Some Interesting 20th Century Events in Owen Sound

Some Interesting 20th Century Events in Owen Sound: One, in particular featured a mayor acting to avert a major labour-related confrontation.

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The clock is ticking towards the end of not just this century, but towards the end of this millennium. It is hard to believe that in a few short months our calendars will read January 2000.

A lot has happened in this region in the past century and during the next few weeks I am going to try and recap some of the major events which have occurred in the Grey and Bruce region.

When this century began the citizens of this area had every reason to believe that the 1900s would be a time of growth and prosperity. The region had ceased to be a pioneering outpost on the fringe of the Upper Canadian colony.

Wiarton, Meaford, Southampton and the other coastal communities were vibrant ports. But, Owen Sound was a dominant shipping centre on Georgian Bay. It was the eastern terminus for the CPR fleet and two railway companies transported goods and passengers in to and out of Owen Sound.

Tourism was beginning to become an important economic factor in some areas of Ontario. Sauble Beach was just beginning to attract summer residents and visitors.

Investors in Owen Sound decided that an opulent resort a few miles out of the town on the western shore of the bay at Balmy Beach would not only put the area on the "tourism map” but would also boost an already strong economy. Thus, plans were made to build Kings Royal Park.

In sports, football and baseball were popular pastimes, but hockey was starting to make its mark in the area. Many local communities had their own teams and competition between area teams had become a source of local pride.

Owen Sound iced its first OHA junior clubs in the first decade of this century, but the notorious mismanagement of the teams often received more attention than the club's on-ice successes.

Perhaps one of the biggest stories of the first decade of this century occurred in Owen Sound's harbour in 1908. In May of that year 170 dock workers, employed by the CPR, went on strike.

This labour strife between the company and its workers had been simmering for almost a decade. On previous occasions the workers had achieved some demands with out too much trouble.

However, when the workers put a halt to work in the harbour in 1908, the CPR decided that it was time to put a stop to these work stoppages.

One hundred "replacements" were brought to Owen Sound. When the new workers got off the train they were met by the strikers and an angry crowd of supporters. When they were told that they were being hired as strike-breakers, they were convinced to join them rather than work for the CPR.

Undeterred, the CPR brought in 200 more workers. Once again, the newcomers upon being met by an angry throng at the train station, they too, refused to work.

The harbour was becoming overcrowded with vessels waiting to be unloaded and the company was becoming anxious.

A few days later, the strikers arrived at the harbour on a Monday morning to find the ships being unloaded.

The CPR had spirited 70 workers into town early that morning and they had started work long before the strikers could "convince" them otherwise.

Upon learning of the company’s actions, pandemonium broke out on Owen Sound's docks. The relatively quiet port became the scene of violence which has never been repeated anywhere in this area. Shots were fired and blows were exchanged. Thankfully, only a few minor injuries were incurred. The riot ended when Mayor Matthew Kennedy boarded one of the ships and probably using a "bull horn" read the riot act from the deck. The Mayor ordered the two sides back to the bargaining table and a few hours later the workers returned to the docks, this time to unload the remaining boats.

What impact the riot of May 1908 had on the CPR's decision to leave Owen Sound a few years later, no one will ever know for sure.

The information used in this article came from many sources. However, "Owen Sound and the CPR Great Lakes Fleet: The Rise of a Port 1840-1912" by Keith Fleming was of foremost importance.

A version of this article originally appeared in my Local History column in the Owen Sound Sun Times on September 24, 1999.

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