Exploring the third Welland Canal
My last article surveyed the fate of the locks that once made up the third Welland Canal as it crossed north St. Catharines.
The article showed that most traces of that canal have been pretty well erased. Eight of those 10 north St. Catharines locks have been filled in, leaving only Lock 1 in the centre of Port Dalhousie and Lock 2 at the edge of Jaycee Gardens Park still there to be appreciated.
The situation with the rest of the third canal in St. Catharines and Thorold is somewhat more encouraging. For the most part the locks are still there, but they’re hard to visit and their condition is deteriorating.
Our old photo this week shows what one of those locks looked like in its prime. Taken in 1904, the photo shows Lock 17 of the third canal as a schooner, heading southward, locks through, along with its accompanying tugboat. The buildings on top of the escarpment in the distance stood about where Walker Brothers Quarry is today.
Today the former third canal locks, from Lock 11 (east of today’s canal, more or less opposite the St. Catharines museum at Lock 3) up to Lock 24, at the top of the escarpment, are mostly there. (The exceptions: Lock 19 is now buried, Lock 20 is submerged during the shipping season, and Lock 24 has been removed.)
These days there are only four third canal locks there that can be easily (and legally) visited up close by a hardy hiker — locks 13 through 16. Those can be seen by following the section of the Bruce Trail that starts at Glendale Avenue, east of Seaway Haulage Road, and proceeds along the east side of the old canal to a point just short of the iron bridge that takes the CN main railway line over the canal.
This week’s “today” photo offers a view from Lock 13 southward through locks 14, 15 and 16, with a glimpse of the old railway bridge in the distance.
Over the years there have been recurrent proposals that the entire length of the old canal from Glendale Avenue to the escarpment be turned into a federal or provincial park honouring this country’s achievements in the field of transportation. There is still much out there to be admired — notably the remains of the skilful work of the stone masons who produced the locks and various related tunnels and viaducts.
Much could be done to open up the area to let not just hardy hikers but curious tourists enjoy the surviving remains of the old canal — not only enjoy them but more fully understand them, helped by signage addressing questions like: What is a canal? What is a lock? What is a weir? How does the whole system work? How many Welland canals have there been? How and why have they evolved over the past two centuries? What have they meant to the economy of this country?
Having that kind of Welland Canals park would be costly to achieve, but a great addition to Niagara’s cultural and tourist offerings.