Fonds consists of black and white photographic negatives and prints pertaining to the engineering activities of Alexander and James Isbester. Subjects include aspects of railroad, highway and breakwater construction projects, as well as images of the Isbesters' family life and turn-of-the- century student life at the University of Toronto.
Fonds includes 366 photographs in two albums, as well as 94 cellulose nitrate film negatives mainly concerned with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Toronto- Sudbury railroad from 1904 to 1908. Captions identifying individuals, geographic locations and dates of the photographs are included. As well, some of the photographs depict construction scenes regarding the Algoma Central Railway (1900), the Ottawa Northern and Western Railway, as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway in Saskatoon. Photographs from Alexander Isbester's later projects, including the Grand Trunk Railway (1920) and the breakwater at Port Arthur (1928) are also included.
Also included are photographs dealing with construction of the Canadian National Railway's Longlac-Nakina railway branch. These are composed of one album of 253 photographic prints, 83 nitrate film negatives, and accompanying captions. Subjects include railway construction, life in the construction camps, and aboriginal peoples, including a treaty signing. Also included are Isbester family scenes.
Thunder Bay District road construction is also represented by two albums of photographs. Included in the albums are 671 photographic prints, 386 negatives, and corresponding captions. The first album includes photos of road construction crews, recreational photographs and general landscape photographs taken by James Isbester. The second album consists of construction progress photos, including images of machinery and snow removal, taken by Alexander Isbester. The captions identify geographic locales, dates and many of the individuals appearing in the prints. Geographic locations include Nipigon, Red Rock, Port Arthur, Fort William (now Thunder Bay), and Thunder Cape.
Fonds also includes 13 photographs and accompanying captions of the 1928 construction of the Port Burwell Breakwater on Lake Erie. As well, there are 290 photographs depicting construction of a cement factory in northern Pakistan in 1955, as well as a single album containing 16 black and white photographs of various locales in the United States, including California, the eastern coastline and the area near Niagara falls, New York. This album of American scenes was found in the Isbester family home in 1972, and the origin, as well as the photographer, is unknown.
In addition, included in the fonds is one album containing 38 gelatin photographic prints dealing with Alexander Isbester's student life at the University of Toronto. Subjects include university buildings, student groups, the Kappa Alpha fraternity, parties and athletics.
For a more detailed description, use this link to the Archives of Ontario's descriptive database:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/PROV/PROV/REFD+C+267?SESSIONSEARCH