Top 10 Interesting Facts About Thunder Bay

The city of Thunder Bay, Ontario has its fair share of quirks, characters, and interesting factoids, thanks perhaps to its remote location along the shores of Lake Superior—plus there’s its rich history as a port city and railroad hub. So while TBay's many visitors enjoy the city's summer festivals, urban fishing opportunities, historic walking tours, and boating adventures, they may not know these little tidbits about Northwest Ontario's largest city. 

Here, we present ten weird and wonderful facts about Thunder Bay.

1. There’s a top hat ceremony to welcome the first ship of the season to Thunder Bay.

Like some other Canadian port cities, Thunder Bay marks the arrival of the first ship in port every spring with a top hat ceremony that dates back for decades. The captain of the ship accepts the top hat in a short ceremony hosted at the port, which thanks the captain, chief engineer and crew for opening what is sure to be a busy season ahead. The ship could be a salty (yes, ocean-going ships come through the St. Lawrence Seaway all the way through the Great Lakes) or a laker (a ship that stays on the lakes). Wondering where the huge ships you see in the harbour are from? Just visit the Port of Thunder Bay website to see a live map of each vessel and its cargo and origins. 

• Coming ashore? Check out 6 ways to enjoy your time ashore in Thunder Bay. 

2. Thunder Bay has a party that involves grasshoppers and grapes.

Everyone is familiar with St. Patrick’s Day, but did you know about St. Urho’s Day? This annual event falls on March 16, and it’s based on a folk tale (tall tale?) from the Finnish community in Minnesota, about St. Urho who purportedly slayed all the grasshoppers who ate every grape in Finland. Not to be outdone, Thunder Bay’s own Finns (the highest concentration of people of Finnish descent per capita in Canada) adopted it as well. On St. Urho’s Day, expect a parade, market, variety show, spinach pancakes and a party. Wear your best purple and green. 

• If spinach isn't your thing, check out these other festivals in Thunder Bay and visit one of the city's many diverse restaurants. 

3. TBayers have their own lingo.

The city has developed a few distinct words unique to the area. Consider:  

Persian: a cinnamon bun-like pastry topped with berry-flavoured pink icing  

packsack: a backpack or knapsack 

shag: a fundraising social event held for engaged couples, with a small entrance fee; likely a combination of “shower” and “stag,” these are also known for their epic prizes for guests, often including airline tickets or barbecues 

Sally Ann: another “only in TBay” pastry, this is a small round vanilla cake filled with vanilla icing and iced in chocolate buttercream

camp: another name for cottage or cabin    

Also, kielbasa sausage is often pronounced “KOO-bah-sah,” and if you say “saw-nah” for “sauna,” the nearest person of Finnish descent in earshot will correct you to “sow-nah.”

• Learn more Thunder Bay slang and speak like a local. 

4. Thunder Bay is two cities in one.

For many years, Fort William to the south and Port Arthur to the north were two separate cities. On January 1, 1970, Port Arthur and Fort William, along with nearby townships Neebing and McIntyre, amalgamated and became the City of Thunder Bay. How did the name get chosen? In a 1969 referendum, Thunder Bay received 15,870 votes, Lakehead got 15,302 votes and The Lakehead garnered 8,377. While the Lakehead vote was clearly split, the name lives on in various businesses and organizations, as well as Lakehead University.  And yes, if you say that a business or residence is in Port Arthur (a.k.a. PA) or Fort William, people will know what you mean.

• Fort William Nation is adjacent to Thunder Bay. The Nation's scenic lookout Anemki Wajiw (Mount McKay) offers unparalleled city views.

5. Thunder Bay is home to the First Spike.

British Columbia’s Last Spike is a famous site, commemorating the ceremonial last spike driven into the ground in 1883 by company director Donald Smith to mark the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, joining the western line and the eastern line. But did you know the first of those 30 million spikes was hammered into the ground in Thunder Bay’s Westfort neighbourhood? On June 1, 1875, it’s said that more than 500 people showed up to celebrate the event. Today, it’s hard to spot the spot, but if you take the Westfort Pedestrian Bridge over the tracks (at the corner of Brown and Gore Streets) and head toward the Kaministiquia River, you’re in the neighbourhood.

