Photo Courtesy of Owen Sound Tourism
A colorful history, a rich cultural fabric and a spectacular natural setting make Owen Sound, Ontario, a near-perfect port of call for visiting boaters.
If you think about the dream Port of Call for a Great Lakes sailor, what elements come to mind? An excellent harbor with top-notch facilities for boaters? Plenty of things to see and do? Great restaurants? An intriguing local history? Terrific shopping, with opportunities to find original art and unusual bargains? A bit of fishing, perhaps? And all within sight of the dock?
If that sounds just about right, then you’re already overdue for a visit to Owen Sound — perhaps Ontario’s perfect Port of Call.
Situated on the southwest corner of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, Owen Sound is a thriving and fascinating community of around 21,000 people. Originally settled by the Ojibwe, the area was surveyed by William Fitzwilliam Owen in 1815 and subsequently named Owen Sound. A settlement — named Sydenham — was established on the harbor in 1841; just five years later, its population had grown to 150 or so people. Renamed Owen Sound in 1851, the community grew rapidly after the arrival of two competing railroads, which cemented its position as a regional transportation hub.
Like any busy port, Owen Sound soon became known for its waterfront nightlife — which by the mid-1800s included a number of taverns, hotels and brothels. These developments led to Owen Sound acquiring some colorful nicknames, including Chicago North and Corkscrew City. Most of the debauchery centered around a popular tavern named the Bucket of Blood, which was located on the town’s main intersection. With saloons occupying all four corners, the junction became known as Damnation Corners. Fortunately, a short walk along the road lay another intersection with a church on each corner, appropriately named Salvation Corners, providing sailors with a convenient opportunity to repent for their sins on the way back to their ship.
Today, Owen Sound’s bawdy past is nothing more than a colorful memory. Indeed, in 2004 the city was named a Cultural Capital of Canada in recognition of its numerous community events and civic programs, including the internationally renowned Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival held every August, and the Festival of Northern Lights Christmas celebration, held each December. In 2005, Owen Sound was named a Cities in Bloom national champion for its beautiful, natural landscape, and its strong sense of community pride.
Getting there
Fortunately for Great Lakes cruisers, finding Owen Sound is just about as simple as it gets, being positioned at the end of a 13-mile-long, cone-shaped inlet leading almost due south from the open waters of Georgian Bay proper. The approach down the center of Owen Sound is clear and obstacle-free, with plenty of depth and no shoals, reefs or other obstructions to concern visiting mariners. The massive gray hulk of the Parrish and Heimbecker grain terminal, marking the entrance to the inner harbor, is clearly visible from at least eight miles offshore, providing a convenient target for navigation.
As you approach within a mile or so of the grain terminal, you’ll spot the Georgian Yacht Club and the 400-slip Georgian Shores Marina on the western shoreline. Georgian Shores will be the ultimate destination for most visiting boats, though it is also possible to continue into the mouth of the Sydenham River, to the east of the grain terminal, and tie up in town along the seawall, which is particularly convenient when provisioning. Georgian Shores Service and Repair, in partnership with Georgian Shores Marina, is a fully stocked one-stop shop for any boat services or parts that one may need. Owners Norm and Susan and their experienced staff take pride in their service and are ready to help.
Don’t head up the channel to the west of the terminal, which is the mouth of the much shallower Pottawatomi River. It’s not an unpleasant journey, but it will be a short one, as you’ll run out of depth in a few dozen yards. Regardless of where you dock, make your first stop at the Owen Sound Visitor’s Centre, located on the west side of the harbor in the former Canadian National Railways station. Marking the final rail stop for thousands of early settlers before they boarded ships to take them farther west, the restored station was originally built in 1931 and repurposed in the 1990s after passenger rail service was canceled. As the town’s official tourist office, it’s the best place to pick up maps, guides to walking tours, and up-to-the-minute advice on current events, popular attractions and important festivals.
On-site displays include vintage rail cars, which speak to the station’s previous life, and the Ancaster, a former lumber tug built in Owen Sound and which once graced the back face of the Canadian $1 bill. The tourist office also offers inexpensive bike rentals in season.
As you look around the grounds, you’re certain to notice a number of very large propellers. The site adjacent to the train station was once home to a propeller factory run by William Kennedy and son. Employing upward of 150 people at its peak, the plant supplied propellers for hundreds of lake boats, canallers, pleasure craft and military vessels — including virtually every ship built during the second world war under Canada’s national shipbuilding program — giving Owen Sound a well-earned reputation as the propeller capital of Canada. Unfortunately, a glut of decommissioned ships at the end of the war saw its revenues plummet, and the plant ultimately closed. But to this day, remnant propellers can still be found around the site.
