About the artist: Anton N. 'Tony' Akkerman (1927- 2010) was a Niagara-based artist and a draftsman for the Acres, W.P. London and Monenco Engineering firms. In addition to being a prolific watercolourist, he hosted workshops and studio sessions, and was an art teacher at Niagara College. Tony Akkerman died January 7, 2010 at the age of 83. http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?id=247424&b=1 . From the personal collection of Andrew Porteus.
It's fairly uncommon for a watercourse to completely reverse its direction, but that's precisely what happened to Chippawa Creek when it was connected up to the Welland River.
The original banks of Chippawa Creek were home to early settlers, military installations, and government wharves and docks. From docks in Lake Ontario and the lower Niagara River, goods and passengers were transported over land via Portage Road, to Chippawa Creek. There, they could sail along the upper Niagara River towards Buffalo and other destinations on Lake Erie, bypassing the daunting navigational obstacle of "Niagara Falls".
A continuous water route between the two Great Lakes was desirable for economic purposes, and in 1824, local businessman William Hamilton Merritt had raised enough private funds to start construction of the First Welland Canal.
The original canal route started at the mouth of Twelve Mile Creek, in Port Dalhousie, and extended to Port Robinson on the Chippawa Creek. The little canal had 40 wooden locks, with a "deep cut" through the escarpment. Boats then travelled along Chippawa Creek to the Niagara River, and thence to Lake Erie. Sailboats usually needed to be towed by yoked oxen on a towpath, fighting against the strong Niagara current.
It was soon apparent that a deeper canal was needed, and the decision was made to bypass the treacherous currents of the Niagara River and turn the route of the second Welland Canal southward. The port facilities at Chippawa remained for decades, continuing trade across Lake Erie (even including rum-running into the U.S!)
The need for power spurred the construction of a hydroelectric generating plant at Queenston, with its water intake located at the cut that had been made for the first Welland Canal a hundred years earlier. Chippawa Creek was dredged to deepen it, and then its natural flow was completely reversed, bringing water from the Niagara River along the former creek channel to the new hydroelectric power canal. The new "Sir Adam Beck" powerhouse officially opened in 1921. Chippawa Port closed in 1923.
In 2018, Ontario Power Generation announced plans for draining the hydro canal, temporarily causing Chippawa Creek to return to its original water flow pattern.
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Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years. Chippawa Creek/Welland River.
Niagara Falls Then and Now
A collaborative project
Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.
Original newspaper series by
Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.
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