In the early 1900s, the Government of Canada felt that a major harbor on Hudson Bay was needed for shipping grain from central Canada. In 1912 Port Nelson was selected as the site to become the terminus of the Hudson Bay Railway, the construction of which had already begun in 1910.
In the winter of 1912-13 the site was surveyed and construction of a wharf began in the spring, followed by buildings and other infrastructure built during the summer. However the whole harbour project was fraught with problems from the start. This most major setback was the necessity to completely redesign the harbor because the fast flowing Nelson River was building up silt on both sides of the wharf. The harbor was changed to a small man-made island farther out in the river. The island was connected to the mainland with a seventeen-span truss bridge.
Due to World War I and the ensuing material and labor shortages, the project was halted and although the project was able to continue a few more years, in 1918 all work stopped and the site was abandoned.
The Hudson Bay Railway never reached Port Nelson and its tracks lay abandoned until 1927 when Churchill was chosen instead to become the northern shipping hub. Construction on the railway was restarted in 1927 and completed in 1929.
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| Port Nelson - 1917 |
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| The "Bridge to Nowhere" (the artificial island) |
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| The Hudson Bay Railway Red line indicates ill-fated Port Nelson route |
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| Fascinating 1887 Map of Proposed Railway |
Aerial shots of The Ghost Town of Port Nelson
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| Vestiges of the streets and buildings |
Further Info and Credits
- Port Nelson, Manitoba (Wikipedia)
- The Road to Hudson Bay
- Hudson Bay Railway - Some History
This is an excellent site - Port Nelson Bridge and Island
Manitoba Historical Society - Fort Nelson, Northern Metropolis! (Or Not)
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