90 Years ago....An Amazing lady arrives in Quebec...

Granny Gerk, 1980

I write these words as I sit across the street from the Gare du Palais, or Palace Station which is the Quebec City train station.

When I booked our Quebec trip, the link that our family has to Quebec City was just a blur in the back of my mind.

The week before we left, I checked my grandmother's old Russian passport.  Sure enough, it is stamped Port of Quebec, October 16, 1925.

90 years ago.

The significance is not lost on me.

Here I am, looking out my window at the place of my grandmother's arrival in Canada.  Looking at the exact location she boarded a train and headed out to meet her husband Paul, my grandfather, in Saskatchewan.

Gare du Palais, circa 1915

"Québec, Gare du Palais1" by I, Bouchecl. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Gare du Palais, August 2015

Gare du Palais, August 2015

As I ask some questions, it also becomes clear that the Quebec City Immigration Hall, where her ship docked and where she would have been "processed" in the Immigration Hall, is just down the street.

Passenger list showing Elizabeth Gerk's arrival at the Port of Quebec

Immigration Hall, Louise Embankment, Port of Quebec,
Credit: Library and Archives Canada, a020858

Immigration Hall, Louise Embankment, Port of Quebec, 1914
Credit: Library and Archives Canada, a021672

What happened to the buildings?  Some research shows that:

"While the Quarantine Station at Grosse Isle is being preserved by Parks Canada, unfortunately, nothing remains of the large immigration facilities at the Louise Basin in Quebec City. The basin is now a marina for pleasure craft."
"Québec City–The Forgotten Port of Entry" By Robert Vineberg, Canadian Immigration Historical Society, CIHS Newsletter, Issue 59, September 2010

Louise Embankment, Port of Quebec, August 2015

Louise Embankment, Port of Quebec, August 2015

My grandmother, 23 at the time, was a shy, introverted lady who had to have been one of the most courageous people I have known.

For her to travel, by herself, thousands of miles, in order to join her husband was amazing!

And I ponder this while I walk in the places she must have walked.

And I am thankful.

Our family calls Canada our home thanks to the bravery of these two young people, Paul & Elizabeth.

Paul & Elizabeth Gerk, October 1925, upon Elizabeth's arrival in Holdfast, SK to the Ehman family farm.

For further information on immigrants to the Port of Quebec, see:  Québec City – The Forgotten Port of Entry