From the Visitor Centre, a waterfront promenade leads directly into Owen Sound’s bustling downtown.
Summerfolk Photo Courtesy of Owen Sound Tourism, Visitors Center Photo by Craig Ritchie
Photo by Craig Ritchie
Photo by Craig Ritchie
Photo Courtesy of Owen Sound Tourism
A shopper’s mecca
One of the best things about Owen Sound is the easy access to its downtown shopping from the town docks. That not only makes provisioning a snap, but also invites impromptu shopping trips at any time. Best of all, the vast majority of the stores downtown are local, independent businesses rather than multinational chains, making it far more likely you’ll find truly interesting and unusual items.
That includes a wide variety of original art. Located downtown on 2nd Avenue East, which leads due south from the harbor, the Owen Sound Artists’ Co-Op in the historic McKay Building features the work of no less than 45 local painters and sculptors. Established in 1994, the Co-Op also highlights the works of monthly guest artists and legacy gallery exhibitors.
Across the street, Gallery de Boer Fine Art presents an impressive range of works from impressionism to abstract, aboriginal to wildlife, in a range of mediums from both established and emerging artists.
A few doors down, take an hour and lose yourself in Phoenix Books. The quintessential old-time, small-town bookstore, Phoenix offers a wide range of new and used fiction and non-fiction works at bargain prices, making it an ideal spot to swap some old favorites for new reads to enjoy on the ride home.
Fans of the Group of Seven will want to make a stop at the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery on 1st Avenue West, which features a large collection of memorabilia and works from the celebrated Group of Seven impressionists. Opened in 1967, the gallery celebrates the works of the famous Thomson, who grew up on a farm just outside of Owen Sound and went on to produce more than 450 major works, the majority of which hang on public display in major galleries around the world.
Prefer a work of art that you can eat rather than just admire? The Owen Sound Farmers’ Market on 8th Street East runs every Saturday morning all year-round. Occupying the same lovingly preserved heritage building since 1868, the Farmers’ Market is immensely popular among locals and visitors alike, with the magnificent venue being a big part of the fun.
Wine and dine
All that shopping is bound to leave one feeling a bit peckish, but fortunately Owen Sound offers a wide range of dining options.
If you’re looking for a relaxing lunch, the downtown core offers all sorts of temptations, including Birgit’s Bakery Café, Frog Pond tea and coffee house, fresh juice at The Bleeding Carrot, and an impressive selection of gourmet cheeses at The Milk Maid.
Offering water views from its perch along the Sound’s eastern shoreline, Bishop’s Landing Restaurant, attached to the Best Western Hotel off 2nd Avenue East, rewards diners with stunning views from its outdoor patio. A quieter place with a traditional Canadian/American cuisine, it’s a great lunch spot or dinner choice.
Mudtown Station — also located on the eastern side of the harbor in the former Canadian Pacific Railroad station — is a charming gastropub with original 1947 architectural details inside and out. Mudtown offers the best patio in the area with an unobstructed water view in a quiet green space that’s steps from the dock. Locals particularly enjoy the 12 different craft beers on tap.
Another good dinner option if you’re feeling a little more upscale is Nathaniel’s Restaurant on 8th Street East. Known for its steaks, Nathaniel’s is also a good choice for seafood, particularly its broiled Georgian Bay whitefish.
Photo Courtesy of Ontario Tourism
Plenty to see and do
For a smaller city, Owen Sound is blessed with an abundance of things to see and do.
The city’s 400-seat Roxy Theatre, owned and operated by the Owen Sound Little Theatre, serves up a diverse offering of concerts and professional live theater performances. That includes productions by the Youth Theatre Coalition — a theater company run entirely by and for young people with a developing interest in the performing arts. The organization presents a mixed program of musical and theatrical productions throughout the year.
If you prefer music to theater, then you’ll want to check out the Georgian Bay Symphony — a regional community orchestra consisting of 55 volunteer musicians and five professional core string players. In pre-COVID times, the Symphony would perform five main concerts a year, as well as performing at various civic events. While 2022 schedules are still being finalized, a full schedule of performances is said to be in the works.
The Owen Sound City Band, founded in 1923, is a volunteer organization of amateur musicians of all ages and abilities. The Band performs for Canada Day held every year at Kelso Beach, for the opening of the Festival of Northern Lights, and other official events throughout the season.
The Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival is a three-day music and crafts extravaganza held on the third weekend in August at Kelso Beach Park. Founded in 1976, the annual spectacular is a favorite among locals and visitors alike.
Owen Sound is also home to a good number of museums and cultural institutions including the beautifully restored Carnegie Public Library. Built in 1914 by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and extended in the 1970s, the library serves as a true community hub with thousands of books, research documents and magazines in its collection. It further offers a variety of community programming and the use of
Wi-Fi, computers and rooms for outside functions.
