Grenfell (ship, 1912)

The Grenfell, built on the Peace River, for the Peace River Trading Company, was the first commercial steamship on the Peace River that was not built for the Hudson's Bay Company.[1]

Passengers loading a reluctant cow onto the Grenfell.

The impassible Vermilion Chutes divides the Peace River into two navigable sections. The Grenfell operated on the upper reach for only two years before she ran aground 15 miles (24 km) above Fort St. John.[2] She subsequently burned before she could be refloated.[3]

References

  1. "The Peace River Trading and Land Company and the S.S. Grenfell". Peace River Museum. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-12-06. The Company's vision of providing water transportation on the Peace River took the form of the steamboat S.S. Grenfell. It was to be built in the West Peace River boatyards at Peace River Crossing by George Magar who was to stay on as Captain after the boat's launch in the spring of 1912. The Grenfell was a sternwheeler designed to carry both freight and passengers and travelled the Peace River from Fort Vermilion to Hudson's Hope. Its main competition was the S.S. Peace River, operated by the Hudson's Bay Company.
  2. Edward L. Affleck (Winter 1999). "Steamboating on the Peace River". B.C. Historical News. 33 (1). Archived from the original on 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2020-12-17. The Peace River Trading & Land Co., one of a series of lofty promotions organized to develop the wealth of the Peace River country, launched the spunky little sternwheeler Grenfell at West Peace River. The Grenfell possessed few of the amenities of the Peace River but she proved a ruthless rival on the freighting front until, in September 1914, she grounded on a sandbar 15 miles above Fort St. John, caught fire, and burned to the waterline.
  3. G.R. Clare (1998). "Going up the River?". South Peace Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2020-12-13. The SS Grenfell, built in Peace River town in 1912 plied the river for only two years before running aground above Fort St John and subsequently burning.
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