Ontario Highway 11 Photographs - Page 2 - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Left - Department of Highways' Roadside Park and Campground at Marten River, located 35 miles north of North Bay. Photo taken on October 2, 1940.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1940)

Right - Completed Jumping Caribou Lake Diversion (Hwy 11) through the Temagami Forest Reserve in 1940. The final Hwy 11 reconstruction project was completed between Marten River and Temagami during 1940. The resulting Class "A" highway was wider, straighter and had gentler grades than those seen along the original 1927 Ferguson Highway. Between 1937 and 1940, more than 30 miles of the Old Ferguson Highway were bypassed by newly-reconstructed sections of Hwy 11 between North Bay and Temagami. Photo taken in 1940.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1940)

Above - Official opening ceremony for the Nipigon-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11). The highway was officially opened to traffic by Highways Minister Thomas Baker McQuesten on September 7, 1940. However, the road was unofficially opened to traffic during the winter of 1939, when construction had progressed to a point that the entire route was traversable between Nipigon and Geraldton. Photo taken on September 7, 1940. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-14-162-2, Hwy 11/17 Folder)

Left - Rock cuts on a completed section of Hwy 11 north of Nipigon near Lake Helen (1940)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1940)

Right - Circa 1940 postcard view of Hwy 11 in Downtown Huntsville. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Annabelle Studio)

Left - Circa 1940 postcard view of Hwy 11 at Jumping Caribou Lake. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of MacLean Photo)

Right - Circa 1940 postcard view of the Nipigon-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) near Orient Bay. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown)

Above - Circa 1940 postcard view of Hwy 11 (Dunlop Street) in Downtown Barrie, facing east from the Hwy 26 & Hwy 27 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of the Photogelatine Engraving Company Ltd, Ottawa)

Left - Excavating muskeg along the route of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1940.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1940)

Right - Highway workers being dropped off at Savoff Station on the Canadian National Railway (CNR) west of Hearst in 1941. Savoff was the main drop-off point for personnel and supplies during the construction of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1940 and 1941. A tote road was built from Savoff southerly to the highway construction camps. Photo taken in 1941.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Left - Department of Highways' Truck Weigh Scale at the Hwy 11 & Hwy 60 Junction in Huntsville (1941)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Right - A nearly-completed section of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) at the Nagagami River in 1941. Note the temporary road construction camp in the background. This was one of several temporary camps built along the highway to house engineering and construction staff during the highway's construction.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Left - Construction operations underway in 1941 on the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Right - A temporary timber bridge on the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1941. Timber bridges proved to be invaluable during the construction of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway. Structural steel was in short supply due to World War II, and there were no local supplies of concrete near many of the proposed bridge sites. Many of these temporary timber bridges lasted until well into the 1950s, when they were finally replaced with permanent steel and concrete structures. Photo taken in 1941.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Left - Clearing the muskeg for the new Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1941
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Right - Temporary timber bridge at the Shekak River on the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1941
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Above - Completed section of the new Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) at Mile 61.0, looking west in 1941. This section of the highway was built by Tomlinson Construction, under Contract #1940-128. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-14-162-2-27, Photo #7)

Left - Graded section of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) that had already been opened to traffic (1941)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1941)

Right - Completed section of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1942
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1942)

Left - Completed section of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1942
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1942)

Right - Completed section of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11) in 1942
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1942)

Left - Circa 1943 postcard view of the Longlac Railway Overhead on Hwy 11. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown)

Right - Circa 1943 postcard view of the new Hearst-Geraldton Highway. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Fisher Studio, Geraldton)

Left - Circa 1945 postcard view of the Pagwachuan River Bridge on Hwy 11 between Hearst and Longlac. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Fisher Studio, Geraldton)

Right - Circa 1945 postcard view of the Pagwachuan River Bridge on the new Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11). See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Fisher Studio, Geraldton)

Left - Circa 1945 postcard view of a newly paved section of Hwy 11 north of Temagami. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of MacLean Photo)

Right - Circa 1945 postcard view of the Huntsville Welcome Arch on Hwy 11. Like many towns in Northern Ontario, Huntsville constructed a welcome arch during the 1930s to greet tourists arriving on the highway by automobile. For over 25 years after the arch's completion in 1932, all Hwy 11 traffic passed through the Huntsville Welcome Arch. The arch was designed based on the dimensions of vehicles commonly using the Ferguson Highway (Hwy 11) in the early 1930s. However, vehicles continued to get larger over the next two decades. By the 1950s, the vertical clearance below the arch was insufficient for many trucks. About 18 months before the Huntsville Bypass was scheduled to be opened to traffic, the inevitable happened: The Huntsville Welcome Arch was destroyed when a transport truck hit the overhead sign in May, 1958. Sadly, the arch was never rebuilt. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Annabelle Studio)

Left - Laying granular base along Hwy 11 between Fauquier and Hearst (1946)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1946)

Right - Curran & Briggs Construction building a culvert extension at Langstaff in preparation for widening Hwy 11 between Steele's Corners and Richmond Hill. Photo taken on August 1, 1946.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1946)

Above - Postcard view of Muskoka Road (Hwy 11 & Hwy 69) in Downtown Gravenhurst in 1947. This photo was taken shortly before the first Gravenhurst Bypass was built in the late 1940s. At the time this photo was taken, both Hwy 11 & Hwy 69 followed Gravenhurst's Main Street. The concurrent, overlapped route between Hwy 11 & Hwy 69 came to an end just ahead at the intersection of Muskoka Road and Bay Street. The route of Hwy 11 continued straight ahead via Muskoka Road towards Bracebridge, while Hwy 69 turned left onto Bay Street and headed northwesterly out of Gravenhurst towards Bala, MacTier and Parry Sound. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1947.
(Photo courtesy of Henry Fry)

Above - Dual King's Highway route markers for Hwy 11 & Hwy 69 outside the Muskoka Theatre in Downtown Gravenhurst in 1947. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-56-11, Photo #I-0011951)

Left - Rock cut on a new Hwy 11 diversion between South River and Trout Creek (1948)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1948)

Right - New mulch asphalt pavement on a revised alignment of Hwy 11, 1 mile south of Gravenhurst (1948)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1948)

Above - View of Hwy 11 & Hwy 69 (later known as Hwy 169) facing south towards the Severn River Bridge through a new rock cut on the Severn Bridge Diversion. During the late 1940s, about 14 miles of Hwy 11 was reconstructed on an improved alignment between Washago and Gravenhurst under Contract #1947-82. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on June 9, 1949.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949)

Above - New junction of Hwy 11 & Hwy 69 (later known as Hwy 169) south of Gravenhurst in 1949. This photo shows the new junction of Hwy 11 and Hwy 69 on the first Gravenhurst Bypass, which opened to traffic in 1948. The original junction of these two highways was located in Downtown Gravenhurst, at Muskoka Road and Bay Street. The newly-built highway junction seen here was revised slightly in the ensuing years, but can still be found today just north of the current Hwy 11 Interchange, adjacent to the Gravenhurst McDonald's restaurant. Click here to see a 2005 view of this intersection. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on June 9, 1949.
(Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-14-162-5-121, Photo #327)

Left - Primed bituminous surface on Hwy 11 in the Temagami Provincial Forest Reserve at Angus Lake. Photo taken on July 5, 1949.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949)

Right - New Frederickhouse River Bridge under construction in 1949. Note the old timber truss bridge at right. Photo taken on July 6, 1949.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949)