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Shubenacadie Canal Rewrite

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44°42′6.5″N 63°33′15.6″W / 44.701806°N 63.554333°W / 44.701806; -63.554333

Shubenacadie Canal
 
View of Shubenacadie Canal in Shubie Park.
Specifications
Length114 km (71 mi)
Maximum boat length60 ft
Original number of locks9 locks & 2 inclined planes
Maximum height above sea level31 m (102 ft) at Lake Charles
StatusClosed
History
Original ownerShubenacadie Canal Company
Principal engineerFrancis Hall (1826–1831); Charles William Fairbanks (1854–1858); Angus McDougall (1858–1861)
Construction began1826
Date completed1861
Date closed1871
Geography
DirectionNorth/South
Start pointHalifax Harbour (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia)
End pointCobequid Bay (Maitland, Nova Scotia)
Beginning coordinates44°40′N 63°34′W / 44.66°N 63.56°W / 44.66; -63.56
Ending coordinates45°19′N 63°29′W / 45.32°N 63.49°W / 45.32; -63.49

The Shubenacadie Canal is a Canadian canal in central Nova Scotia, linking Halifax Harbour with the Bay of Fundy by way of the Shubenacadie River and Shubenacadie Grand Lake. It was substantially constructed between 1826 and 1831, but financial difficulties prevented it from being completed to a navigable standard at that time. Construction resumed in 1854 and the canal was finally completed in 1861. It operated for less than 10 years, closing permanently around 1871 due to competition from the Nova Scotia Railway.

Despite its short operational life, the Shubenacadie Canal remains a significant fixture in Nova Scotia, particularly in Dartmouth. Four of the nine locks and one of the two marine railways have been fully or partially restored, although none of them are currently operational. A museum dedicated to the canal called the Fairbanks Centre opened in 1987. The canal works and museum are maintained by the Shubenacadie Canal Commission, which was established by the Nova Scotia legislature in 1986.

The canal as a whole was declared a National Historic Civil Engineering Site by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering in 1984, and several sites along the canal have been independently recognized as historic sites by multiple levels of government.

History

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The indigenous people of Nova Scotia, the Mi'kmaq, have used a portage route similar to the subsequent Shubenacadie Canal route since before European contact. This route was noted in writing by Paul Mascarene around 1721.[1]

The possibility of creating a canal from Halifax Harbour to the Bay of Fundy began to be seriously explored in the mid-1700s. At the time, the main route between the newly-established provincial capital of Halifax and the communities of the Bay of Fundy was a long sea voyage around the southern tip of the province. Due to this lack of connectivity, Saint John was becoming the main commercial centre for the Bay of Fundy. A canal would allow Halifax to better compete.[2]

The first attempt to survey a potential canal route took place in September 1767. Royal Navy Captain William Owen led a team of 14 people on an expedition from Halifax Harbour to the Bay of Fundy. The expedition, popularly called Owen's Safari, reached the Bay of Fundy in less than two weeks and took measurements along the full route. However, no construction resulted at the time.[3]

Interest in a canal was revived in the 1790s, spurred in part by Lieutenant Governor John Wentworth.[4] The Nova Scotia legislature approved a new study of the canal route in 1797, but a bill to formally establish a canal company was defeated the following year.[5]

In 1825, the Nova Scotia legislature funded a further feasibility study. This study was led by Francis Hall, an engineer from Kingston, Ontario who had previously worked on the Caledonian Canal in Scotland. Hall's report proposed a canal with 19 locks beginning in Dartmouth and ending in Cobequid Bay.[6] Hall's plan was endorsed by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce that year.[7]

The Shubenacadie Canal Company was incorporated in 1826 with Michael Wallace as president, Thomas Nickleson Jeffery and Samuel Cunard as vice-presidents, and Charles Rufus Fairbanks as secretary.[8] The official sod-turning ceremony took place on July 25 in what is now Shubie Park, presided over by Governor General of British North America George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie.[9]


In 1887, Mary Jane Katzmann wrote that the canal lay "in ruins".[10]



References

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  1. ^ Martin 1957, p. 75
  2. ^ Bartlett 2002, p. 3-5
  3. ^ Bartlett 2002, p. 5
  4. ^ Bartlett 2002, p. 5
  5. ^ Chapman 1994, p. 7
  6. ^ Chapman 1994, p. 10-11
  7. ^ Lawson 1893, p. 30
  8. ^ Lawson 1893, p. 30
  9. ^ Chapman 1994, p. 17-18
  10. ^ Lawson 1893, p. 37

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References

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  • Barnett, Donna (2002). River of Dreams: The Saga of the Shubenacadie Canal. Halifax, NS: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 1-55109-407-X.
  • Chapman, Harry (1994). Men, Money and Muscle - Building the Shubenacadie Canal. Dartmouth, NS: Dartmouth Historical Society.
  • Grantmyre, Barbara (1975). The River That Missed the Boat. Halifax, NS: Petheric Press. ISBN 0-919380-17-4.
  • Lawson, Mrs. William (1893). Piers, Harry (ed.). History of the Townships of Dartmouth, Preston and Lawrencetown. Halifax, NS: Morton & Co.
  • Martin, John Patrick (1957). The Story of Dartmouth. Dartmouth, NS: Self-published.


