Municipality: St. Catharines
Local area name: Mountain Locks Park
Other identifying names or description: The Second Welland Canal
Latitude: 43.13442784692343
Longitude: -79.20865959259032
Physical Dimensions
Length: 1 kilometres
Width: 150 metres
Surface Area: 0.15 square Kilometres / 150 000 square metres
Elevation: 140 metres
*Images 1 and 2: "Neptune's Staircase" - The Second Welland Canal Remains Located in Mountain Locks Park
Mountain Locks Park has rich history, from industrial to recreational the site has forgone many changes to get to where it is today. Mountain Locks Parks is located in St Catharines, Ontario. The entirety of the park is almost 1km in length and 150m in width (Dowd, 2013, pp.40). The site was turned into a park by the city of St Catharines in 1978 and contains many historical landmarks that are accessible by the public (Welland Public Library, 1973). The site is a great location for hiking with many channels and stone structures that can be seen along the trail. The landscape that now comprises Mountain Locks Park had two main periods of development, referred to as the "First Welland Canal" and the "Second Welland Canal". The First Welland Canal was created between1825-1845, the Second Welland Canal was created between 1842-1915, from 1915 to present day there have been a third and a fourth canal constructed to replace the original first two canal systems, but today the second canal in particular had been reworked from 1915 until now to become what is known today as Mountain Locks park that can be accessed by all as a sort of discovery trail for recreational purposes (Welland Public Library, 1973). The Welland Canals are historically significant seeing as it was used to move cargo ships back and forth through the Niagara Escarpment from Canada to the United States, which in turn contributed greatly to the economy of both countries, helping them to both develop and grow. Contruction of the Second Welland Canal was completed in 1845 by engineers who relocated its route to being 50m south of the original,opting for a straighter path along the Niagara Escarpment. Overtime though the city's engineers have made these drastic changes to the site, from a first to a second draft of the canal's routes to today's Mountain Locks Park. The site's Second Welland Canal in particular left the greatest impact.
*Old map of the Second Welland Canal, Route Outlined in Black
Plant species
Animal species
Threatened Species
Endangered Species
Species of Special Concern
Habitat fragmentation may have occurred to the biota as a result of human activities. Activity like the construction of the Second Welland Canal along the Niagara Escarpment where natural streams once flowed and aquatic life may have once resided may cause the disappearance of these species from the area. Larger mammal species may have also deserted the area of this site as a result of this as well seeing as the canals disrupted some of the foliage and surface area of scavangeable land for these species to live off of. The man made canals would have also disrupted any marine life living in the ancient shallow sea that once flowed as well, seeing as all the natural aspects they need to thrive were removed. All in all, human manipulation of nature can have some deterimental effects on the species originating in these types of areas.
Where the site of Mountain Locks Park resides today there used to be a natural shallow sea running through the escarpment some 430 to 450 years ago (Brown et al., 2013, pp.44). This river's flow had formed a thickened layer of sedimental origin seeing as it primarily carried down its stream silt, sand, and clay. This layer of sediment, as a result of this constant flow or water, was home to sea critters that allowed for the material to become highly organic over time. These materials were later compressed into larger layers of sedimental materials over more time, these materials include broken down rocks as well as older reef structures that were once abundant in the area. These materials have evolved into the present day layers of sand stones and soft shales that can be seen today throughout the niagara escarpment that Mountain Locks Park is a part of (Brown et al., 2013, pp.45). Remnants of the site's more industrial past explains the site's abundance of limestone as well, which was due to human-induced changes as opposed to its more natural ones. The escarpment, on which humans began to make changes to for industrial purposes, only came to be after this ancient shallow sea was withdrawn, allowing these sediments to form into more solid layers within the site's land (Brown et al., 2013, pp.45). Through time though the softer shales that arose began to erode in pieces off of the sides of where the shallow sea once passed. This breakage caused the vertical face that is seen as the Niagara escarpment, which made way for humans to excavate the way for the Second Welland Canal and landscape around its ruins for today's the Mountain Locks Park.
