Second Canal

In 1837, the Legislature of Upper Canada had already converted the sizeable debt amassed by The Welland Canal Company from loan to stock. In 1841 with the union of Upper and Lower Canada the government decided to purchased the Canal and to enlarge it to 9 foot navigation and to complete the St. Lawrence Canals, which were necessary to avoid the various rapids between Lake Ontario and Montreal.

The word of canal improvement and the possibility of employment spread quickly. Immigrants, mostly Irish, came in droves looking for security and stability. Soon there was a surplus of labour as canal work progressed slowly bringing disappoinment and unrest, as families began to struggle to survive. Troops and a mounted police force had to be stationed along the canal route to keep the peace as best as possible.

Work did continue and phase one, begun in 1842, of the Second Welland Canal soon opened to navigation.

Aerial view showing the old Lock 1 of the Second Welland Canal, to the right and Lock 1 of the Third Welland Canal, to the left. (1940's )

It was decided to enlarge the canal and to rebuild all the locks with stone, making them 120 feet long, 24 feet wide and 8 ½ feet deep on the sills. And also that the aqueduct should be rebuilt with stone, and that the feeder should be converted into a navigable canal, the harbors at Port Colborne and Port Dalhousie should be improved, and the first two locks at Port Dalhousie and the one at Port Colborne should be made 200 x 45 feet in size with a nine-foot depth of water on the sills.

When the improvements above outlined had been made, the Welland canal was of the following dimensions: Length of canal from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, 27 miles and 1,099 feet; pairs of guard locks, 3; number of lift locks, 27; dimensions of locks, two of them 200 x 45 feet, twenty-four 150 x 26 ½ feet, and one 230 x 45 feet; total rise of lockage, 330 feet; and two locks each 8 feet high, making 16 feet, into the Grand river feeder, making the total lockage 346 feet. Welland river branches -- Port Robinson cut to Welland river, 2,622 feet; Welland canal to Welland river, 300 feet; Chippewa cut to Niagara river, 1,202 feet; two locks, one at aqueduct and one at Port Robinson, each 150 x 26 ½ feet; from Welland canal down to Welland river, 17 feet. Grand river feeder, 21 miles long; two locks, one of them 150 x 26 ½ feet, and one 200 x 45 feet. Port Maitland branch, 1 ¾ miles long; one lock, 185 x 45 feet; total rise of lockage, 8 ½ feet. Total cost of the canal up to July 1, 1867, $7,638,240.

The forty wooden locks were, by increasing the lifts, reduced to twenty seven locks, which were built of cut stone, each 150 feet long, 26 feet wide with 9 feet depth on the sills. The Port Maitland, Dunnville branch was built at this time, and this route, or Second Canal, was opened to traffic in 1845. The section of the Canal between the Feeder Junction (Welland) and Port Colborns was then enlarged and opened for navigation in 1850.

From 1849 to 1869 the tonnage of the canal more than doubled; in 1849 the aggregate tonnage was only 820,000, in 1869 it was 2,500,000. In 1849 the revenue from the canal was but $113,968, while in 1869 it was $230,000, and, when the returns were all in, it was found that the greater portion of the tolls were collected from United States vessels. The number of United States steamers passing through this canal in 1870 was 878, while the number of Canadian steamers was 1,199, but the tonnage of the United States steamers was in the aggregate more than double that of the Canadian steamers.

In 1852 the tonnage on this canal from and to United. States ports was as follows: Up tonnage, 133,330, down tonnage, 275,691; in 1853 the up tonnage was 163,031, and the down tonnage, 318,919; in 1854 the up tonnage was 162,593 tons, while the down tonnage was 247,100; in 1855 the up tonnage was 188,864, and the down tonnage, 256,901; in 1856 the up tonnage was 200,373, and the down tonnage, 341,225.

At Port Dalhousie the entrance lock to the First Welland Canal was relocated inland from the sand bar. As part of the same project, a weir across Twelve Mile c\Creek transformed the valley by creating Martindale Pond. The new Lock One of the Second Canal was constructed through the western end, and a channel for the overflow of surplus water through its eastern end. A new source of water power had been provided at the northern entry point to the canal system. The village of Port Dalhousie developed primarily on the west bank next to these features and the harbour which now had two levels, an inner or upper harbour and an outer or lower harbour next to the lake.

St. Catharines Evening Journal (St. Catharines, ON), March 28, 1862

The Opening Of Navigation

The line of the Welland Canal presents a most animated appearance just now. Everybody having the most remote connection with marine interests is engaged in preparing for the opening of navigation. The shipyards especially present a most lively appearance, and each and all seem to have so much work on hand as will be possible to turn out before Jack Frost relinquishes his grasp on the waters. Last season having been a most profitable one for shippers and vessels owners, the different lake craft have during the winter received, or are now receiving, improvements and repairs, which add both to their durability and bounty, and many of them will come out looking "just as good as new".
At Mr. Shickluna's yard here the S.D. Woodruff and Empire State have been rebuilt, the latter being almost entirely new; and he has a large vessel on the stocks that will probably be launched in time to take her place in the spring let up, probably about Easter Monday.
In addition to these vessels the following are now fitting out, most of them having received repairs, viz: -
George Thurston, Osksey Lass, Welland, St.Andrews, Jessie, James Coleman, Lewis Shickluna, W.H. Merritt, and Sir C. Napier.
At Port Dalhousie there are the barques Gibraltar, Arctic, Canada, Alexander, and Nonsuch; brigs Alice Grover and Arabian; schooners Grand Trunk, Flora Watson, Mary, John S. Clark, Mary Francis, John A. McDonald, Cadet, Theresa, Ayr, and Perseverance; and the tugs John Brown and John Gordon.
Two new vessels, of a first class build, are on the stocks, - one in the yard of Messrs. Donaldson & Andrews, and the other in that of the Messrs. Muirs. We have been unable to ascertain the names of all the vessels lying in the canal above this place, but we believe the following are at Port Robinson, viz: - The Malta, Plymouth, Northern Light, and Plymouth Rock.
Some slight change has taken place in the masterships of the vessels owned by T.R. Merritt, Esq.. Captain C. Ganman takes command of the Sir E. W. Head, and is succeeded in the Shickluna by Captain J. Livingston. We have not learned who succeeds Captain Livingston in the Welland.
Mr. Shickluna has had a force of about 150 men constantly employed in his yard during the winter, and is now adding to the number. The other yards along the canal have also been very busy during the winter, and are making great exertions to do a first rate business during the summer.

This Canal remained in operation after the Third Canal was completed, being used for power purposes, and all its locks were still in existence. In 1853 the navigable depth was increased to 10 feet by raising the banks and the walls of the locks, but it was not until I881 that the Canal was fed from Lake Erie at Port Colborne. The original cost of construction, including the first enlargement, or the total expenditure prior to Confederation (1st July 1867) was $7,638,239.83. That portion of the Second or Old Canal, as it is now called, between Allanburg and Port Dalhousie, ceased to be used for navigation about 1890.