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Category:Canals in Nova Scotia Category:Transport in Hants County, Nova Scotia Category:Transport in Colchester County, Nova Scotia Category:Transport in Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Buildings and structures in Hants County, Nova Scotia Category:Buildings and structures in Colchester County, Nova Scotia Category:Buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Tourist attractions in Halifax County, Nova Scotia Category:Canals opened in 1861 Category:1861 establishments in Nova Scotia

Old

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The Shubenacadie Canal was originally surveyed by William Owen in 1767 which lead to the proposal of the canal 30 years later. The government of Nova Scotia commissioned Owen to follow the Shubenacadie waterway from the Atlantic Ocean to Cobequid Bay. The Shubenacadie Canal was envisioned to facilitate transportation between Halifax and the agricultural, timber and coal producing areas of northern Nova Scotia and the Annapolis Valley. Construction was started in 1826 by the Shubenacadie Canal Co. which went bankrupt in 1831. Several Scottish and Irish stonemasons had immigrated to Nova Scotia to work on the project but were left stranded in the colony with few resources after the project had halted. Construction started again in 1854 under the Inland Navigation Company. The new company altered the original British stonework lock designs to use more inexpensive North American stone and wooden construction. Steam boats and barges began to use the canal in 1856 and the entire system was completed by 1861. The canal enjoyed a few years of healthy traffic especially during the Waverley gold rushes of the 1860s.[1] However the canal company showed little profit and experienced many problems relating to frigid winters which damaged the locks linking the freshwater lakes.

The president of the Canal company was Michael Wallace (politician).

The canal's ongoing construction delays were partly responsible for the 1851 decision by Nova Scotia's colonial government to build the Nova Scotia Railway, which built lines from Halifax to Windsor and Truro by 1858. Railway construction created a short-term surge in canal traffic but a decision in 1870 by the Intercolonial Railway to replace the Waverley draw bridge over the canal with a fixed bridge blocked canal steamships and severely limited canal traffic, a conflict related to the frog wars which plagued rival railways crossings. A final blow was a takeover by the Town of Dartmouth of the Dartmouth Lakes for the city's water supply which ended canal operations in 1871.

Route

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View of Grand Lake, part of the Shubenacadie Canal system, from just above Lock 5

The community of Maitland was part of the Douglas Township until it was named Maitland after Governor General of Nova Scotia Peregrine Maitland (1828–34), when building the Shubenacadie Canal was first attempted (1826–1831). The canal was supposed to start at Maitland, Nova Scotia and run through the province to Maitland Street, Dartmouth, the canal being "bookended" by two "Maitland" landmarks.[2]

The canal followed the course below, running north from Halifax Harbour at Dartmouth Cove:

Present use

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Shubenacadie Canal Map, Nova Scotia, 1831
 
Partially restored lock

In recent decades[when?] people[who?] have not used the canal because it has poisson[further explanation needed] in it, citizens of Dartmouth sought to restore portions of the canal's portage route between the lakes running from Halifax Harbour to Shubenacadie Grand Lake for pleasure boaters. Highway construction, notably low bridges crossing the Lake Banook-Lake Micmac connection (Highway 111) and Lake Thomas (Highway 102) resulted in blocking the historic canal route to larger vessels, although canoes and small pleasure boats may still pass underneath.

The Shubenacadie Canal Commission was established to stabilize the deterioration of the remaining locks and attempt to restore some of them to working order. An interpretive site for the canal is located in the Fairbanks Centre in Dartmouth's Shubie Park, along the shores of Lake Micmac. Located next to one of the restored operational locks, the Fairbanks Centre features a scale model of canal lock mechanisms.

Some areas along the Shubenacadie Canal are popular outdoor recreation areas for the Halifax Regional Municipality, including:

  • Lake Banook's competitive paddling course
  • Lake Banook's Birch Cove Beach
  • Shubie Park's Dartmouth Multi-use Trail
  • Laurie Provincial Park on the shore of Shubenacadie Grand Lake
  • Oakfield Provincial Park on the shore of Shubenacadie Grand Lake

The Trans-Canada Trail is currently being planned to run alongside part of the canal.

Dartmouth Crossing silt run-off

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Environmentalists and residents[who?] became concerned in 2005 when it was discovered[by whom?] that large[quantify] amounts of silt were flowing off the Dartmouth Crossing mall project construction site and into the canal. After heavy hurricane-season rains, run-off from the construction overflowed containment ponds and began running into the canal, Lake Charles, Lake Micmac, and Shubie Park's Grassy Brook.[citation needed]

Dartmouth Crossing is located on Highway 118 across from Shubie Park. Measures were taken to mitigate the silt run-off and construction continued on the mall project.

See also

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  1. ^ "History of the Canal" Shubenacadie Canal Commission
  2. ^ Halifax Street Names: An Illustrated Guide by Shelagh Mackenzie (Editor), 2004
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