Canada's Welland Canals

John N. Jackson. The Welland Canals and Their Communities: Engineering, Industrial, and Urban Transformation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. xvi + 535 pp. $70.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8020-0933-3. Reviewed by Robert A. Taylor Published on H-Urban (December, 1997) In the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada, tus, Dr. Jackson taught Applied Geography at four successive Welland Canals have linked Lakes Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario for thirty Ontario and Erie to circumvent the great Falls on years, making his home in that city. Apart from the Niagara River, a permanent barrier to naviga‐ several studies of town planning, he has written tion. Along the canal banks have developed near‐ much local history, notably on Niagara's railways ly a dozen communities, each deeply influenced and on the cities of St. Catharines and Welland.[3] by the changing waterway. Since 1829, the He has also been an active supporter of the Welland has been reconstructed three times, has Welland Canals as historic sites. Because of its been part of the St. Lawrence Seaway since 1959, scope and length, his latest work calls for the de‐ and was partially rebuilt 1965-73. Unfortunately, tailed attention of knowledgeable readers. Conse‐ this remarkable system, its construction, its influ‐ quently, I have consulted my associate and former ence on its hinterland, and its role in North Amer‐ colleague, Dr. Roberta M. Styran. This review is a ican history has attracted little attention from aca‐ synthesis of both our notes on Jackson's book.[4] demic historians. In fact, Canadian canal-building Jackson describes chronologically the evolu‐ in general has been largely ignored by scholars. tion of the towns and cities that have grown up Few studies of specific canals exist and there is along the Welland, discussing the construction of only a handful of popular works.[1] Nearly half a the First Canal (1824-33), followed by successive century ago Hugh J.G. Aitken produced his The reconstructions (Second Canal 1840-45, Third Welland Canal Company: A Study in Canadian En‐ Canal 1871-81) through the building of the terprise,[2] a fne book that, however, did not in‐ present, Fourth or Ship Canal 1913-1932 and the spire further studies of the Welland. By-Pass, completed 1973; including incorporation Consequently, the publication of John N. Jack‐ of the Ship Canal into the St. Lawrence Seaway af‐ son's book is a long-awaited effort to fll this gap ter 1959. in Canadian historiography. Now professor emeri‐ H-Net Reviews Jackson's thesis is that each reconstruction of ative effect. For example, when Canada Furnace the canal created and shaped local urban centres arrived in Port Colborne, it eliminated a picnic and their industries resulting in "a novel grouping ground, revealing a typically "fundamental clash of interrelated industries" (337). By 1900, "a dis‐ between industrial development and resource- tinctive, highly integrated, regional economy based recreational opportunities" (194). When the had...emerged along the canal waterway, its locks, Third Canal was widened for the new Ship Canal, and the hydraulic raceways created from the the same town lost its "post office and customs canal" (239). Moreover, the great ditches have had building, the Imperial Bank, a commercial block, ecological consequences, as they altered both the a hotel and two stores" (196). landscape and the natural waterways of the area. Part Three covers c. 1914 to the 1960s. By this "The impact of the Welland Canal," he notes, "was time "the canal's versatility had extended far be‐ (both) positive and negative" (130). yond ships, trade, and its industrial and commu‐ Part One deals with the First and Second nity developments" (303). Now its water was be‐ Canals up to c. 1850 as businessmen began to ex‐ ing used for hydroelectric production, as at De ploit the canal's reservoir of water. William Cew Falls. But after the Ship Canal was opened in Hamilton Merritt, who inspired the First Canal, 1932, vessels and cargoes began to pass through was only one of several millers whose establish‐ the channel without stopping. The Welland's com‐ ments benefitted from the channel's water power. munities therefore had to rely for their existence Wilderness settlements on the canal route soon on industries that, although they may have been became thriving villages and towns, the character created by the canal, no longer depended on the of which, Jackson claims, was often determined waterway's commerce (300). As for the corridor of by the decisions of the canal-builders. For exam‐ the First and Second Canals (which still existed in ple, when engineers decided to make the Second the Thorold-Merritton-St. Catharines area), mills Canal's frst two locks at Port Dalhousie larger here declined, even vanished. The surviving chan‐ than the others, the village grew quickly into an nel of the Second Canal became "a degraded sew‐ important Lake Ontario