Fraternity-Testvériség, 1965 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1965-01-01 / 1. szám
4 FRATERNITY ENGINEERING MASTERPIECE — VACATION MARVEL By Jack Van Dusen A few years back, Canadian and American engineers got together and re-arranged the entire geography of the St. Lawrence River. Old territory was flooded. A new lake was formed . . . And a new era was born. Ocean freighters that once would have been hopelessly grounded if they had proceeded beyond Montreal, now sail right through to Lake Superior — and tourists now toss out an anchor and settle down for some good fishing over the spot where they used to drive their cars. Miles of parkland and recreation have been developed along the Seaway’s shores. The Ontario Government, through the Ontario St. Lawrence Development Commission, has established some 6,000 acres of parkland, catering especially to tenting and trailer holidayers. — Modern new motels and hotels are also springing up. Construction of the Seaway created a new 38,000-acre lake, Lake St. Lawrence. It also flooded eight small communities, some of them established nearly 200 years ago by United Empire Loyalists from New England. To offset this major geographical change, plans were made early to salvage as much of the past as possible and to make full use of new waterlines brought into being. Results include the provincial parks; a 6y2-mile long parkway over man-made islands; and Upper Canada Village, a collection of buildings of the late 1700s and early 1800s saved from the rushing waters of the ocean highway. The 40 buildings of the 40-acre village include a blacksmith’s shop, a water-powered woolen mill, a saw mill, general store and just about every other type of business and home in existence in such a community 200 years ago. People wearing the clothes of the 1800s and doing the chores of early settlers, such as shoeing horses and baking bread, add to the pioneer atmosphere. The village is located in Crysler Park, site of several memorials to the pioneers who settled this area of Canada, and to those who fought in the Battle of Crysler. Walls of the Pioneer Memorial are inlaid with 300 tombstones taken from cemeteries inundated by the Seaway. The 6V2-mile parkway runs over 10 islands created from high land that stayed above the surface when the sea route flooded the countryside. They are connected by bridges and causeways, providing a scenic drive opposite the new communties of Long Sault and Ingleside. First-time visitors are amused by some of the smaller islands which were formerly knolls in the main highway. The two-lane hard-top rises out of the lake waters on one side of the island, only to disappear again on the other — white lines and all! Where the roadway rises on islands of the parkway, modern day sailors have the best boat