The hydrological aspects of the Mountain Locks Park area is control through the Second Welland Canals pond and weir system. The site's pond and weir system is located on the Northern half of Mountain Locks Park. The dyke on the highest point of this system was built to direct the water overflow in the opposite direction, away from the canal locks.This was crucial seeing as the locks of the Second Welland Canal, also known as Neptune's Staircase, required much less water than what was flowing through the Niagara Escarpment. As a result, this pond and weir system was designed to help manage this overflow if water that was cursing through the Niagara Escarpment. Without this proper diversion of water flow the Second Welland Canal's locks would be submerged and would resemble and artificially manipulated site of large and quick rapids. However, the water being diverted through this pond and weir system was not being put to waste. This excess water was put to use by means of operating and diverting these hydraulic raceways to run though the Merritton area and off to power the industries and mills at the Welland Canal Valley four kilometres away from the Mountain Locks Park site (Dowd, 2013, pp.74). This Hydrological development was crucial to the extraction and redirection of water to meet urban industrial needs and the Second Welland Canal would have been nowhere without it, but these physical urban altercations also cause physical microclimate changes to occur as a result and can play a roll in a regions overall climate as well (Alberti, 2008, pp.134).
*Gears to the locks doors essential to re-directing the waterflow of the canals
Human activities have caused an increase in both the production and concentration of greenhouse gases. The warmer atmosphere that this greenhouse gas production causes is an increasing concern to the Niagara Region, seeing as this causes an increase in temperature levels that may effect some local species that do not general thrive in the extreme weather conditions produced by the increase in greenhouse gas production (Hough, 2013, pp.191). Other impacts of climate change can also increase the likelihood of detrimental outbreaks in vegetation and trees, as a result of insects and disease thriving as a result of these climate changes, that are important to the health of this site's ecosystem (Brown et al., 2010, pp.46). Specific changes to the site's climate include an earlier spring, warmer summer and later fall, with some extreme cold warning for the winter season. As a result of this the city of St Catharines has but into place various sustainability strategies in attempts to address these new changes in climate and hopefully adapt to them as a result. According to the City of St Catharines, these sustainable strategies include: "The protection of critical infrastructure from climate change, Neighbourhood planning that considers the projected impacts of climate change, Ensuring plans are informed by future projections about the frequency and severity of weather-related events, Informing the community about climate change and its potential effects for St. Catharines, Encouraging trees as part of site design shading and cooling, and Incorporating food security into adaptation planning" (Penney, 2012, pp.14).
In Canada's earlier settlement days, prior to the construction of roads and trails, lakes as well as rivers served as the primary mode of travel and transportation of goods. Although the this mode of travel and transportation was convenient for its time there were still two major obstacles that had to be overcome. The two obstacles consisted of the Niagara Escarpment and the St. Lawrence Rapids. Lake Ontario and Lake Erie differ by 326 feet in elevation making portage and travel highly laborious and hazardous, giving rise to plans for the construction of the First Welland Canal (Dowd, 2013, pp.328). Proposals for the construction of a canal system to overcome the obstacle that is the Niagara Escarpment have been made prior to the proposal for the construction of the First Welland Canal but were never put into action. It was not until William Hamilton Merritt had taken the first real steps towards building the First Welland Canal via the Twelve Mile Creek Basin that progress was actually made. Merritt had planned a project that consisted of digging out the route of the Twelve Mile Creek's Basin to connect Chippawa Creek and Lake Ontario for a safer and easier mode of transport.
