Fort William's Coal Docks Section, Good Friday, 1913.
The unique location of Fort William's coal docks section, sandwiched as it was between the C.P.R. main line and the Kaministikwia River, contributed to its development as a distinctive community. This was one of Fort William's two "foreign quarters", the other situated at Westfort. Despite such impediments as the coal dock section's location on low, swampy land, the lack of sanitation services, and overcrowded housing, observers commented favourably on efforts of its residents to make the area habitable and attractive. A high proportion of its population was male, workers at nearby freight yards, coal docks and other heavy manual labour.
Coming from Italy, Greece, and the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires, the immigrants kept the culture of their homelands alive through their churches and fraternal societies. This photograph shows the Good Friday procession of St. Joseph's church in which its Italian parishioners are carrying the Madonna of the Seven Sorrows and the slain Christ along McGillivray Street. As the area is located on the site of the old fur trade post, most of its streets bear the Scottish names of illustrious Nor'Westers or Hudson's Bay men.
