The Shubenacadie Canal is a canal in central

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

, Canada. It links

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harb ...

with the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is th ...

by way of the Shubenacadie River and Shubenacadie Grand Lake. Begun in 1826, it was not completed until 1861 and was closed in 1871. Currently small craft use the river and lakes, but only one lock is operational. Three of the nine locks have been restored to preserve their unique fusion of British and North American construction techniques. More extensive restoration is planned.

History

The Shubenacadie Canal was originally surveyed by William Owen in 1767 which led 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 The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. St ...

. Construction was started in 1826 by the Shubenacadie Canal Co. which went bankrupt in 1831. Several

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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 rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

es of the 1860s. 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 Michael Wallace (or Mike or Mick) may refer to: Politics *Michael Wallace (politician) (died 1831), Scottish-born merchant, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia *Mick Wallace (born 1955), Irish politician, football manager and property develo ...

. 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 Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...

by 1858. Railway construction created a short-term surge in canal traffic but a decision in 1870 by the

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Comp ...

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

The community of Maitland was part of the Douglas Township until it was named Maitland after Governor General of Nova Scotia

Peregrine Maitland General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the Canadi ...

(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.Halifax Street Names: An Illustrated Guide by Shelagh Mackenzie (Editor), 2004 The canal followed the course below, running north from Halifax Harbour at Dartmouth Cove: * Dartmouth Cove in

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

(part of

) * Dartmouth

Inclined Plane An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six cla ...

(no longer present) * Sullivan's Pond * Lock One (partially restored) * Lake Banook * Lake Micmac * Lock Two in Shubie Park (partially restored but inoperable) * Lock Three also in Shubie Park (fully restored but inoperable) * Lake Charles * Porto Bello Inclined Plane (no longer present) * Lake William * Lake Thomas * Lock Four (in ruins) * Fletchers Lake * Lock Five (fully restored and operational) * Shubenacadie Grand Lake from Wellington Station to Frenchmans Road * Lock Six to Nine on the Shubenacadie River from Frenchmans Road to

Lantz __NOTOC__ Lantz may refer to: People * Lantz (surname), a surname of German and Swedish origin * Lantz (given name) Places Canada *Lantz, Nova Scotia Spain * Lantz, Spain, Navarre United States *Lantz, West Virginia * Lantz Arena in Charles ...

(no longer present) * Shubenacadie River from Lantz to Maitland * Cobequid Bay at Port Maitland (part of

Minas Basin , image = Lookout On Way to Cape Split - 25006718579.jpg , alt = , caption = Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , ca ...

)

Present use

In recent decades, citizens of

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 Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The re ...

, 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

Environmentalists and residents became concerned in 2005 when it was discovered that large 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. 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.

References

Barbara Grantmyre Barbara Grantmyre was a Canadian writer. Born Barbara Lucas, she is known for several works of nonfiction including ''Lunar Rogue'' (1963) about the criminal Henry More Smith and ''The River that Missed the Boat'' (1975) about the Shubenacadie Can ...

. (1975). ''The River that Missed the Boat'' Halifax: Petheric Press. * Barnett, Donna (2002).''River of Dreams: The Saga of the Shubenacadie Canal.'' Nimbus Publishing Ltd. * Chapman, H. (1994). ''Men, Money and Muscle - Building the Shubenacadie Canal.'' Dartmouth, NS: Dartmouth Historical Society. * Conrad, R. (2005). Mall project blamed after rain washes silt into Shubie Canal. ''

The Chronicle Herald ''The Chronicle Herald'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada owned by SaltWire Network of Halifax. The paper's newsroom staff were locked out of work from January 2016 until August 2017. ''Herald'' management con ...

'' (October, 2005).

External links