Old Welland Canals: A fieldguide

When most of us think of the Welland Canal, we tend to think of it's modern incarnation. Big hulking freighters climbing the locks from Port Weller to Port Colborne and all points in between. But the Welland Canal you know and love is actually the fourth Welland Canal. So what happened to the three that came before it?

Bits and pieces of the previous canals still exist. Some parts of the Third Canal were enveloped into the fourth. Much of the second still runs through the city as a seemingly abandoned waterway. Little bits of all of them are sometimes unearthed by new home construction and preserved. So where can you go to check out the canals of days gone by?

Make sure to check out the Old Welland Canals Fieldguide, a not-for-profit website lovingly created by a canal enthusiast. The Fieldguide gives you some basic history about all of the canals, as well as locations where the old ones still exist and even some routes for walking tours of the old systems.

TAGS: Boats, Canals, Heritage, Niagara, Niagara Region, Seaway, Welland Canal