Museum near Timmins works to restore century old logging boat

A small museum near Timmins is restoring a logging boat from the 1920s that helped fuel the local forest industry.

The Connaught and District Pioneer Museum said restoring the boat is about preserving a piece of history and offering a new tourist attraction.

The roughly 100-year-old logging boat called The Alligator has been in better shape, but volunteers are chomping at the bit to restore it to its former glory.

“It’s our history,” said Rheal Dupuis of the Connaught and District Historical Society.

“This boat was bought by Woollings in 1928 and was parked in 1957, I believe.”

Much of the wood has rotted, but the frame, original engine and the history remain. The boat would pull logs across the nearby lake to the local mill for peeling.

Roy Saari said he would ride in the boat as a child in the 1950s to visit his mother, who cooked for the workers.

“It was nice to get off the farm, from down here, didn’t have to look after the cows and feed the pigs,” Saari said.

He said his grandfather did repair work on The Alligator and his dad worked on another boat. Saari remembers befriending the captain’s grandson.

The roughly 100-year-old logging boat called The Alligator has been in better shape, but volunteers are chomping at the bit to restore it to its former glory. (Photo from video)

“We could sit on the bench behind him and watch and everything else,” he said.

“It was really nice. We could go out on the back deck, sit out there, in the sunshine and watch everything else.”

Saari said the boat had a female engineer, who would let them sit below deck in the engine room during harsh weather.

And he’d often ring the bell, which he did during CTV’s visit for the first time since 1956 or so.

“I hope people come to see it because it’s a very interesting thing,” Saari said.

“It kept most of this town busy. They were either in the bush, cutting wood that went to the mill, or in the summertime, getting it down here. It was life.”

Dupuis said he also wants to build a separate observation deck, making The Alligator restoration a $30,000 project.

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“We have a great vision and we know what we want to do and … we want to share it with the public,” he said.

The hope is to have The Alligator fully restored next year or sooner and be a cornerstone of the community’s history.