LOCK 17, Cornwall Canal - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

The Cornwall canal was built too bypass the Long Sault rapids on the St Lawrence river and became maindrag Canada for almost half a century. This section of the canal ran for 11 miles along the Canadian shore and ended at lock 21, today just offshore of McDonald island in Long Sault Parkway and just east of today's submerged town of Dickinson's Landing. Prior to 1897 when the old canal was upgraded and deepen, the eastern entrance to the Cornwall Canal involved locking through three locks, 15, 16 and 17. The "new" canal replaced the three old locks with two longer and bigger ones, lock 15 and lock 17 just to the south of the old set, which where converted to dry docks. Remains of the original lock 15 can still be seen. The curious reason for the quirky numbering system is too long and detailed to explain here but contrary to some beliefs, there is no lock 16. The old photo, looking south, was taken at the north side of the basin between lock 17 and lock 15, a wide enough area for two ships to pass between the locks. Although the remains of lock 17 are now under a baseball diamond, the entrance to lock 15 from the St Lawrence river is still visible as is the top south wall of lock 15 and most of the wall along the south side of the basin. When visiting the site today, you'll probably be parking at the small gate into the playground and upon careful inspection one will notice some of the hardware for the lock door hinge itself still protruding from the gravel parking lot. Very near the actual coordinates and along the chainlink fence are two old concrete pedestals that remain from a tall tower that carried power to the south side of the canal. The tower is a noticeable landmark in other old photos. Just north of the entrance to lock 17 and just west of the driveway leading in, is a large pedestal or slab of limestone with more detailed pictures of the whole drydock and lock complex, along with the everpresent "you are here" marker. The entire Cornwall canal became redundant and obsolete at the completion of the new St Lawrence Seaway which opened in 1958. The drydocks closed shortly after as they could no longer handle the larger modern day ships and the tugboats moved to other locations because the Cornwall harbour was bypassed by the new seaway and became a backwater location.

Year photo was taken: 1940s

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