Extract of the first episode of Swamp Ward Podcast (6:11)

This six-part limited-series podcast immerses you in a tightly-knit working-class immigrant neighbourhood of a small Canadian city in the 1930s to the 70s. This warm, evocative, and finely crafted portrait was originally broadcast on CFRC in Kingston, Ontario.

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The Swamp Ward and Inner Harbour History Project aims to document the history of two of the oldest areas of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. For Indigenous people through centuries, Ka’tarohkwi was a good place to fish, to gather, to trade. After Europeans arrived, the Inner Harbour became industrial, complete with railroads, factories, and docks; the Swamp Ward, adjacent to it, was where workers and their families lived, went to school, went to church, shopped, and played. The area continues to evolve in new ways. Through archival research and oral history, and starting with a focus on the twentieth century, SWIHHP brings people, time periods, spaces, and issues into Kingston’s story and out of the shadow of limestone buildings and celebrated politicians.

Written & Produced by Laura Murray
Audio production & Story Editing by Philip Lichti
Music by Sam Allison