National Historic Landmark

St. Mary's Falls Canal

Sault Ste. Marie, Chippewa County, Michigan
Listed
November 13, 1966
Type
Structure
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
66000394

About this property

The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. They bypass the rapids of the river, where the water falls 21 ft (6.4 m). The locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year, despite being closed during the winter from January through March, when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes. The winter closure period is used to inspect and maintain the locks. The locks share a name (usually shortened and anglicized as Soo) with the two cities named Sault Ste. Marie, in Ontario and in Michigan, located on either side of the St. Marys River. The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge between the United States and Canada permits vehicular traffic to pass over the locks. A railroad bridge crosses the St. Marys River just upstream of the highway bridge. The first locks were opened in 1855. Along with the Erie Canal, constructed in 1824 in central New York State, they were among the great infrastructure engineering projects of the antebellum United States. The Soo Locks were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Location

Sault Ste. Marie, Chippewa County, Michigan
46.50184, -84.35167

Categories

INDUSTRYCOMMERCE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Gowan Block
Industrial
0.3 mi
Adams Building
Industrial
0.3 mi
Central Methodist Episcopal Church
Industrial
0.4 mi
Chippewa County Courthouse
Industrial
0.4 mi
Old Fort Brady
Early Republic
0.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was St. Mary's Falls Canal listed on the National Register?

St. Mary's Falls Canal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1966.

What type of historic resource is St. Mary's Falls Canal?

St. Mary's Falls Canal is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is St. Mary's Falls Canal a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. St. Mary's Falls Canal has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for St. Mary's Falls Canal?

The period of significance for St. Mary's Falls Canal is recorded as the industrial era.

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