If all that seeing and doing proves a bit much for your feet, then wander up 9th Street West to the appropriately named The Spa on West 9th. There you can indulge your inner diva with a range of rejuvenating treatments and indulgences, including facial peels, herbal ball massages, and a “Gem-inence holistic treatment” said to harness the energy of gemstones, botanicals and spices to purify and detoxify the entire body. The spa also offers a peppermint scalp massage that’s guaranteed to win over even the most reluctant spouse.
Prefer to get some exercise? Hop back in the boat and navigate about three miles north of town along the western shoreline, where you’ll come to the Cobble Beach Golf Resort. The large finger dock offers anywhere from 5 to 11 feet of depth, allowing visiting boaters to tie up for the day while enjoying a round of golf, an afternoon at the spa or a sumptuous gourmet dinner at the on-site restaurant.
A history buff’s paradise
History buffs will enjoy the fact Owen Sound is the home of WWI flying ace Billy Bishop, who was credited with shooting down an astonishing 72 enemy aircraft on his way to earning the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross and the Victoria Cross (VC) — the highest award for military excellence in the British Commonwealth. Today, Bishop’s childhood home operates as a museum offering a fascinating look into the early life of the distinguished pilot and daily life overall at the turn of the 20th century.
The Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound marks Bishop’s final resting place, along with that of two other Victoria Cross recipients. Thomas William Holmes was just 18 when he won the VC for his actions during WWI at Passchendaele, Belgium, where he single-handedly attacked and disabled three German gun positions, taking 19 prisoners in the process. Also interred at Greenwood is Lieutenant Colonel David Currie, who led a small force of tanks and infantry during the 1944 Battle of Falaise in Normandy. Confronted by a retreating German panzer division that outnumbered his troops five to one, Currie repeatedly attacked the German force, destroying nearly 60 of their tanks and taking more than 2,100 prisoners.
A different slice of history can be experienced in Harrison Park on the town’s southern edge, where the Black History Cairn explores Owen Sound’s role as a northern terminus of the Underground Railroad. Unveiled in August 2004 during the annual Emancipation Festival and Picnic, the cairn and a series of interpretive plaques trace the route of those abducted from Africa and forced into slavery in the West Indies and the southern United States, escaping into Canada from the 1830s onward. The cairn structure includes stones from locations in Canada, the U.S. and Africa with a direct connection to slavery or the abolition movement.
Natural wonders
The many rivers and streams flowing into Owen Sound slice through portions of the Niagara Escarpment, providing the city with an abundance of nearby waterfalls. They range from large, such as the 59-foot high Inglis Falls on the Sydenham River, to the small, such as the much more modest Weaver’s Creek Falls in Harrison Park. Most are easily accessed by well-maintained hiking trails, which range from easy to strenuous in intensity.
If you like to wet a line now and then, you’ll be happy to know that some of the largest rainbow trout in the world have been caught in Owen Sound. Tributaries like the Sydenham River, Pottawatomi River, Indian Creek and Telfer’s Creek host substantial self-sustaining populations of wild rainbows, providing additional fishing opportunities to those in the open water of Owen Sound itself. Spring is the best time to fish, but large rainbows are always a possibility when trolling the big water.
Owen Sound also has excellent fishing for chinook salmon from ice-out through September, when most of the fish head upstream to spawn. A lot of the salmon are also wild fish resulting from natural reproduction in the tributary streams, while a hatchery operated by volunteers from the Sydenham Sportsmen’s Association ensures plenty of fish to go round.
Whether you’re looking to catch that trophy of a lifetime, learn about the region’s intriguing local art or unique bargains, Owen Sound has a lot to offer visiting boaters — and all of it within sight of the dock. If you’re looking for new worlds to explore, this is one port of call that truly has it all.
Fishing Photo Courtesy of Owen Sound Tourism
Last Stop for the Asia
Although it was an important shipping port for both freight and passenger service for generations, Owen Sound will forever be associated with a single ship — the SS Asia — whose loss in 1882 ranks as the eighth deadliest shipwreck on the Great Lakes. As a weekly visitor to Owen Sound, Asia was very well known to locals, most of whom considered it a death trap. Underpowered, top-heavy and built without watertight doors, Asia was designed for use on protected canals, not the open waters of Georgian Bay. Most local mariners felt it was only a matter of time till it sank. Sadly, they were right. Asia’s luck ran out on September 14, 1882, when the ship called on Owen Sound for the last time. Heavily overloaded with both passengers and freight, Asia departed the city just after midnight for French River — its captain arrogantly shrugging off gale warnings from both the harbormaster and a government safety inspector. Asia was never seen again.
Photo Public Domain
