The Lost Villages of the St Lawrence.

Growing up in Cornwall, Ontario, I have always known about the Lost Villages of the St Lawrence; I remember visiting the ruins of the sunken roadways along the modern day Long Sault Parkway and hearing stories about my mom and her brothers going to the beach on Sheeks Island just before the area was flooded in the late 1950s. Although, my mom barely remembers this (being a 4 year old girl at the time). She did tell me that she saw the last boat go through the Cornwall Canal, and witnessed the construction of the Seaway International Bridge from her aunt's house.
Wanting to learn a little more and to see some of the artifacts from these towns, I decided to delve a little further and recently visited the "Lost Villages Museum" just east of Long Sault. This museum is a collection of important buildings from the towns that were moved to higher ground and relocated to the Lost Villages. During the St Lawrence Seaway project over 6500 people were relocated from the villages of Mille Roches, Moulinette, Wales, Dixon's Landing and Aultsville to the two new towns of Long Sault and Ingleside. In 1958, Long Sault and Ingleside did not even have names. Instead the Ontario Government just said "OK, we are moving these houses to these new settlements, New Town #1 and New Town #2". Long Sault, the Eastern town, was the easiest to name. The people agreed quickly on "Long Sault" after the famous rapids. Ingleside, however, did not get its name until the Early 1960s when the people of the new towns agreed on the name Ingleside, "Close to the Heart"

VILLAGE LIFE 1800s to 1950s

This is my collection of pictures I took around some of the buildings at the Lost Villages Park.

S.S 17 SCHOOLHOUSE
A very small schoolhouse from one of the villages.


























THE CHURCH

An old church relocated from
one of the villages before the
flooding.

MOULINETTE STATION

This tiny building that looks almost like a
shed or a garage was once actually a tiny
railroad station on the Grand Trunk
Railway, located in the village of Moulinette.

THE GHOST ROADS

OLD HIGHWAY 2
This picture was taken on Phillpotts Island of the Long Sault Parkway. This laneway was once part of Old Higway 2 before the flooding of the Seaway. Judging by how narrow it is, it's amazing to imagine that this tiny little laneway was once the busiest road in the area. It is now almost entirely below the surface of the water, between the town of Morrisburg and Cornwall.

West On The Ghost Road
Here is the view of Old Highway 2 looking west from what is now Phillpotts Island. This location is one of the closest spots to the main shipping channel where the roadway remains above the water level.

MACDONELL ISLAND GHOST ROAD
Although I am not positive if this roadway is part of Old Highway 2, it very well could be. MacDonnell Island is also close to where the main shipping lane is, as well as the original St Lawrence River. This Island is now a major diving site for the SOS Divers Club since it is relatively close to lock 21 of the old Cornwall Canal. This Island contains several of these roads and also has an excellent plaque with the history of the St Lawrence Seaway on it.