer for the rock band Rush, grew up in Port Dalhousie. The song, "Lakeside Park", on their 1975 album Caress of Steel, is about his summers at the beach.
• Parts of the film The Skulls, starring Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker, was shot in Port Dalhousie at the Henley rowing course and along the pier.
• Most of the film The Boy in Blue, starring Nicolas Cage, was filmed in different parts of Port Dalhousie.
• In the first season of St. Elsewhere (1982, TV series), there is a patient with amnesia. In the episode titled "Family History" it is revealed that David Stewart (John Doe #12) comes from Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada.
• Ontario has had a few historical claimants, by towns, for housing the province's smallest jail. The main three being: Tweed, Creemore and Coboconk. However, old jailhouses in Port Dalhousie, Rodney, Providence Bay and ghost town, Berens River, have proven to be even smaller. The jailhouse in Port Dalhousie is now part of a bar.
• The International Chicken Chucking Championships takes placed every January in Port Dalhousie and attracts hundreds of participants and observers.^[1] Chicken Chucking consists of pitching or sliding frozen chickens along the ice covered Martindale Pond similar to curling and shuffleboard. The bird-brained fundraiser began in 2000 by patrons of the Kilt and Clover after realizing that there was not much to do in Port Dalhousie in the middle of winter. Money raised supports local charities including the food bank.

References

1. ^ Walter, Karena (January 17, 2009) "Time for a poultry-pitching party", The St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved December 27, 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Port Dalhousie

• The Welland Canals Advocate
• Port Dalhousie's Only Online Community Journal
• Dalhousie Peer Magazine
• Port Dalhousie Official BIA website
• Port Dalhousie walking tour
• Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections at the Niagara Falls Public Library
• The History of Port Dalhousie

Coordinates: 43°12′06.76″N 79°16′05.00″W / 43.2018778°N 79.26806°W / 43.2018778; -79.26806