Research

Scope and Content Note

The series consists of a file labeled "St. Lawrence-Welland Canal Prbm" which contains assorted documents in support of policy discussions to revive a project for an American canal from Lake Ontario to the Niagara River and Lake Erie. The idea of an "American canal" sprouted in the 1800s and persisted many decades into the 20th century. File material includes undated maps, photographs, and pamphlets, as well as newspaper clippings and a small amount of correspondence, notes, and memoranda all dating from the 1950s. The point of discussions was to prevent the Welland Canal (in Canada) from bogging down commercial development that would follow the St. Lawrence Seaway. The file material pertains to canal construction or improvement and the side issue of water power.

The material may have been gathered by the State Commerce Department's Bureau of Industrial Development, which would have an interest in issues of trade and manufacturing. Internal evidence suggests it is a partial file, and that related statistical information was kept elsewhere (location now unknown.) Implementation of the project was postponed many times before being rated as inactive by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The file includes: 4 undated, unattributed, black and white photos, 3.5" x 3.5"; pamphlet, "Visit Canada's Canal Zone, Thorold Ontario: Where the Steamships Climb the Mountain"; unannotated print map and profile of "St. Lawrence - Great Lakes Waterway," published by Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, n.d., 22" x 32"; unannotated print map showing three alternate canal routes, n.d. 8 l/2" x 7 3/4"; pamphlet, "Welland Ship Canal: In Picture and Story," printed and published by F.H. Leslie, Ltd, Niagara Falls, Canada, n.d.; pamphlet, "Great Lakes Water," published by the Power Authority of the State of New York, June 20, 1960; copies of correspondence, excerpts from speeches, and memoranda, ca. 1955; newspaper clippings (1956, 1959) and magazine articles (1955); and unattributed manuscript notes taken from a 1900 survey for a canal around Niagara Falls on the American side.