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Start of the Feeder Canal. (Welland)

If you've never seen the Feeder Canal before, some introduction might help. The Feeder Canal was a 40 km channel dug in 1829 to bring water from the Grand River to the First Welland Canal. It was later enlarged in the 1840's and used as a shipping canal until the early 1900's.

Amazingly, most of the canal still exists today and can be seen if you're willing to drive some long distances to see it. The amount of preservation varies however. Places like Dunnville and Welland have filled in small sections, while Wainfleet and Port Maitland decided to go the opposite direction and restored sections to their original condition.


Background

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The history of the Feeder Canal started in Nov 1828 when the First Welland Canal was being dug through a high ridge of land at a place called the “Deep Cut”. The original plan was to dig through the ridge deep enough so that water could flow into it from the Welland River. When that plan failed, a new plan was devised to dig a shallower canal and fill the canal with water coming from a higher elevation.

Finding this water was a challenge. The water in the Welland River was approximately 171m (561 feet) above sea level. Lake Erie, directly south of the Deep Cut was a good source of water but its level was 174m (571 feet). Three metres higher but still not high enough for what the canal builders needed. The next and best source of water proved to be the Grand River. With a dam built across the Grand River the water level could be raised to 176m (578 feet) above sea level, a full 5m higher than the Welland River.

Finding water was a good start but getting it to the Deep Cut was also a challenge because the water needed to travel all the way to the Deep Cut and still be 5m higher than the Welland River. To do this designers took advantage of higher ground just south of the Welland River and despite being rushed managed to find a route with several benefits.

Starting at the Grand River the canal traveled east curving south for 6 km where the canal’s direction stopped and the canal turned north-east. The canal went this direction for an amazing 20.5 km before taking three progressive turns northward and crossing the Welland River via an aqueduct a distance of another 8 km. After crossing the Welland River, the canal traveled an additional 5.5 km first north and then curving east where it emptied into the Welland Canal.


The Mysterious "Western Section"

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The history of the Feeder Canal wouldn't be complete without this one point of obscure trivia, the mysterious story of the Welland Canal's "Western Section".

The Western Section was an earlier plan to dig a channel connecting the Grand River to the Welland River so that boats could use it to access the Welland Canal. Records show us that workers were hired to dig the channel in 1828 with completion planned for Oct 1828 one month before the Feeder Canal was ever considered.

What's surprising is that the Western Section was never mentioned again, leading to the possibility that the Western Section was simply used to build the Feeder Canal.

If this is true it might explain why the Feeder Canal's direction stopped so abruptly at Stromness, the exact place where the Western Section was intended to connect to Broad Creek and the Grand River. It also explains why the mill raceway in Wainfleet connected directly to the Feeder Canal but also included a channel running parallel and merging with the Feeder Canal far upstream. This could mark the spot where the original Western Section channel started turning north toward the Welland River.


Changes to the Feeder Canal

It was mentioned that the Feeder Canal’s route included several benefits and this can be seen in the changes made to the Feeder Canal after it was completed.

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In 1833 it was decided to enlarge part of the Feeder Canal and extend it south giving the Welland Canal a direct route to Lake Erie. The Feeder Canal was still the source of water for the Welland Canal but it was now considered ending at this new extension. The place where the waterways met and the village that formed there became known as "Junction", with the village later being called Junction Village then Helmsport, before becoming part of Welland.

In 1842-45 the Second Welland Canal was built and the Feeder Canal enlarged to allow shipping along its route. A guard lock was built in Dunnville to control the flow of water into the Feeder. The Junction Lock was installed at Junction in 1845 to control the flow of water exiting the Feeder into the Welland Canal. Lastly, the Feeder Canal was extended to Port Maitland where a lock was built to lower and raise ships to the level of Lake Erie. Together the upgrades made the Feeder Canal a fully functioning branch of the Second Welland Canal.

In 1845-1850 the extension from Junction to Port Colborne was shut down to enlarge and deepen the channel. During this time the Feeder Canal from Junction to Port Maitland became the route of the Second Welland Canal to Lake Erie.

In 1850 the channel to Port Colborne reopened. Because of the extra time it took to use the Feeder Canal route, the majority of boat traffic returned to using the Port Colborne entrance, making it the main route again.

