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This page contains historical photos of Ontario's King's Highway 17A (Thunder Bay Alternate Route). All photographs displayed
on this page were taken by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, unless specifically noted otherwise. Historical photographs are arranged in approximate
chronological order. Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image! Please note that Highway 17A (Thunder Bay) is now known as Highway 102. Please check the Highway 102 Photo Pages if you are looking for present day Highway 17A (Thunder Bay) photos. Please note that all photographs displayed on this
website are protected by copyright. These photographs must not be reproduced, published,
electronically stored or copied, distributed, or posted onto other websites without
my written permission. If you want to use photos from this website, please
email me first for permission. Thank-you!
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Historical King's Highway 17A (Thunder Bay) Photographs
Above - Postcard view of Cumberland Street (Hwy 11 & Hwy 17) in Downtown Port Arthur in 1960, facing north towards the Hwy 11A & Hwy 17A Junction. This
wonderful photo shows a busy downtown street scene at Cumberland Street and Arthur Street (today's Red River Road). Prior to the construction of the Lakehead
Expressway (today's Thunder Bay Expressway) in the late 1960s, all east-west through traffic had to pass through Port Arthur on either Hwy 11 & Hwy 17 or the
signed alternate route via Hwy 11A & Hwy 17A. This 1960 photo was taken shortly after the Hwy 11 designation was extended westerly from the route's former
terminus at Nipigon. Note the newly-installed dual Hwy 11 & Hwy 17 route markers on the green pole at left. It is also interesting to note that The Camera Shop,
whose staff photographers captured some of the most important highway construction achievements in Northwestern Ontario's history, is located across the street behind
the red city bus. From the 1930s up until about 1960, The Camera Shop published hundreds of photographs of Northwestern Ontario's highways as souvenir postcards for
tourists, some of which are featured on my website. Today, these souvenir postcards offer historians a unique historical perspective into the development of the
area's highway network. See an Enlarged Photo Here. (Photo courtesy of Alex Wilson Publications Ltd.) |
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