Port Dalhousie community, park and canal history

The schooner "YORK" locking through the first Welland Canal circa 1840

For more than a century a Welland Canal has connected Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, thereby providing one of the principal links in the great chain of navigation extending from the Straits of Belle Isle up the St. Lawrence River and through the Great Lakes to Duluth at the western end of Lake Superior, a distance of 2,339 miles. The Welland Canal connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario and crosses the Niagara Peninsula about ten miles west of Niagara Palls.

The people of Canada have always attached to the building of the Welland Canal a significance greater than that which usually surrounds an engineering work of such magnitude. This is due not altogether to the tremendous importance of the Welland Canal in the commerce of the Dominion nor to the revenue Canada derives from the constantly increasing production of wheat beyond the Great Lakes, but to the fact that the Falls of Niagara have always been the subject of a peculiar and reverent admiration, and the work of man that overcame the obstacles presented by such an imposing phenomenon of nature, must naturally be surrounded by an atmosphere of importance that would be denied to works with less stupendous setting.

The rapids in the St. Lawrence could be overcome by towing or by comparatively short portages, but the tumbling cataracts of Niagara defied such easy conquest. The 27 miles that separated the waters of Lake Erie from those of Lake Ontario constituted almost insurmountable barriers to water communication between the Upper Lakes and the sea. The construction of an artificial waterway connecting the two lakes thus marked an epoch in the industrial progress of Upper Canada.

It is difficult to state definitely who first proposed the construction of the Welland Canal. It suffices to know that the first step towards the practical solution of the Niagara Falls problem was taken in 1816. At that time Colonel Robert Nichol succeeded in introducing to the parliament of Upper Canada a Bill providing funds for a survey of the different water routes between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and between Lake Ontario and what was then called Lower Canada. A commission was appointed which, in 1823, recommended the construction of a canal across the Niagara Peninsula, suitable for the class of vessels in use on the Lakes.

But the measure never became law and it remained for the inhabitants of the Niagara district under the inspiration and energetic leadership of the Honourable William Hamilton Merritt to found the Welland Canal Company and build the First Welland Canal as a private enterprise.

The first enterprise met with little success. However, the company that was formed in 1824, on the initiative of William Hamilton Merritt, with the president being George Keefer, turned the first sod on November 30, 1824. One hundred years later on November 30th, 1924, there was unveiled at Allanburg, a cairn marking the exact spot where the first sod was turned for the original Welland Canal.

The cairn being unveiled at Allanburg

THE FIRST CANAL

After the War of !8!2, the political structure of Upper Canada was in a state of transformation from the benevolent, paternalistic legacy of John Graves Simcoe, and his predecessors, to one in which men faced the problems of how the colonies should govern themselves and yet retain an allegiance to a wider empire. Coupled with a growing economy, an expansionist neighbour to the south and cultural differences between Upper and Lower Canada men took it upon themselves to look after their own interests and proceed with the work that needed to be done.

Such was the case in the year 1818 when William Hamilton Merritt owner of a number of mills, and other businesses, on the Twelve Mile Creek, near what is now St. Catharines. With water becoming scarce for his milling operations, Mr. Merritt decided upon carrying out an idea which he had quietly conceived years before, and which would result in one of the most important public works on the continent…connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario by canal. The route would cross the Niagara Peninsula, using natural waterways and bypassing Niagara Falls.

Merritt’s first survey, in 1818, aimed at eliminating the chronic water supply problems by cutting a channel to divert water from the Welland River into the headwaters of The Twelve Mile Creek.

The route would then follow the Twelve Mile Creek, which emptied into Lake Ontario at Port Dalhousie. The creek at that point opened up into large marshlands with a predominant stream running through the middle. The settlement of Port Dalhousie was situated above the steep banks that lined either side of the marshlands.

