Dickinson's Landing is an underwater ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Families and businesses in Dickinson's Landing were moved to the new town of Ingleside before the seaway construction commenced.
In approximately 1669, Dickinson's Landing was founded by French explorer La Salle as a trading post at the rapids that were known as Long Sault. [1] There was a natural formation of a long low shelf of land at the water's edge that facilitated mooring of watercraft. [2] Later, during the days of the stagecoach, the small hamlet provided a place where weary travelers could stop and rest, whether they arrived by land or river. In 1860, the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward visited Dickinson's Landing, stopped at the train station and took a ride over Long Sault rapids in a steam. Albert Edward would later become King Edward VII. As the then prince had walked from a wharf onto the steamer, the local citizens requested a remembrance of his visit and therefore the post office in Dickinson's Landing was renamed "Wales" in honor of his visit. [3]
The first practicing medical practitioner was a woman whom the town's residents referred to as Granny Hoople. She learned her craft after living amongst the Native Americans for seven years. She had been taken captive after the Native Americans burned her childhood home, killed her parents, took her brother captive and then killed him after he became a troublemaker with them. In 1811, an actual medical doctor, named Dr. Archibald moved to the hamlet. [3]
The Landing provided income to its residents by having a cheese factory (that had been home to a tannery), a cooper shop, two shoemakers, a shop that fabricated buggies, furniture and coffins. In 1863, a Catholic church, named Our Lady of Grace, was erected. [3]
During the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a number of Canadian towns alongside the St. Lawrence River were flooded in a 20,000 acre planned flood to allow for the expansion of the St. Lawrence River. [4] Several of those towns, including Aultsville, Farran's Point, Dickinson's Landing and Wales were planned to be eliminated and residents and structures were moved to two newly created towns named, Ingleside and Long Sault. [5] Those towns are now referred to as the "Lost Villages". In addition to the relocation of buildings, the project called for movement of roads, and railroad tracks. Two significant towns, Iroquois and Morrisburg had sections built on higher ground. The flooding officially began on what became known as Inundation Day which was scheduled for 1 July 1958. [4]
The widening project of the St. Lawrence River, had been planned since 1941 and included cooperation between both the American and Canadian sides of the river. The agreement, signed 19 March 1941, detailed plans for Ontario Hydro and American power companies to significantly increase the power potential by 1.1 million horsepower, each, from the development of an international rapids section of the seaway. This was desired to improve wartime power demands although the construction occurred well after the war ended. This was in part, due to the fact that the United States Congress did not ratify these plans due to more immediate concerns posed by the Pearl Harbor Attack and other interests. [6] The original plans further called to reduce the severity of the rapids at Long Sault by effectively flooding the rapids. Further, a deep water canal was planned for the American side to permit ocean-going vessels to travel further inland. The plans required the Canadian side of the river to take the brunt of the flooding as the shore line in Ontario was shallower than in New York State. [7]
The St. Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland as Duluth, Minnesota, at the western end of Lake Superior. The seaway is named for the St. Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie, and includes the Welland Canal. Ships from the Atlantic Ocean are able to reach ports in all five of the Great Lakes, via the Great Lakes Waterway.
The Rideau Canal is a 202 kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River, at Ottawa, with the Great Cataraqui River, and then at Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres upstream along the Rideau River to the Rideau Lakes, and from there drop 50 metres downstream along the Cataraqui River to Kingston.
The Lost Villages were ten communities in the Canadian province of Ontario, in the former townships of Cornwall and Osnabruck near Cornwall, which were permanently submerged by the creation of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Aultsville is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The town was founded as Charlesville in 1787 by United Empire Loyalists and reached its peak in 1880, when it had 400 residents. It was the second largest town flooded by the new Seaway in 1958, with a population of 312 at the time. Before it was flooded, the abandoned buildings were burned to study the effects of fire on houses.
Farran's Point is an underwater ghost town in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Wales is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The town was named for the Prince of Wales who visited the area during his Canadian tour of 1860. Wales was built on the land grant of Dr. James Stuart, of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. From 1810 to 1957, five generations of the Stuart family lived on this property.
Mille Roches is an underwater ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Moulinette is an underwater ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. Families and businesses in Moulinette were moved to the new town of Long Sault before the seaway construction commenced. The village was located as a strip community along Highway 2, on the St. Lawrence River. At the time of the flooding, Moulinette had a population of around 311 residents. The community would have been located in what is now South Stormont township.
Woodlands is an underwater ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Santa Cruz is an underwater ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Maple Grove is an underwater ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.
Sheek Island is an island in the St. Lawrence River in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is considered to be one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. While much of the island has been flooded, a portion of it remains above water, but is not populated.
Long Sault was a rapid in the St. Lawrence River upstream and west of Cornwall, Ontario. Sault is the archaic spelling of the French word saut, meaning rapids.
South Stormont is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. It is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) southeast of Ottawa. South Stormont borders on, but does not include, the city of Cornwall.
The New York and Ottawa Railway was a railway connecting Tupper Lake in northeastern New York to Ottawa, Ontario, via Ramsayville, Russell, Embrun, Finch and Cornwall. It became part of the New York Central Railroad system in 1913, although it was under the larger company's possession since the end of 1904. It had started out as the Northern Adirondack Railroad and evolved into the Northern New York Railroad, the New York and Ottawa Railroad, and was last known as the New York and Ottawa Railway before being merged into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Other lines that were a part of this route are described below.
The Long Sault Parkway is a group of eleven islands west of Cornwall in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as the name of the 10.1-kilometre (6.3 mi) scenic parkway connecting them. The islands, which include two public beaches and three campgrounds, were created by the flooding of the Long Sault rapids during construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The parkway, the islands, and their amenities are maintained by the St. Lawrence Parks Commission.
Conservation Ontario is the network of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities.
The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, short for Robert Moses-Robert H. Saunders Power Dam, is a dam on the Saint Lawrence River straddling the border between the United States and Canada. It is located between Massena in New York and Cornwall in Ontario. The dam supplies water to two adjacent hydroelectric power generating stations, the United States' 912 MW St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project and Canada's 1,045 MW R.H. Saunders Generating Station. Constructed between 1954 and 1958 as part of the larger Saint Lawrence Seaway project, the dam created Lake St. Lawrence. Aside from providing significant amounts of renewable power, the dam regulates the St. Lawrence River and affords passage for the navigation of large vessels. Despite the enormous economic advantages to the dam, it required the relocation of 6,500 people and caused harm to the surrounding environment. Efforts have been made over the years to improve shoreline and fish habitats.
Morrisburg is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of South Dundas, located in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,398 at the 2021 census.
The Cornwall Canal was built by the British government of Canada to bypass a troublesome rapids hindering navigation on the St. Lawrence at Cornwall, Ontario. Construction began in 1834 and was completed in 1843.
