The Welland Canal is a 26 mile long canal which connects Lake Erie and Lake Porter , which allowed ships to avoid Niagara Falls. This canal also helped foster enormous trade for Toronto.
On this day November 30th, in 1824, ground for the Welland Canal is broken. William Hamilton Merritt owned numerous mills powered by the streaming water. With water levels being unstable, Merritt looked into building a canal so that his watermills could work round the clock.
Exactly 5 years after ground was broken, the Welland Canal was opened for a trial run. There have been many versions of the canal, as it has been rebuilt. Plans and construction for the fifth Welland Canal is now underway. About 3,000 water vessels pass through the canal each year with an amount of goods approximating to 40 million tons. That’s 80 million pounds! Merritt has garnered the merit of having the town next to the Canal being named after him in recognition for his work in creating an enormous and prosperous industry.