Do you know that several aspects of the Canal, including both entrances, are still intact?
Eleven miles of rapids was a formidable obstacle to river navigation. As noted in the City’s Waterfront Master Plan, completion of the Cornwall Canal in 1843 provided lake vessels with an 11.5 mile waterway containing seven locks, measuring 200 ft. by 55 ft. by 9 ft. deep to bypass the Long Sault rapids. Around 1888-89, with the expansion of the Canadian Canal system, new larger locks were built at Wood’s Creek (Lock 18) and Pine Grove (Lock 19).
This early Seaway era aerial photo of the Lock 15-17 area has been labelled for clarity. Parts of this area are now occupied by the Legion Ball Diamonds, the Point Maligne (homeless encampment) Park and the leased land housing two storage tanks for ice melter west of the Harbour and remains of the Canada Mill.
The photo doesn’t show all of Potash Point / Little Point Maligne, but a large chunk of it (left of the photo) was removed and relocated at the former bay in the Augustus/Pitt Street area of the former shoreline to improve the river flow after the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project Inundation Day in 1958. The shaved land is now part of the fill on which the Cornwall Civic Complex sits. The head race / aqueduct along Race Street was filled in during 1964, greatly improving the view and the aroma from the stagnant water. In 1873, the portion of historic Gladstone south of Montreal Road was annexed to Cornwall to expand our industrial base. William Mattice (after whom the nearby park is named), owned Gladstone (the East gore between Marlborough and McConnell). Mattice obtained permission to create the raceway (highlighted area), drawing water from the canal to power additional industry. He also developed the western gore (Cumberland to Brookdale) in which are found a handful of residential subdivisions.
Don Smith is Curator / Manager of the Cornwall Community Museum. The unlabelled photo was found online and believed to have been taken by photojournalist Marcel Quenneville.
