Skip to content

The Crusader was once a popular cruise boat on local lakes

Frank Stanton rebuilt the Gleader, adding 10 feet to accommodate more passengers and operated her as a cruise boat until he retired in his 80s
255-port-stanton-cruiser-1940
The Port Stanton Crusader, circa 1940.

Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.

Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.

The Crusader was a 40-foot long, 35-passenger cruise boat piloted by Frank Stanton during the 1930s and 1940s.

Stanton purchased the Gleaner, originally called the Torpitt, and built by the Borneman brothers of Gravenhurst, from the Roehls, who lived at the north end of Sparrow Lake.  

In the late 1930s, Frank Stanton rebuilt the Gleaner, adding 10 feet to accommodate more passengers. The original Erd four-cylinder marine engine was replaced by a six-cylinder automobile engine. He renamed the boat the Crusader.  

Stanton operated her as a cruise boat until he retired in his eighties.

 


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.