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 Eng ...

, Canada. It links Halifax Harbour 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 t ...

by way of the

Shubenacadie River The Shubenacadie River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the historic seaport village of Maitland on Cobequid Bay, site of the buildi ...

and

Shubenacadie Grand Lake Shubenacadie Grand Lake is a large Canadian lake straddling the Halifax Regional Municipality and Hants county on mainland Nova Scotia. It drains into the Shubenacadie River at its northeastern outlet. The lake is the seventh and largest lake i ...

. 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. Stat ...

. 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 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 ...

es of the 1860s. However the canal company showed little profit and experienced many problems relating to frigid winters which damaged the

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

linking the freshwater lakes. The president of the Canal company was Michael Wallace. 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 The Nova Scotia Railway is a historic Canadian railway. It was composed of two lines, one connecting Richmond (immediately north of Halifax) with Windsor, the other connecting Richmond with Pictou Landing via Truro. The railway was incorpo ...

, which built lines from Halifax to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

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 ...

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 Railways. As the railway was also completely ow ...

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 war A frog war occurs when one private railway company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities between the two railways. It is named after the frog, the piece of track that allows the two tracks to join or cross and ...

s 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 Canad ...

(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 (part of Halifax Harbour) * 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 Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

One (partially restored) *

Lake Banook Lake Banook is a freshwater lake located in Dartmouth within the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is home to three sprint canoe and kayak clubs, two rowing clubs, and a dragon boat club. It also has a claim to be the bir ...

* Lake Micmac * Lock Two in

Shubie Park Shubie Park is a urban park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia maintained by the Halifax Regional Municipality. Heavily forested, Shubie Park is roughly linear in shape as it is bounded on the north and west by Highway 118 expressway and on the south ...

(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) *

from Wellington Station to Frenchmans Road * Lock Six to Nine on the

from Frenchmans Road to Lantz (no longer present) *

from Lantz to Maitland *

Cobequid Bay Cobequid Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and the easternmost part of the Minas Basin, located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The bay was carved by rivers flowing into the eastern end of the Bay of Fundy. The eastern end of the b ...

at Port Maitland (part of Minas Basin/

)

Present use

In recent decades, 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 Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the pop ...

in Dartmouth's

, 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. Th ...

, 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 The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail extend ...

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 Dartmouth Crossing is a commercial real estate development in Dartmouth, a part of Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Background Dartmouth Crossing is a million commercial development owned by North American Development Group. ...

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

. Measures were taken to mitigate the silt run-off and construction continued on the mall project.

References

* Barbara Grantmyre. (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