The Rideau Canal History of Westport, Ontario: Palace Steamers, Local Shipbuilding, and a Boating Legacy

Westport, Ontario—a beautiful heritage village of 634 residents (2021 Census)—sits at the western head of Upper Rideau Lake in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.

It is the westernmost navigable point on the Rideau Lakes chain within Canada’s Rideau Canal system (opened 1832; UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007). From its origins as a mill settlement supplying canal construction timber, through its role as a commercial freight port and tourist embarkation hub served by the opulent palace steamers Rideau Queen and Rideau King, to its contributions to local shipbuilding and the tragic loss of the Westport-built steam barge T.J. Waffle, the village exemplifies the adaptive evolution of a single inland waterway community.

Figure 1. Sunset panoramic view of Westport, Ontario, on Upper Rideau Lake showing the village harbour, docks, and lakeside setting that supported early mills, freight wharves, and palace-steamer arrivals (public-domain heritage image).

The quaint lakeside village of Westport is home to one of Ontario's most scenic year-round lookouts on Foly Mountain.

1. Pre-Canal Foundations and Early Mill Settlement (Pre-1826–1850s)

Long before European settlement, the Rideau Lakes served as vital transportation corridors for Anishinaabe (Algonquin) peoples navigating in birch-bark canoes. Upper Rideau Lake provided abundant fish and sheltered anchorages; the future site of Westport lay at a natural transition between lake and overland trails.

European interest intensified after the War of 1812. Construction of the Rideau Canal (1826–1832) under Lt.-Col. John By spurred immediate local development. In 1828–29, Sheldon Stoddard and the Manhard brothers erected sawmills at the head of Upper Rideau Lake specifically to supply timber for canal locks and dams. These mills created the nucleus of a settlement initially known as Manhards Mills (or Bedford Mills). Grist mills and rudimentary wharves soon followed.

A post office named “West Port” opened in 1848, formalizing the community’s identity as the western gateway to the lakes. By the late 1850s, the hamlet supported approximately 300 residents and included Declan Foley’s general store and the lumber operations of William H. Fredenburgh on “The Island” and at Upper Mills.

Figure 2. Ontario Heritage Trust “Founding of Westport” provincial plaque (erected at Town Hall, 30 Bedford Street), detailing the Manhard sawmills, grist mills, and early wharves that established the village (public-domain heritage marker image).

The Founding of Westport Historical Marker

2. Canal Opening and the Commercial Freight Era (1832–1880s)

The Rideau Canal’s official opening on 24 May 1832 transformed Westport from a backwoods mill hamlet into a functional inland port. Colonel By’s lock design (134 ft × 33 ft) deliberately accommodated emerging steam vessels, and Westport’s location at the head of Upper Rideau Lake made it the practical western terminus for many lake-based operations.

Dedicated wharves proliferated to handle freight and passenger traffic. Lumber, potash, grain, and later cheese and dairy products dominated outbound shipments. Fredenburgh’s mills exported substantial sawn timber. Regional cheese factories also relied on canal steamers before railways provided alternatives. Passenger traffic, initially utilitarian, carried immigrants westward and merchants eastward. Early steamers established Kingston-to-Bytown (Ottawa) schedules, stopping at Westport to load timber or unload supplies.

The arrival of the Brockville & Westport Railway (completed in 1888) began to redirect some freight but paradoxically boosted passenger tourism by improving access to Westport’s scenic lakeside setting.

Figure 3 (Historical Photograph).  One of the earliest Images of Westport, 1871, from the Archives of the Rideau District Museum and the Village of Westport website - https://villageofwestport.ca/part-one-beginnings-d0/

3. The Palace-Steamboat Boom and Captain Daniel Noonan’s Rideau Lakes Navigation Company (1880s–1914)

By the 1880s, the scenic Rideau Canal and Lakes had become a summer playground for affluent Canadians and Americans. Capt. Daniel Noonan (born 1853 in Westport, died 1914) emerged as the village’s most prominent maritime entrepreneur. After early experience on tugs, Noonan founded the Rideau Lakes Navigation Company (incorporated 1896/1899) and commissioned purpose-built “palace” steamers tailored to Rideau lock dimensions.

The Rideau Queen (1900, Kingston-built by Davis Dry Dock) was the true flagship: 111½ ft long, triple-expansion engines, electric lighting (350 bulbs), steam heat, staterooms with running water, and a dining saloon; she carried up to 300 passengers on full-route excursions.

Her immediate partner was the Rideau King—originally launched in 1893 as the James Swift. After a destructive fire in 1901, the charred hulk was rebuilt and substantially enlarged in 1902, emerging with expanded capacity and luxury appointments to directly complement the Queen. Together, the Rideau King and Rideau Queen maintained a virtual monopoly as the only luxury cabin steamers on the full Kingston-to-Ottawa route, offering cabins, meals, and opulent interiors (Kingston departure 1 p.m., Ottawa arrival 3:45 p.m. the next day; round-trip fare $5, berths/meals extra).

Both vessels called regularly at Westport’s Foley Wharf (45 Main St.). Arrivals were major community spectacles—villagers in rowboats, picnics, brass bands. Popular tourist activities at the time centred directly on Westport: fishing and cruising on Upper Rideau Lake, lakeside picnics at the wharf, and the village’s scenic setting as the western embarkation hub.

Noonan’s father-in-law, Capt. “Billy” Fleming and other relatives captained the fleet. The company published promotional booklets such as Rest and Sport Among the Rideau Lakes (1910–1914), advertising Westport’s fishing, scenery, and rail connections.

Figure 4 (Historical Photograph). Steamer Rideau Queen at Chaffey’s Lock, Ontario, ca. 1910. Public-domain historical photograph.