With the construction of the First Welland Canal system ships were able to pass through to more easily and safely transport goods up the Niagara Escarpment. William Hamilton Merritt first established his Welland Canal Company in 1824 and within that very same year Merritt put into action the construction of the First Welland Canal. Merritt and his company employees began the canal's construction by digging out the foundation of the canal by nothing other than their hands and assistance through the use of carts pulled by horses. Merritt and his team completed the construction of the First Welland Canal in the year of 1833 (Dowd, 2013, pp.40). The canal had a total length of 28 miles and contained 40 wooden locks made up of oak timbers. The only issue with the First Welland Canal though was that these woodener locks weathered easily. The oak timbers that made up the locks deteriorated quite easily when faced with the water that flowed through them, leading to the planning of a Second Welland Canal.
The Second Welland Canal, as a result of the deterioration of these wooden locks, was built between the years of 1842 and 1853. The Government of Canada West bought out the Welland Canal company once deterioration of their First Welland Canal began and promptly set to work on constructing the Second Welland Canal. The Government of Canada then began work on the canal locks, first replacing the deteriorating wooden ones with Queenston Limestone, a more durable material to withstand the water flowing through the canals channels. These massive blocks of limestone were put into place along the Niagara Escarpment via the use of the Johansson's Bar. As they worked they redirected the canal route into a straighter path that was more easily navigable. Once the Second Welland Canal was completed it stood at a total length of 28 miles long and had a reduced lock number of 26, these locks were made deeper so as to provide passing ships with more lift at the passage of each lock (Dowd, 2013, pp.40). There have been two more canals after the completion of this second one, with talk of constructing a possible 5th one. The fourth canal is still in use today but so is the Second Welland Canal but no longer as a means of transport.
The Second Welland Canal is more commonly known today as Mountain Locks Park. The City of St Catharines created the park around what remains of the Second Welland Canal, integrating its industrial history into a more recreational space for the public to utilize.The site today consists of an open park space at its entrance with a trail continuing along the remains of the Second Welland Canal, with residential housing lining the other side of the parks tree line. As one can see this site has a fairly rich land use history.
*Image 1: The First Welland Canal
*Image 2: The Second Welland Canal
Education / Interpretation
One significant and interpretive resource available to further educate anyone from the public interested in the history of the Welland Canals is the St Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, located on 1932 Welland Canals Parkway. Another resource available to the public is the community planning report on the Welland Canals, the website that can be accessed for the historical breakdown and building outline of this site is https://notl.civicweb.net/document/4521.
Architectural Heritage
In regards to the site's surrounding built environment, one historical building that has been preserved and that is apart of early architectural heritage related to the site that can still be seen today is known today as the Keg restaurant located just to the left of the entrance to Mountain Locks Park. The building that is used today as the Keg was previously known as the Lobster Mill which was primarily a Cotton producing Mill. The Cotton Mill building that still stands today, with some restorative renovations, use to utilize the Second Welland Canal to transport and receive goods used to fuel the success of its mill. This building along with many others have seen many changes overtime, this is a result of the increase demand for more residential buildings in the area as well as commercial buildings to sustain the needs of those moving into the surrounding area. Although the area and its surrounding built environment has gone through many changes, it is crucial that historic buildings like the Lybster Cotton Mill be protected seeing as they are integral historical monuments that allow generations of locals to understand and learn about the areas historical aspects in real time. This allows for the community to appreciate and take care of their surrounding environments, allowing that to create a real connection to these places.
Recreational Uses
Some recreational uses of the site include and open park space by the entrance of mountain locks park as well as the Bruce trail running along the remains of the Second Welland Canal. The open park space allows for the public to enjoy the outdoors and their surrounding environment, potentially even participating in play with canine friends. The trail provides people with the opportunity to exercise, open for anyone looking to run, bike, or even walk along the Second Welland Canal remains viewing a piece of the sites history. These recreational uses of the site are primarily under control of jurisdictional authority of the City of St Catharines.