Map shows streets, buildings, some vegetation and water features of Port Dalhousie, Village Dalhousie, Martindale Pond and the first Welland Canal at Lake Ontario. Map source: Library and Archives Canada, NMC 22720. 1839

Settlement of Port Dalhousie during this time consisted of a few homes built on the west side of the valley. The first families to settle around the Twelve Mile Creek lakefront entrance and shoreline were the United Empire Loyalists. The early settlers who arrived were faced with many hardships and met with much misfortune in attempting to clear and cultivate the land, build homes for their families and establish businesses. It was a constant battle filled with tragedy and suffering, often resulting in the loss and abandonment of hope.
Canals were a hot topic at the time, and only the previous year Merritt had stated the advantages for St. Catharines of a canal linking the lakes via Twelve Mile Creek. Moreover, the recent start of work on the Erie Canal across the border, which threatened to divert trade from the St. Lawrence to the Hudson, heightened the need for a canal on the Canadian side.
The aim of Merritt's survey was to determine how deep a cut was needed to allow Welland River water through to Allanburg, where it could join a tributary of the Beaverdams Creek. Merritt himself had some knowledge of surveying, as did at least two of his companions, John Decew and George Keefer. Their field notes have survived and provide interesting insights into the methods used.

The First Welland Canal opened in 1829 from Port Dalhousie to the Welland River. It was extended in 1833 to Port Colborne on Lake Erie.

Compiled by Department of Geography, Brock Universityfor Canada's Canal City

Although it not easy to be precise in determining when, and by whom, the idea to connect the waters of Lake Erie with those of Lake Ontario, Merritt was certainly one of the first. Even after his initial survey was taken it wasn’t until several years later that any practical measures were put into operation to look into the construction of such an important waterway.

The prospect of connecting Lake Erie, some 300 feet higher in sea level than Lake Ontario meant overcoming the Niagara Escarpment, a geological formation between two plateaus. The first plateau lies to the north and forms a narrow fertile coastal strip parallel to the shore of Lake Ontario. Along the top of the escarpment runs a ridge about sixty feet high and two miles across. This is the ridge which Merritt and his friends surveyed. South of the ridge is the Welland River which enters the Niagara River above the falls at Niagara. Between the Welland River and Lake Erie is the second plateau, a stretch of flat, swampy land which is basically the level of the lake.

Flowing down the escarpment are a number of small creeks, one of which is the Twelve Mile Creek. Merritt chose this creek to focus on because its source was near Allanburgh. From there across the ridge to the Welland River was only two and a half miles.

The escarpment and these few miles of high ground were the only obstacles to establishing a connection between Lakes Ontario and Erie. The idea of sourcing more water for his mills had escalated from a mere irrigation ditch to a canal.

With this information the first petition was sent to the Legislature on October 14, 1818. The Legislature viewed it with some favor, but implied that it should be handled by a private company. However, due to Merritt’s financial situation he was forced to set aside his plans for a canal.

As the economy improved in Upper Canada the Provincial Parliament of Upper Canada passed an Act in 1821, entitled: “An Act to make provision for the improvement of the Internal Navigation of the Province.”

Merritt’s suggested route was not automatically adopted by the Government. Under the Act commissioners were appointed, called commissioners of internal navigation, who were to “explore, survey and level the most practical routes for opening communication by canals and lakes between Lake Erie and the eastern boundaries of the Province.”

The route preferred by these commissioners for the canal from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario commenced on the Grand River, or any other convenient point on Lake Erie, and leading to Burlington bay, at the head of Lake Ontario, the considerations being that this route began at a point, which at all seasons of the year had plenty of water to feed the canal, that it was sufficiently remote from the frontier, and that it was free from ice from three weeks to a month earlier than a point near Fort Erie. Burlington bay was preferred for the outlet of the canal, because it was a fine basin, large and deep, capable of sheltering the whole Royal Navy of Great Britain, that it also was sufficiently remote from the frontier, had a strong military position, was surrounded by a populous and highly cultivated country, and seemed destined by nature to be the center of a flouring trade.

The outlet from Burlington bay into Lake Ontario, the Burlington Bay Canal, suggested by the commissioners, was undertaken at the public expense, and although it was not intended as a part of the project of the canal, yet, as it would render the port accessible, it was considered a work of great value to the tract of country lying to the west.

The survey of the route between Grand River and Burlington bay was made by Samuel Clowes, assisted by his son, James, and by John Harris, a land surveyor. They began operations about June 1, 1822. The estimate for the canal was as follows: 40 feet wide at bottom; 62 feet wide at the surface of the water; and seven feet deep.

The locks were to be 100 feet long and 22 feet wide in the clear. A canal of these dimensions, it was thought, would accommodate vessels of 80, or even 100, tons, and by enlarging the locks to the proper size the large class of gun brigs light might go through, and even steam vessels in emergencies. In connection with this project the commissioners said:
"The superior advantages attending such a canal, as is here proposed, would destroy the hopes and defeat the calculations of the commissioners of the American canal; as our being enabled to ship commodities on the Grand River three weeks before the lake opens at Fort Erie and Buffalo, with a certainty of their being transferred without removal direct to Montreal, would give a preference to that route, and our trade with much of that from the south shore of Lake Erie would thereby be secured to us."