Local History: Luxurious steamboats cruised the Rideau Canal | The Kingston Whig Standard

4. Local Shipbuilding: Conley & Son and the Ill-Fated T.J. Waffle

Westport was not only a port of call; it built boats. The firm of Conley and Truelove (later James Conley & Son) operated from a Bedford Street building constructed in 1859 (today the Rideau District Museum). They manufactured boats, furniture, and coffins; by the early 1900s, they specialized in motor boats and launches, acting as local agents for Ferro gasoline engines. A notable boat was the power yacht Gwen (round-bottomed displacement hull), built in Westport—possibly by Conley & Son—for T. Watchorn of Merrickville.

The most ambitious local build was the steam barge T.J. Waffle (1913–14). Constructed by master shipwright Joseph Paradis under contract to brothers William and Walter Waffle, the flat-bottomed scow-barge measured approximately 105–112 ft × 22 ft (147 gross tons). Named after Walter’s son Thomas John (killed in action in France, 1916), she was purpose-designed for shallow Rideau routes. Sold in 1916 to Kingston’s Swift family, she was pressed into Lake Ontario coal service. On 22 September 1919, laden with 249 tons of coal from Fairhaven, New York, she foundered in a gale between Oswego and Kingston. Wreckage—including life preservers stencilled “T.J. Waffle,” deckhouse, and helm—washed ashore near Oswego; all 6–8 crew members perished. The tragedy highlighted the risks of deploying Rideau-adapted craft on open waters.

Figure 5. Waterfront view of Westport, Ontario, on Upper Rideau Lake showing the modern harbour and docks in the same location where Conley & Son built boats and the T.J. Waffle was launched (public-domain heritage image).

5. Decline, Railway Competition, and the Shift to Recreational Boating (1915–1950s)

Converging forces ended the palace-steamer era: automobiles and motorboats offered flexibility; the railway (later CNR) provided faster links; low water levels repeatedly stranded vessels; and World War I curtailed leisure travel. Capt. Noonan’s death in 1914 removed the fleet’s driving force.

The Rideau Queen abandoned passenger service by 1915 and finished as a Bay of Quinte freighter until the early 1930s; the Rideau King was scrapped earlier. The last commercial steamer on the full route ceased operations by 1936. The Brockville & Westport Railway ran its final train in 1952. Wharves fell into disuse.

Yet recreational boating endured. Local builders like Conley supplied launches; hotels (including the Lexina/Tweedsmuir) advertised boating and fishing. Westport’s lakeside setting remained ideal for cottagers and yachtsmen.

Figure 5. The Brockville & Westport Railway No. 66 {4-4-0} Locomotive (public-domain image)

6. Legacy and Contemporary Maritime Heritage

Westport’s maritime past is tangibly preserved. The Rideau District Museum occupies the former Conley & Truelove factory. A heritage walking tour highlights mill locations, Foley’s store, the wharf site, and the Conley House. The Rideau Canal remains fully operational for pleasure craft; modern marinas continue the tradition.

The village was incorporated as a separate municipality in 1904 (population then approximately 900) owing much to its canal-era prosperity.

Today, Westport is a heritage destination whose downtown core and lakeside setting are directly traceable to nineteenth-century maritime investment.

Figure 7. Heritage paddling map of Upper Rideau Lake, underscoring Westport’s lasting maritime heritage and modern canal/marina use (public-domain Rideau Canal resources / Ken W. Watson, rideau-info.com).

Westport, Ontario, demonstrates how a modest lakeside settlement leveraged the Rideau Canal project into sustained economic and cultural significance. From Manhard sawmills supplying construction timber, through Fredenburgh lumber exports and Noonan’s opulent palace steamers (Rideau Queen and Rideau King docking at Foley wharf), to Conley launches and the T.J. Waffle tragedy.

The village’s story is one of adaptation—from military infrastructure to commercial artery to recreational paradise. Every wharf, steamer whistle, and locally built hull left an indelible mark. In an era of renewed interest in sustainable waterway travel, Westport’s maritime heritage offers both historical lessons and a living invitation to experience the Rideau as its builders and captains once did.

Bibliography Notes (Chicago/Turabian style)

Nelles, Mike. 2007. Steamboating on the Rideau Canal. Bytown Pamphlet Series No. 71. Ottawa: Historical Society of Ottawa. http://parkscanadahistory.com/publications/rideau/steamboating.pdf.

Ontario Heritage Trust. n.d. “The Founding of Westport.” Provincial plaque. Westport, Ontario.

Rideau District Museum / Village of Westport. 2017. “Part One ~ Beginnings.” https://villageofwestport.ca/part-one-beginnings-d0/.

Statistics Canada. 2021. “Census Profile, 2021 Census: Westport, Village (VL), Ontario.” https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Westport&DGUIDlist=2021A00053507033.

Turner, Larry. 1986. Recreational Boating on the Rideau Waterway, 1890–1930. Parks Canada Microfiche Report 253. Digital edition 2009. Smiths Falls: Friends of the Rideau. http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/mf/253.pdf.

Naval Marine Archive. n.d. “The Steam Barge T.J. Waffle (1913).” https://navalmarinearchive.com/research/ships/t_j_waffle.html.

Rideau-info.com. 2021. “Paddling Upper Rideau Lake Map.” https://www.rideau-info.com/canal/paddling/watson-paddling-guide-07.html.

This blog draws exclusively from cross-verified primary sources (i.e. no fictional stories): the Ontario Heritage Trust provincial plaque, Parks Canada historical publications and manuscript reports, the Naval Marine Archive shipwreck records, the Rideau-info.com heritage walking tour, and contemporary newspaper accounts.