In 1872-80 the Third Welland Canal was built. During this time the main channel was lowered so that the Welland Canal was now getting its water from Lake Erie. As a consequence the Junction Lock was now needed to raise and lower boats between the Welland Canal and the Feeder Canal.


The End of the Feeder Canal

It's difficult to find one single date when the Feeder Canal stopped operations but a couple details are generally agreed upon. When the Third Welland Canal started operations in 1881 it had a much bigger and improved channel going directly to Port Colborne, so the Feeder Canal was no longer needed as a second route to Lake Erie. The Feeder Canal was still used for local traffic, however. This was more true at Dunnville and Port Maitland where ships needed the Feeder Canal to bypass the dam at Dunnville.

The last recorded shipment on the Feeder that historians can point to was a shipment of wood made in 1908. It's possible that ships still used the Feeder Canal occasionally, but there is no record of people being available to operate the locks at Dunnville, Port Maitland or Junction Lock. After years of low use and maintenance the Feeder Canal eventually became unusable and at some point the Feeder Canal was considered closed down and the locks taken out of operation.


The Feeder Canal Today

The Feeder Canal hasn't been used for over 100 years and a lot has changed over that time. It's been filled in in two places, closest to Dunnville and Welland. Restored in both Port Maitland and Wainfleet. And in Stromness and the rest of the channel, the Feeder Canal has been reduced to something resembling a drainage ditch on the side of the road.

To help make sense of the changes we’re going to look at five places of interest along the Feeder Canal today; Welland, Wainfleet, Stromness, Port Maitland, and Dunnville.

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Welland: Today the Junction Lock is a historical landmark in the south west corner of Welland. The lock is easy to visit and the city of Welland has installed several displays that explain its history and significance. In the 1800's the Junction Lock was still in operation and a small town existed across the canal. The town was originally called "Junction", then "Junction Village" and finally "Helmsport". Today it is part of Welland (click to enlarge)
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Junction Lock: Now and Then
Wainfleet: Wainfleet has grown and prospered as a town but the street layout and Feeder Canal hasn't changed much since the town was founded two hundred years ago. Aside from the Feeder Canal, another landmark is the raceway just west of town. The raceway travels approximately 1.75 km north east where it becomes a tributary of the Welland River. The raceway might be a remnant of the Welland Canal's "Western Section" a previous channel dug one year before the Feeder Canal. (click to enlarge)
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Wainfleet: Now and Then
Stromness: The following map shows a recreation of what the Feeder Canal looked like at Stromness in the 1800's. It's based on an existing map of the Mill that once operated there. The turning basin was once centre of town so more features may have existed on the east and south sides of the canal. Today a path still exists that you can take to walk along one of the original towpaths. (click to enlarge)
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Stromness: Now and Then
Port Maitland Lock: It's difficult to find an old map showing what the Port Maitland Lock looked like in the 1800's. Fortunately a local volunteer group has been maintaining the lock so that people can see what it looked like when it was in use. The lock is a bit remote but when you get there it's easy to see, parking is free and there's an information kiosk for people who are interested in learning about the lock. (click to enlarge)
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Port Maitland Lock Today
Dunnville: Dunnville filled in the Feeder Canal and used it to extend their existing street system. Mill St. was extended to Main St. and made into "Main St. E.". Bridge St. meanwhile marks the point where a bridge once crossed the Feeder at the west end of Dunnville's guard lock. The mills, now cleaned up, existed between Main St. E. and Maple St. right where Hydro St. exists today.(click to enlarge)
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Dunnville: Now and Then


References

Ellsworth, Joan. (1979). A Feasibility Study on the Welland Feeder Canal. Rehabilitate the Old Feeder Canal Association.
Warnick, William. (1991). The Feeder Canal has served many Purposes. The Grand Dispatch.
Duquemin, Colin K. and Glenney, Daniel J. (1981). A Guide to the Grand River Canal (2nd Ed.). St. Catharines Historical Museum.
Styran, Roberta M. and Taylor, Robert R. (2012). This Great National Object: Building The Nineteenth-Century Welland Canals. McGill-Queen's University Press.


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