The Board of Commissioners, after much survey work on this route, recognized that this route, largely due to cost, was impractical.

The committee made its report in 1823, the result of which was the incorporation of a private company, organized in 1824 and named the Welland Canal Company. This company proposed to establish the necessary communication between the two lakes by means of a canal and railroad. They intended running up the Welland river, passing across the township of Thorold, tunneling through the high ridge of land about a mile and a half, then proceeding directly by a canal to the brow of the hill or highland, and then by a railway down to the lowland, and connecting by another canal with the navigable waters of Twelve Mile creek, so as to afford the desired egress to Lake Ontario. The canal was to be of a capacity to accommodate "boats of not less than 40 tons."

Public meetings were held, surveys made, and other steps taken to excite public interest in the enterprise; but notwithstanding all this, upon the day of breaking ground for the beginning of the work, November 30, 1824, not half a dozen gentlemen of capital and influence in the district attended the ceremony. By 1825 the scheme as above outlined was deemed objectionable, and a new one was adopted by which the canal was to be large enough to admit schooners and sloops. It was then determined to have the entrance to the canal at Port Dalhousie, and the upper end at the Welland river, whence the supply of water for the canal was to be drawn. It was also proposed to have at an early day communication between the Welland river and Lake Erie, and to have certain locks no feet long by 22 feet wide, the cross section to be 26 feet at the bottom and 58 feet wide at the surface of the water, except through the deep cut, which was to be only 15 feet wide at the bottom for two miles of the length, the depth of water to be eight feet.

In the summer of 1825 the company began to carry out this project with an ostensible capital of $800,000. In 1826 they obtained a loan of $100,000 for three years from the Government of Upper Canada, and the promise of one-ninth of the estimated cost of the enterprise from the Imperial Government, the locks to be 22 feet wide and all government property to pass free. In 1827 the Government of Upper Canada took stock in the undertaking to the amount of $200,000, and the Government of Lower Canada to the extent of $100,000. The Imperial authorities made a grant of 13,000 acres of land in the vicinity of the canal, and subsequently made a loan of $200,000 for ten years, at four per cent, interest.

Canal is Completed. -- In 1828 a slide of earth occurred in the excavation of the "deep cut," adding greatly to the embarrassments of the company, for it compelled them to abandon the Welland river as a feeder. They, however, carried on the work with considerable energy, for water was let into the canal in the fall of 1829, and in November of that year, exactly five years after the commencement of the work, two schooners, the largest of 85 tons, ascended the canal to the Welland river. These two schooners were the ANN AND JANE, and the R. H. BOUGHTON.

For the construction of this canal greater credit is due to Hon. William Hamilton Merritt than to any other individual. Mr. Merritt was, in 1818, a young merchant at Shipmans Corners. Besides his store he was the proprietor of a mill, and in 1818 a scarcity of water for his mill led him to put into operation a plan which he had cherished for some years, viz.: the connecting of Chippewa river and Twelve Mile creek by means of a canal. He made a rough survey of the ground with a common water level.

This first survey thus made was in due course of time followed by the present Welland canal. Mr. Merritt had often expressed himself as anticipating such an internal improvement being made, connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario by a navigable canal.

Mr. Merritt next presented to the Legislature a memorial, asking that an appropriation be made for a survey of the route. Nothing, however, was done during the year 1818, all the available funds having been wasted upon the route mentioned above from the mouth of the Grand river to Burlington bay, which was finally determined to be impracticable and abandoned.

Largely through Mr. Merritt's efforts the Welland Canal Company was organized with ?40,000 capital early in 1824. Mr. Merritt secured subscriptions at Quebec to the amount of $50,000, and later in New York city to the same amount. In 1828 he went to England to raise money with which to prosecute the work on the canal, subsequently making two other visits for the same purpose. On Friday, November 27, 1829, the schooners Annie and Jane, of York, and the R. H. Boughton, of Youngstown, N. Y., passed up through the canal, being the first vessels on the canal. Reaching Buffalo on December 2, these vessels were received with a salute, and they passed down again on the 3rd of that month. Passing from Lake Ontario to the summit these vessels ascended thirty-two locks, then locked down in to the Welland river, sailed down that river to the Niagara river, and up that river to Buffalo, the British schooner Annie and Jane in advance. The Welland canal was now an accomplished fact.

