Ruby Smith, Heritage Arts Legacy, May 1, 2025, VOL. 6 ISSUE 17
It Happened Here
Part I
Historically, Erie Beach runs from the Old Fort to Crescent Beach at Kraft Road. Boulders and striation groves heading southwest gorged into a stretch of smooth bedrock that stretches the shoreline from the Dance Hall to the end of the park, indicating that a glacier passed through. The only other place these groves can be seen is in Central Park in New York City. This historic evidence of glacier movement in Erie Beach makes us unique.
Then came our aboriginal ancestors, a Neutral nation living between two warring ones. They were
miners skilled at flint knapping and traders, trading their arrowheads and other stone tools
for needed supplies. The abundance of net weights found in the Erie Beach Park indicates that our aboriginal ancestors fished with nets in the shallow waters.
In August 1814, the last and bloodiest battles of the War of 1812 were fought at Snake Hill, later
called Erie Beach, resulting in the longest peaceful border in the world and partly the birth of Canada.
Erie Beach Park figured prominently twice in our Black history. In the mid-1800s, slaves from the Underground Railway founded a settlement at Fort Erie Grove in Erie Beach. In 1905, twenty-eight
prominent American black men held a meeting at the Erie Beach Hotel. This meeting, called the Niagara Movement, became the forerunner of the NAACP.
Fort Erie Grove was later developed into a picnic ground with a merry-go-round and other rides, attracting many locals and tourists. It was sold to Frank Bardol, named Erie Beach Amusement Park, and became a high-end worldwide amusement attraction. It boasted the best casino in Canada and the largest swimming pool in the world. On July 30, 1913, a celebration took place at Erie Beach Park, commemorating 100 years of peace between our two countries. Forty-five thousand people attended.
When the park closed in 1930, rides were sold off, including the little green coaches of the Sandfly
Express. This train carried passengers from the ferry landing at Bertie Street to Erie Beach Park and
back. Two coaches were purchased, put up on foundations on Avenue A in Erie Beach and
revamped into quaint homes. The closing of the amusement park at the beginning of the
Depression put a final note to the end of Erie Beach being a world attraction.
When Wayne Redekop’s parents, Hank and Margaret, bought their first home at 18 Avenue A in 1957, the green coach homes, reminders of the Erie Beach Amusement Park days, were still there, as was a little white British mission church located at the end of the street facing Albert.
The Erie Beach grocery store, just around the corner on Albert Street, still serves the community. It is another landmark from the Amusement Park days. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Mrs. Best owned and operated it, and it doubled as a post office until 1959, when it was taken over and run by the Koslowski family.
At the dead end of Avenue A, a well-worn path led to a small hall on Dominion Road. The hall, still there, served as a meeting place for local groups, churches, and clubs. Wayne met there as a boy for Cub Scouts, and his father was the Boy Scout Leader.
When Wayne was five, he suffered Perthes disease, the failure of the hip joint to develop properly. As a result, he was required to keep the weight off his right leg for a year and had to use crutches. He recovered completely, and his many friends took this condition in stride. As a child, his parents and grandparents read to him and his younger siblings, Georgia and David. Thus, his love of books. He was the community paper boy, showing initiative and responsibility at a young age.
His favourite elementary school teachers were Miss Barton (Robinson) and Miss Babbit, and in high school, Carl Goos. His favourite subject was history. He had heroes, his parents, his grandfather Thomas C. Daly, John Kennedy, JS Woodworth, Roger Bannister, Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe, Clarence Darrow and Hank Aaron.
Wayne was never big, but he kept up with the big guys. From an early age, he played in many sports. From Junior B through Brown University, he played left wing. It has been said that “Wayne was fast and had good hands.” Wayne still skates when the arena is open to public skating.
When he wasn’t in school, church, club meetings or sports practices, he played or hung out in Erie Beach. A short walk to the foot of Albert and Wayne was to the lake. The road, wide, flat, rocky shoreline from Albert to the Old Fort was a true place of fun for a child of any age. Alone, or more likely with friends, pollywogs were caught in the shallow puddles or little crabs found hiding under rocks. Searching for musket balls that looked like small chards of brick at the water’s edge could keep one busy all afternoon. They could swim, snorkel, scuba dive, row a boat, water ski or FISH here. In the winter, exploring the ice caves or skating on the smooth areas of ice was another challenging experience.
The Old Fort was a magic place, Wayne’s favourite and most exciting adventure was sneaking in. How many times did Wayne and his friends take the guided Fort tour before he went off to university? To the west was the wooded Park full of trees, birds and animals. One spring, a fourteen-year-old Erie Beach boy counted 23 warblers passing through. To explore, hide, run, climb and tunnel the Dance Hall and Pool ruins was exciting, and a day spent at the end of the pier was pure joy.
Erie Beach, an isolated section of Fort Erie, is a perfect heaven-made haven for children, a safe place to play, learn, and grow.
Part II can be enjoyed in our FEO May 18th issue.
