LAURIE WEIR
There’s a whale of a tale coming out of Smiths Falls this week.
Not one swimming past the water tower or sunning in the basin, but the fossilized bones of a humpback that once swam through this area more than 10,000 years ago, when the Champlain Sea covered much of eastern Ontario. The remains were discovered in 1882 at the Welsh ballast pit, just a few kilometres outside of town, and later donated to the Redpath Museum at McGill University by A. Baker of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
For years, the tale was treated like local legend. Now it’s being confirmed, with help from the Smiths Falls Heritage House Museum and Anthony Howell, curator at the Redpath Museum. He’s been working to verify the physical characteristics of the bones using descriptions dating back to 1893. The story is no longer just folklore.
In honour of this unexpected blast from the ancient past, the museum is inviting the public to help name the whale. My choice is Stanley.
It’s a name that already belongs to the town in many ways. Archibald Stanley operated the Stanley Woollen Mills in the 1800s. His work contributed to the growth of Smiths Falls during its industrial rise. Naming the whale Stanley links our prehistoric visitor with the local legacy of water-powered progress.
Frosty was a close second choice. Here’s why. My grandfather worked at Frost and Wood, the long-gone farm equipment factory that once defined the town’s economic identity. I wasn’t alive to see it in action, but I know he was part of that era and that makes my heart smile. Stories like his are still woven into the bones of this place.
This whale reminds us that Smiths Falls holds more than a single chapter. It holds layers of time, from ancient oceans to iron foundries to the communities we live in today. Naming this whale connects those layers in a way that is playful and meaningful.
You can cast your vote by visiting smithsfallswhale.ca. (Edison and Lucas Morris developed the app for this contest.)
Stanley is my pick. He sounds like someone who belongs here.
It’s not every day a whale resurfaces in Smiths Falls and starts making noise.
Stanley’s story is swimming its way back into town, and if we’re lucky, he might just make waves all over again, in the way we remember where we came from.