Welcome to The Club v3.3 Summer 2023

Welcome to ...
563 Front St. N., Sarnia
519-337-9998
GlassAndPillarSpa.com
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac saw
300 years ago that a settlement beside
the Detroit River would become a
commercial success and a strategic
point for defence. Never could he
have imagined how it would grow or
what an impact it would have on the
Americas from Cape Horn to the North
Pole. Nor could he have foreseen the
effect it would have on Sarnia, Ontario,
sixty miles to the northeast, on the St.
Clair River.
Descendants of French Canadians
whom Cadillac brought to Detroit
were the first white people to settle in
Sarnia. They came here after the British
withdrew from Detroit in 1796. John
Courtney, the first English-speaking
settler on the eastern shore of the St.
Clair, also came from Detroit. He and
his French neighbours rented from
the indiginous people, farmed and
depended for cash on what they sold in
Detroit. After the 1805 fire, there was
ready sale for their shingles and pickets.
When the War of 1812 broke out,
indigenous people divided into pro-
British or pro-American. The French
settlers, afraid of being caught in tribal
warfare, fled to Detroit for protection
and not until the Americans held Detroit
secure did they straggle back home.
Their lives were disrupted again
when the Erie Canal opened in 1825.
Immigrants from Great Britain,
particularly Napoleonic war veterans,
had been given land in Upper Canada.
To avoid the miseries of immigrant
ships and the journey west from the
St. Lawrence, those who could
afford to came by New York,
travelled up the Hudson and
took the new canal to Buffalo.
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The Benign Impact of Detroit
From there they sailed to Detroit, to
go north on one of the steamers the
enterprising Detroiters had in service.
One of them, General Gratiot, was
described by a girl who made the
passage as the smallest ship she had
ever seen, and so slow that it took two
stints with a one night stopover to reach
Sarnia.
English immigrants soon outnumbered
the French and like them, looked to
Detroit for transportation, mail, and a
market to sell and buy goods. The fact
that they bought supplies unobtainable
locally is evident from a bill, still in
existence, made out to a Mr. Wheatley
of the Sarnia area. It is dated “Detroit,
April 4, 1839” and it lists tea, coffee,
currants, wine, C.S. soap, yellow soap,
loaf sugar, rice and a jug. The bill, paid
for in British currency and converted to
American dollars, amounted to $9.74.
Payment was received “per H. Hyatt
Jas. Malcom.”
From the time of the above transaction
to 1860, Detroit’s population multiplied
five times, and its products accordingly.
These were distributed by railways to
New York and Chicago, but goods could
only be taken north by small, slow ships.
When the waterways filled with ice,
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transportation between Detroit and
Sarnia relied on a Detroit-based
stagecoach service to Port Huron.
Detroiters and Sarnians rejoiced
when, in 1859, the Grand Trunk
Railroad, financed by British interests,
completed its line from Montreal to
Detroit. The rail cars crossed the St.
Clair by ferry from Sarnia to Port Huron
and proceeded to Detroit to connect
with an existing line to Chicago.
In 1860, when the Victoria Bridge
across the St. Lawrence opened, the
railway line was extended to Portland,
Maine. With Portland being an icefree
port, any place on the railway
could now engage in overseas trade
year ‘round. The Sarnia - Port Huron -
Detroit section gave passenger service
for 95 years, but it did not serve
residents along the west side of the
Lake or the River St. Clair. To remedy
this, innovative Detroiters eventually
had a rail line operating along the
waterway from Detroit to Port Huron.
Powered by electricity, it made fast
runs between the two cities. Known as
the Rapid, it was a boon to Canadians.
With the Rapid, travel between their
communities became easier. For
example, someone from Courtright
could cross the river to St. Clair,
Michigan, take the Rapid to Port
Huron, and the ferry to Sarnia,
in about an hour. That beat
driving a horse over awful
roads for several hours.
While the Rapid operated,
cruise ships were popular. Detroit’s
new Tashmoo started to run excursions
in 1900. She called at Sarnia, took on
church groups, company picnics and
other holiday-makers before crossing
to Port Huron for a similar crowd and
heading downriver. Most passengers
disembarked at Algonac and returned
home on the Wauketa in the evening.
When the passenger ships were in
their heyday, enterprising Detroiters
brought forth the automobile. It
changed transportation all over the
Americas. By the late twenties, cars had
run horses off the streets and, in a few
years, caused the demise of the Rapid
and the cruise ships. But, in Sarnia,
the dependency on gasoline ensured
the success of its largest company -
Imperial Oil.
Thanks to the automobile, Sarnians
can and do drive to Detroit for an
evening and cheer for the Tigers, the
Red Wings or the Lions. Others favour
the plays and concerts that a big city
attracts. Many also go to the Detroit
Institute of Arts to see shows of world
famous works that only a city like
Detroit can present.
In addition to these pleasures, it
should be noted that when Sarnians
first got radios, Detroit’s WJR was their
closest and strongest station. The same
thing happened with television- at first
the Detroit channels were the only
ones they could get. Again, when they
took to the air, they flew out of Willow
Run and still use Detroit’s Metropolitan
Airport.
For the benign impact Detroit has had
on Sarnia for so many years, much is
owed to Cadillac, who began it all on
July 24, 1701.
Welcome to ... Summer 2023
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P A G E 6
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TUESDAY
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Ribs
• Genuine Broasted Chicken
• Seafood, Sandwiches, Wraps
Reserve for panoramic views
of Lake Huron from our patio!
• Take Out • Lakeside parks & benches nearby
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