Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited
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| Founded | 1921 |
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| Headquarters | Owen Sound, Ontario |
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Area served
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Lake Huron |
| Services | Passenger transportation Freight transportation |
| Website | www.ontarioferries.com |
This is an historical account of the Owen Sound Transportation Company, Limited, the forerunner of the enterprise that currently operates the vehicle and passenger ferry - M.S. Chi-Cheemaun - between Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula, and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. For updated information, see the article on the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun.
The Owen Sound Transportation Company was established by businessmen in the Owen Sound area, in 1921. These included W. G. Hay, president; J. H. Hay, vice president; and J. Garvey, secretary-treasurer. These three men were also associated with the Owen Sound-based North American Bent Chair Company. Their objective was to use the company's steamboat, S.S. Michipicoten, in freight-only service from Owen Sound to isolated communities along the north shore of Lake Huron and Manitoulin Island.
It is likely the intended purpose of the navigation company was to procure the materials necessary for the manufacture of the North American Bent Chair Company's Bentwood furniture, as well as the transportation of packaged freight from Owen Sound. It was the objective of the officers of the firm to carry on the business of the furniture manufacturer as a subsidiary of Owen Sound Transportation Company (OSTC).
Early in 1921, a rumor circulated through Owen Sound—a new steamboat line was being formed to re-establish cruises to the popular tourist destination of Mackinac Island. Promoted by a Collingwood steamship line, from the late nineteenth century until about 1903 these steamboat excursions crossing Lake Huron were popular from the Georgian Bay area. But it was not until the spring of 1926 that Captain Norman McKay arranged a public meeting through the Owen Sound Board of Trade to raise funds for the purchase of a steamship and refit it for reopening direct traffic between Owen Sound and other points on the Mackinac route. In 1926 the Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited was granted supplementary letters patent, under the Ontario Companies Act, increasing its authorized from $40,000 to $150,000.
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