Building Around the River

Many cities are built on or across rivers. It's always interesting to see how various cities deal with the river and making it part of the city.

Often, industrial and warehouse districts were located along the riverfront, making it a fairly unappealing place. Freeways were also often located along the riverbank, which meant that residents could not reach the riverfront, but could only look at it from afar. Although it's a difficult process to undo, many cities decided to reclaim their riverfront property for waterfront parks and commercial uses.

And then there's Columbus, Ohio. Are there other cities like this? There was a big flood in Columbus, Ohio in 1913. After that, city leaders decided to widen the river and build retaining walls, based on a recommendation from the Army Corps of Engineers. During the building boom of the 1920s, the Civic Center was built on both sides of the river. It strikes me as very unusual and ahead of its time.

Callander, Onatario, Canada

Callander, Ontario was formerly known as North Himsworth, but the mayor remarked that no one knows where North Himsworth is, so the name was changed to Callander. I don't know how much of a difference the name change made, but I do know that the Dionne quintuplets were born just outside of Callander in 1934, just a few years before this card was sent. They must have been a big sensation there at the time, but the sender didn't mention them. His mind was on other things.

Callander currently has a population of approximately 3,300. When this postcard was sent, there were some good fishing spots nearby. May still be the case. There's supposed to be a good supply of Walleye at Lake Nipissing.

The message on the card, sent to Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Cain on August 18, 1937 reads:

Dear Folks,

Pulled in to North Bay early this evening. 688 mi   Hoping to catch a lot of fish. How did you like her looks?

Nephew

Ervan  (?)

Tampa, Florida

Newberry's, a Kress store, great old cars, a streetcar...what more could you want?