Welland Canal - City of Port Colborne

The Welland Canal was originally established as solution
to summer water shortages that plagued a grist mill operation
near St. Catharines. In the early 1800s, the mill’s owner, William
Hamilton Merritt, was searching for a new water supply at a
higher elevation when he discovered the Welland River on the
brow of the Niagara Escarpment. He was determined to divert
this water supply into Twelve Mile Creek and thereby end his
seasonal water problem. Merritt also had the idea of creating
a deep enough channel to allow boats to pass through a series
of locks down the escarpment into Twelve Mile Creek and on to
Lake Ontario.
In 1829 “Mr. Merritt’s ditch” was completed from Port Dalhousie
on Lake Ontario to the summit of the escarpment at Port
Robinson. From there, boats travelled down into the Welland
River and on to Lake Erie via the upper Niagara River. The long
route proved to be too time consuming and dangerous. As a
result, in 1833 an extension of the canal was completed from the
junction of a “feeder canal” at Welland through to Gravelly Bay,
present-day Port Colborne.
The canal was enlarged and widened in the 1850s and again in
the 1880s. By the turn of the 20th century it was determined
that a new, larger canal was required. Construction of the Port
Colborne section of the Welland Canal began in 1924, 100 years
after the initial construction of Merritt’s original canal. The new
Welland Canal was opened August 6, 1932.
Due to a shortage of funds, the first Welland Canal utilized
wooden locks. There were 40 such locks constructed with Lock
40 at Port Colborne being the southernmost. Lock 40 was located
adjacent to West Street at the junction of Sugarloaf Street.
Two buildings from the first canal era still exist in their original
locations: the Lakeview Hotel (62 West St.) and the Locktender’s
House (corner of Sugarloaf and King Streets), also known as the
“Stone House.” Both buildings were constructed circa 1835.
Lighthouses & Breakwater
The first lighthouse in Port Colborne was built in the 1830s, shortly
after the Welland Canal was extended to Lake Erie. Since then, the
entrance to the canal has been reconfigured several times, which
has made it necessary for new lighthouses to be built to continue
Port Colborne inner range lighthouse, built in 1903.
providing a navigational beacon for ships entering the canal.
At present, Port Colborne has two lighthouses on the western
breakwater in Gravelly Bay. The inner range light was built in 1903
consisting of a three-storey white concrete tower topped with a red
parapet and lantern room. A large utility building is attached to it.
The outer range light was built in 1928 when an older range light
further inland was torn down. The new lighthouse is a one-anda-half
storey white concrete structure that is square in shape. It is
topped with a red parapet and lantern room and also houses Port
Colborne’s fog horn. On the eastern side of the canal entrance, ships
are guided by beacons atop two modern, concrete towers.
The Gravelly Bay break water protects Gravelly Bay and the entrance
of the canal from rough water when there are storms over Lake
Erie. It also protects from icedams in the winter. The wall is over 1.3
kilometres in length and is ‘Y’ shaped. It was originally constructed
in 1873, with extensions added in 1931.
View of old locks and lift bridges from post card, circa 1930.
Image courtesy of Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum
Port Colborne outer range lighthouse, built in 1928.