Subsequently the company proposed to extend the canal over the Welland river to Port Colborne, by enlarging about five miles of the feeder and excavating a new canal for the remaining distance to Gravelly bay.

In 1914, it had increased to 3,860,000 tons, indicating that since the completion of the 14 foot navigation system in 1901, the St. Lawrence Route had gradually drawn more heavily, year by year, upon the Great Lakes Atlantic seaboard trade.

As a result of the Great War taking many lake vessels into service on the high seas, traffic through the Third Canal fell off from 3,860,000 tons in 1914 to 2,200,000 tons in 1918-19, but since this latter time traffic grew rapidly year by year with to a maximum annual tonnage record of 7,439,617 tons in 1928. This vast increase indicated it was only a matter of time before the present canal would surpass its capacity.

The short sighted policy of 1870 left the Welland Canal as much out of date in 1887 as it was when the improvements were begun in 1873, whereas a moderate increase in the length of the locks alone would have enabled a large part of the fleet of 1901 to descend to Montreal, instead of being confined to the Upper Lakes. These Canals, locks and river channels are entirely inadequate for use by the Great Lakes today, and can now be considered as of little more than barge size.

The improvement of the Welland and St. Lawrence Canals to such dimensions as would accommodate ships of at least 26 foot draft, had been contemplated for many years. During the past quarter of a century, exhaustive surveys have been made to determine the feasibility and cost of such a waterway and another has been carried out recently by the International Joint Commission. Following the opening of the St. Lawrence Route in 1901 for vessels drawing 14 feet of water, the Canadian Government began improvements to the Port Colborne entrance of the Welland Canal, these consisting of deepening the harbour to 22 feet, constructing a million bushel modern concrete elevator (completed in 1908) and building large breakwaters.

The execution of these works and public agitation for the building of a Canadian deep waterway via the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence route versus the Georgian Bay and Ottawa route finally led to exhaustive surveys being made for a ship canal across the Niagara Peninsula and the adoption of the Ten Mile Creek location for the canal and the inception of the work in 1913.

After the surveys, it was decide the new Ship Canal, would follow the valley of the Ten Mile Creek, between its mouth (Port Weller on Lake Ontario) about three miles East of Port Dalhousie, and Thorold, crossed the Third Canal below Lock 11, where the water level of both Canals was at Elevation 382 feet above mean sea level.

The new Ship Canal again crossed the Third Canal below Lock 25 south of Thorold, where the water levels of the two again coincided at elevation 568 feet. Between Thorold and Allanburg a new cut has been made for the purpose of straightening the alignment between these two points and on to Port colborne. And so ends the use of Port Dalhousie as the Lake Ontario terminus for the Welland Canal. But that was not to be the end of Port's marine importance.

To sailing vessels, this is without doubt the most important Port on the Lake. Every vessel bound to or from the Upper Lakes is obliged to pass through the Welland Canal, and consequently to enter or leave this Port. It has the advantage of being easily made in any weather, and with any wind.
It is furnished with an excellent Lighthouse, built on the end of the east pier, containing a revolving bright light.
There are no shoals or dangers of any kind to be feared in approaching Port Dalhousie; the only caution requisite for a sailor, is to guard against standing inside the range of the West Pier in working in, as between it and the remains of an old wharf there are two rocks and a shoal (all below water) on which he would put his vessel ashore. The piers run N. and S. to the bend, thence to the lock N. E. and S. W.; they are about 3,000 feet long, 200 feet apart, with an average depth of 12 feet water. The basin or pond to the east of the steam-boat landing is too shoal to be of any service, and it reflects no little discredit upon the Commissioners for allowing so much valuable space to be lost, when at a comparatively small cost the capacity of this important port could be so greatly improved.It has been told me as a fact, that between three and four miles N. or N. by W. of the lighthouse, the compass dips, and for a short time becomes so disturbed as not to be relied upon. I have not been able to verify this, but shall feel much obliged to any of the Captains frequenting this Port, communicating to me the result of their experience.

This paragraph was taken from a contemporary book of the time by Edward M. Hodder, M.D. for more reading you can access Mr. Hodder's book at http://www.hhpl.on.ca/GreatLakes/documents/Hodder/default.asp?ID=s028