Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day they first saw the lake. It is part of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

system, and along with the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

and

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

, Lake St. Clair connects Lake Huron (to the north) with

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

(to the south). It has a total surface area of about and an average depth of just ; to ensure an uninterrupted waterway, government agencies in both countries have maintained a 30 feet deep

shipping channel In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of water or of other fluids (e.g., lava), most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait. The word is ...

through the shallow lake for more than a century.

Geography

This lake is situated about northeast of the downtown areas of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

. Along with the

and

, Lake St. Clair connects Lake Huron (to its north) with

(to its south). The area is notable for the fact that the Canadian territory around the lake (Windsor metropolitan area) lies south of the adjacent United States territory. Lake St. Clair measures about from north to south and about from east to west. Its total surface area is about . This is a rather shallow lake for its size, with an average depth of about , and a maximum natural depth of . However, it is deep in the navigation channel which is dredged for

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...

passage by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. The lake is fed by the St. Clair River, which flows to the south from Lake Huron and has an extensive

river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...

where it enters Lake St. Clair. This is the largest delta of the Great Lakes System. Other rivers which feed Lake St. Clair are the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

rivers which originate in Southwestern Ontario, and the

Clinton River The Clinton River is a river in southeastern Michigan in the United States. It is named in honor of DeWitt Clinton, who was governor of New York from 1817 to 1823. The main branch of the river rises from wetlands and coldwater tributaries from ...

, which originates in Michigan. The outflow from Lake St. Clair travels from its southwestern end into the Detroit River, and then into

. The tarry time (i.e. the time between entering and leaving) of the water in Lake St. Clair averages about seven days, but this can vary from as little as two to as many as thirty days, depending on the direction of the winds, the water circulation patterns, and the amount of water that is flowing out of Lake Huron. For water flowing through the navigation channel, the time period is only about two days. Lake St. Clair is part of the

system, but it is 17 times smaller than

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

by surface area, and more than 80 times by volume. It is rarely included in the list of "Great Lakes" but is sometimes referred to as "the sixth Great Lake". Scattered proposals have called for it to be officially recognized as a Great Lake, which might enable it to attract greater public funding for

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...

and other projects. File:Carte du lac Sainte-Claire.jpg, 1702 map of Lake St. Clair File:Michigan Macomb county Anchor Bay Selfridge AFB IMG 1812.JPG, Aerial view of Anchor Bay at Lake St. Clair File:Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair bathymetry map.png, Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair bathymetric shaded relief map File:Frozen Lake St Clair.JPG, Frozen Lake St Clair File:Shoreline muck in Lake St. Clair (8741968452).jpg, Shoreline muck in Lake St. Clair

Naming

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

/ Native Americans used the lake as part of their extensive navigation of the Great Lakes. The Mississauga called it ', meaning "(at) the whirlpool". The Wea derived their name from a

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

cognate: '. In the latter part of the 17th century, the Mississauga established a village near the lake. Early French mapmakers had identified the lake by a variety of French and Iroquoian-language names, including ' eawater Lake ''Lac Ganatchio'' ("kettle," for its shape), in French '. A variety of Native names were associated with sweetness, as the lake was freshwater as opposed to saltwater. These included ''Otsiketa'' (sugar or candy), ''Kandequio'' or ''Kandekio'' (possibly candy), ''Oiatinatchiketo'' (probably a form of Otsiketa), and ''Oiatinonchikebo''. Similarly, the Iroquois nations called present-day Lake Huron a term meaning "The Grand Lake of the Sweet Sea" (fresh water as opposed to salt water.) The French expressed this association on their maps as ' (sweet sea) and the Dutch identified it in Latin as '. On August 12, 1679, the French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle arrived with an expedition. He named the body of water ''Lac Sainte-Claire,'' as the expedition sighted it on the feast day of

Saint Clare of Assisi Clare of Assisi (born Chiara Offreduccio and sometimes spelled Clara, Clair, Claire, Sinclair; 16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253) was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, ...

. The historian on the voyage,

Louis Hennepin Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, (; 12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollet order (French: ''Récollets'') and an explorer of the interior of North Amer ...

, recorded that the

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian ...

tribes referred to the lake as ''Otseketa''. As early as 1710, the English adopted the French name, identifying the lake on their maps as Saint Clare. By the

Mitchell Map The Mitchell Map is a map made by John Mitchell (1711–1768), which was reprinted several times during the second half of the 18th century. The map, formally titled ''A map of the British and French dominions in North America'' &c., was used ...

in 1755, the spelling appeared as the shorter "St. Clair," the form that became most widely used. Some scholars credit the name as honoring the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

General Arthur St. Clair, later Governor of the Northwest Territory, but the name Lake St. Clair was in use with this current spelling long before St. Clair became a notable figure. Together the place name and general's name likely influenced settlers' naming a proliferation of nearby political jurisdictions: the Michigan county and township of St. Clair, as well as the cities of St. Clair and

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ...