port. Elsewhere, the er" (323). street layout of towns was determined by the sit‐ Part Four discusses the Welland as part of the ing of the canal's bridges. Canal construction St. Lawrence Seaway. Ironically, by c. 1960, the could also restrict urban development, especially canal-side towns that had hoped for further where a river lay nearby, as in the case of Chip‐ growth after the Seaway opened were disappoint‐ pawa Creek and the town of Welland (103). ed, because, whereas in 1970, 63.1 million cargo In Part Two Jackson discusses the era of the tons passed through the improved waterway, Second and Third Canals, c. 1850 to c. 1910, show‐ "only a small proportion of this volume either ing the further growth of the lake towns (Ports originated or had a destination in the canal" Colborne and Dalhousie), inland centres (Welland, (398). These communities now faced a serious Port Robinson, Allanburg), the Thorold-Merritton- challenge. Today, as the Niagara area continues to St. Catharines complex, and the "Feeder" commu‐ suffer from relative economic depression, "it is nities. He offers details on the many canal-orient‐ obvious that the communities created then built ed industries and their products in endless, even up by the canals will have to change their eco‐ stupefying, variety. Several important industries nomic base as both their manufacturing indus‐ with American connections, such as Empire Car‐ tries and their service support from the canal de‐ pet in St. Catharines (258), were attracted to the cline" (415). The author's penultimate chapter, waterway. At the same time, the canals had a neg‐ "Towards a Welland Canals Parkway," describes 2 H-Net Reviews the potential role of the canals as recreational graphs on this matter would have strengthened sites and historic monuments. In this regard, local his argument. residents trying sensitively to exploit the old and To describe the canal corridor, he uses the newer canals have encountered "a bureaucratic phrase "urban agglomeration" (313), a term he re‐ jungle" (440). His description of efforts to trans‐ peats several times. The non-geographer needs to form the abandoned channel of the Fourth Canal have this expression explained for it may suggest at Welland into a recreational waterway is a that the canal banks from Lake Erie to Lake On‐ sobering picture of "the multiform layers, regula‐ tario are lined with asphalt, factories and high-ris‐ tions, ambiguities, and conflicting interests of es, which is not so. Indeed, Jackson notes that c. modern government" (453). 1910 the Allanburg-Port Robinson stretch of the Jackson's detailed and lengthy study is occa‐ canal "remained without industry" (227), and lat‐ sionally enlightening and interesting. Unfortu‐ er (372) states that "fruit trees and vineyards" pre‐ nately, in the fnal analysis the book is disappoint‐ dominate at St. Catharines. Imprecision or exces‐ ing. His thesis, though somewhat bland, is valid sively technical language here will confuse many and his argument generally convincing, but I have readers. reservations about its presentation. First, his My disappointment in the book derives partly viewpoint is not complex or controversial enough from technical faws, many of which are the pub‐ to justify such massive detail. Second, technical lisher's fault. For example, dates for some of the problems, scholarly lapses, errors or distortions of illustrations (pp. xviii, xx, and xxiv) are lacking. fact, and misrepresentations caused by his idio‐ The maps are dimly reproduced and hard to read. syncratic expression are so numerous as almost to Riddled with spelling and factual errors, the bibli‐ undermine the credibility of his thesis. ography is difficult to use. For example, Jackson is The work is far too descriptive and narrative, confused about the correct titles of several books, with (for a book of this length) relatively little at‐ including one in which he had a hand (Styran and tempt at analysis or interpretation. In such a long Taylor, The Welland Canals: The Growth of Mr. study, one would have appreciated more sense of Merritt's Ditch). The form of bibliographical en‐ the meaning of the transformation wrought by tries is imprecise. The entry, "Papers of William the canals. Geographers, in particular, may want Hamilton Merritt," should be under "Merritt ...," to ask: Is the Welland corridor really so unique? the usage of most librarians and archivists.[6] Moreover, much of the text is merely a para‐ Listing secondary sources separately from prima‐ phrase of local directories. The thesis could have ry ones would have been helpful. Plans and maps, been proven without extensive descriptions of in‐ in particular, would be more clearly identifiable dustries and their products. Endnotes or an ap‐ in a separate list. Finally, in the index readers will pendix could be used for such material.[5] struggle to locate many important persons, indus‐ Despite the overload of detail, one aspect of tries, locations or topics.

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