6. Thunder Bay has a connection to the iconic Remembrance Day poppy.

A Frenchwoman named Anna E. Guérin travelled to both Britain and Canada in 1921 to propose making the poppy a symbol of remembrance for soldiers killed in the Great War. Her first Canadian stop: a meeting of the Great War Veterans Association of Canada (a predecessor of the Legion), held at Thunder Bay’s Prince Arthur Hotel on Cumberland Street on July 4. It was there that the members decided to adopt the poppy as its “Flower of Remembrance,” and come November, poppies were distributed in Canada for the first time. You can see a commemorative plaque in the lobby of the historic Prince Arthur.

7. There’s lots of oversized natural beauty in Thunder Bay. 

It’s a bit hard to grasp just how big Lake Superior is. One of the five Great Lakes, it’s the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, covering an area of 82,000 square kilometres (31,700 square miles) and holds an incredible 10 per cent of the world’s freshwater. Its average depth is 147 metres (483 feet), with the deepest point 406 metres (1,332 feet). To the east is Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, home of the highest cliffs in Ontario, soaring 290 metres (950 feet) above Lake Superior.  To the west is Kakabeka Falls, a.k.a. the Niagara of the North: 40 metres (131 feet) high, making it the second-highest waterfall in Ontario. The rocks of the Nor’Wester Mountains? 1.1 to 1.4 billion years old. It’s home to the largest amethyst deposits in North America, and between May and October, you can go pick out your own sparkly purple gemstones.

8. The rocks mark the spot at Vickers Park.

Vickers Park off Arthur Street is a pretty and popular 10-acre park, bordered by historic character homes and offering large old shade trees, a playground and a skating oval in the winter months, plus the Teddy Bears Picnic every summer. Visitors may notice four large painted stones, one at each corner. Resident Catherine Mary Vickers (daughter of Susanna Moodie, author of the classic memoir Roughing it in the Bush), donated the land for the park, with some particular conditions. The boulders must be placed in the four corners of the park in a “conspicuous location,” bearing the names of settler founders of the city of Fort William: Catherine Mary Vickers, in memory of her husband John Joseph Vickers,  plus John McIntyre, and John McKellar. The park must be maintained in “an efficient state of repair, and that it never be used as a horse, bike or automobile race track or exhibition or fair ground.” More than 100 years later, those conditions—and the boulders—still stand.

9. Thunder Bay is the sunniest city in Eastern Canada.

The sun shines bright in Thunder Bay with an average of 2,121 hours of sunlight annually and at least 305 days of the year offering at least some bright sunshine. Also, in the summer months the sun doesn’t fully set until after 10 pm, a full hour later than in southern Ontario. Perhaps this offsets the curious decision to be the first to adopt Daylight Savings Time in 1908, a decade before the rest of Canada.

10. Thunder Bay has some famous hometown heroes.

Well-known people with a Thunder Bay connection include musicians Paul Shaffer, Ian Tamblyn, Aysanabee, and Bobby Curtola, actor Kevin Durand, former chief justice Bora Laskin, Olympic medallists Steve Collins, Katie Weatherstone and Curt Harnett, artists Norval Morrisseau, Roy Thomas, Mad Dog Jones and Blake Angeconeb, authors Michael Christie, Sheila Burnford and Jean Pendziwol, and a whole lot of professional curlers (Al Hackner, Krista McCarville, Sarah Potts and more) and NHL players (Eric, Jordan, Marc and Jared Staal, Matt Murray and Alex Delvecchio, to name a few).       

• Learn more about why Disney's premiere of the Incredible Journey happened right here in Thunder Bay. 

Congrats! You’re now ready for any TBay trivia challenge!

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