. Some local historians attributed the namesake to

Patrick Sinclair Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

, a British officer who purchased land on the

at the outlet of the Pine River. There, in 1764, he built Fort Sinclair, which was in use for nearly twenty years before being abandoned. Unlike most smaller lakes in the region—but like the Great Lakes—''Lake'' comes at the front of its proper name, rather than the end; this is reflective of its French origins.

Water quality

Lake St Clair's location, downstream from the largest freshwater delta in the Great Lakes, has a large effect on its turbidity (clarity). Current water quality is quite good despite past incidents and a history of chemical bio-accumulation. A number of cities source drinking water from or just downstream of the lake and quality is closely monitored. In the early 1970s, the Canadian and American governments closed the commercial fishery over concerns of bio-accumulation of mercury. The industry responsible for this contamination was the Dow Chemical Chlor-Alkali Plant in Sarnia, Ontario. Since 1949, Dow Chemical had been operating mercury cell plants for the production of chlorine and other chemicals. Through its production process, it discharged mercury into the river and contaminated the fishery. The fishery has since not been re-opened, although studies have now confirmed mercury levels are well within the safe range. Sport fishing remains popular in the lake. The governments on both sides of the lakes continue to monitor and publish guides for sport fish consumption.

Boat clubs

Many

yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...

s (boating and sailing clubs) are located along the shores. Some of these include: * The Great Lakes Yacht Club, St. Clair Shores, Michigan *

Grosse Pointe Yacht Club The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (GPYC) is a private yacht club located on the shore of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. The club is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA). The clubhouse is prominently vis ...

Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan Grosse Pointe Shores is a city in Macomb and Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,008 at the 2010 census. Grosse Pointe Shores was incorporated as a village in 1911 and was part of Grosse Pointe Township in Wayne ...

* The Old Club, on Harsens Island, Michigan *North Channel Yacht Club, on Harsens Island, Michigan * Crescent Sail Yacht Club in

Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan Grosse Pointe Farms is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,479 at the 2010 census. As part of the Grosse Pointe collection of cities, it is a northeastern city of Metro Detroit and shares a small wester ...

* Grosse Pointe Club (Little Club) in Grosse Pointe, Michigan * Clinton River Boat Club (Club Island), near Harsens Island, Michigan * Albatross Yacht Club, Anchor Bay, Michigan * North Star Sail Club, on the Clinton River, Harrison Twp, Michigan * Lake St. Clair Powerboat Club, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan * Lakeshore Sail Club, St. Clair Shores, Michigan * Windsor Yacht Club in

* Southport Sailing Club, Windsor, Ontario * St. Clair Sail Club, Belle River (now Lakeshore), Ontario * Thames River Yacht Club, Lighthouse Cove (now Lakeshore), Ontario

Public beaches

* Mitchell's Bay Beach, Mitchell's Bay, Ontario, is a small community located on the east shore of Lake St. Clair. * New Baltimore, beach at Walter and Mary Burke Park in Downtown New Baltimore, Michigan. * Sandpoint Beach, located in Windsor, Ontario near Riverside Dr. East and Florence Ave. * Lakeview Park West Beach, located in Belle River, Ontario. The shallow water is great for cooling down in the summer. * Marine City Beach, north end of Water Street in Marine City, Michigan. * Lake St Clair Metropark, Harrison Township, Michigan. * Belle Isle Beach, Belle Isle, Michigan; located on the west side of the island, this beach provides a safe swimming area away from the currents of the Detroit River. The beach is well manicured with clear water and sandy bottom. Nice shade trees and grass border the beach.

References

External links

Description of Bathymetry of Lake Erie & Lake St. Clair
NGDC
Poster showing Bathymetry of Lake Erie & Lake St. ClairNational Data Buoy Center page for Lake St. Clair station LSCM4
Current weather conditions from NOAA
EPA.gov: Grosse Ile walleye contamination
{{Authority control St. Clair, Lake Great Lakes Waterway St. Clair, Lake St. Clair, Lake Landforms of Chatham-Kent Geography of Detroit Landforms of Essex County, Ontario Landforms of Lambton County Bodies of water of Macomb County, Michigan Bodies of water of St. Clair County, Michigan Bodies of water of Wayne County, Michigan Landforms of Windsor, Ontario Canada–United States border Saint Clair, Lake Detroit River St. Clair River Tributaries of Lake Erie