After four years of construction the original Lachine Canal was finally
opened during august of 1825. Built primarily to bypass one of a series
of rapids on the
St. Lawrence River it was the first of several small
canals that would help make Montreal one of North America's most
important ports for the flow of goods into and out of the
continent.Moreover the ready supply of raw materials from the interior
along with cheap water transportation gave rise to many types of
industries along its banks.As many as 25000
jobs were created by such
industries in the working class area of south central Montreal.But it
wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century when the Lachine Canal had been
enlarged to allow passage of larger ships and the supporting canals on
the St. Lawrence had been finished that it came into prominence.
For approximately 135 years it served its purpose but finally its
inability to handle larger and more modern ships made it obsolete. With
the completion of the joint US-CANADA St. Lawrence Seaway opening in
1959 the Lachine Canal was closed down and the ends were filled in.
And with it most of the industries along its banks also closed, many of
which moved up river to Toronto which was much closer to the
demographic center of North America.
During the 1970's Parks Canada took over the Lachine Canal and adjacent land
and developed it into a cycling ,jogging and walking trail...
stretching about 15km from the Old Port of Montreal to the city of
Lachine...which in turn connects to other cycling paths extending to
the western tip of the island.
Although many of the old factories and plants along its shore have been
torn down some of the buildings remained solid enough to draw the
interest of developers. Determined to maintain the aura of the past the
facades of the original structures have been designed into several new
condominium projects.
Finally in May of 2002 the revitalization was complete with the first
boats appearing on the Lachine Canal in over 30 years.