The site that is Mountain Locks Park is under regional control. The space is under the Jurisdictional ownership of the City of St Catharines.The city re-designed the area as a recreational space that is accessible by the public. Although the space has been made to be an open recreational area for the public's enjoyment the City of St Catharines' ownership/jurisdiction over the area has greatly influences the way the landscape of this site looks today. For starters, there are welcoming signs at the entrance of the recreational area that state the sight as being home to Mountain Locks Park and that also make it known that it is a city owned property. Furthermore, the remains of the Second Welland Canal are all fenced off from the side of the trail to keep people away from the remains themselves in attempts preserve them and keep the public from falling into the canals. Additionally, prior to the landscaping renovations there were no trails or open park spaces, all those that are seen on the site today are all man made and put in by order of the City of St Catharines. The official planning designation of the site falls under the land use controls of the Niagara Escarpment Commission. The controls of the Niagara Escarpment Commissions have attributed to the landscape of Mountain Locks Park overtime seeing as the commission requires that the site remains a continuously natural space as well as a scenic functioning environment. The parks and recreation staff hired under the City of St Catharines have been hired to ensure the proper maintenance and management of the sites landscape. The practices of these city employee have been crucial to the site seeing as they keep it maintained for continuous public enjoyment.
Some of the major adjacent uses and connections to the Mountain Locis Park area are residential streets, shopping plazas, and roads for transportation. These surrounding land uses have had a decently large impact on the site that is Mountain Locks Park today. With the remains of the old canal structure the park was built for recreational and environmental purposes to maintain the land and engage the community in said land. From there on residential streets were built to one side of the park which brought more people to the area. With an increased number of people living in the near vicinity of Mountain Locks Park there was an increase in needs for these people and certain changes had to be made in order to sustain and cater to these needs in a convenient manner (Alberti, 2008, pp.93). This resulted in the building of plazas filled with shops, grocery stores and restaurants for the convenience of the community, increasing the urbanization of the site as a whole.
Integrated Community Planning Committee:
Holly Dowd
Town ClerkTown of Niagara-on-the-Lake
P.O. Box 100 - 1593 Creek Road
Virgil, ON LOS 1T0
Senior Planner:
Danielle De Fields
danielle.defieds@nlagararegion.ca.
National Historic Sites and Monuments Board:
Julie Dompierre
Directrice/DirectorCommémoration/Commemoration Branch Parcs Canada/Parks Canada
25 Eddy Street, 5th Floor
5th Floor, 25 Eddy
Gatineau, OC, K1A OM5
julie.dompierre@pc.gc.ca
Alberti, M. (2008). Advances in Urban Ecology: Integrating Humans and Ecological Processes in Urban Ecosystems. University of
Washington, 1-366.
Brown, David T., John Middleton and Katelyn S. Vaughan (2010): The Land Between the Lakes – An Overview of the Niagara
Region. Pp. 41-55 in Black, J.E. and K.E. Roy. 2010. Niagara Birds. Brock University Printing and Digital Services. ISBN 978-0-9811-
489-0-8.
Dowd, H. (2013). Welland Canal National Historic Site Application. Niagara Region: Integrated Community Planning, 1-181.
https://notl.civicweb.net/document/4521.
Hough, M. (2004). Cities and Natural Process: A Basis for Sustainability, 1-304.
Penney, J. (2012). Adapting to Climate Change: Challenges for Niagara. Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Research and Policy,
1-91. https://www.niagararegion.ca/government/planning/p....
Welland Public Library (1973). A Brief History of the Welland Canal: The Second Welland Canal. Canal History Clipping Files.
http://www.welland.library.on.ca/digital/history.h....
Map References
http://oldwellandcanals.wikidot.com/mountain-locks-park
https://chasemarch.com/merritt-trail-mountain-locks-park/
https://www.facebook.com/stcatharinesmuseum/
https://brocku.ca/library/collections/mdg/
This Local Landscape Report was prepared by Sara Monfredi for the Brock University course GEOG/TOUR 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems on November 7th, 2019.
All copyrights for cited material rest with the original copyright owners.
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