Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site of Canada, Bobcaygeon, Ontario
Posted by: 
colincan
N 44° 32.289 W 078° 32.679
17T E 695068 N 4934579
The Trent-Severn Waterway is a navigable system of rivers, lakes and canals stretching 386 km through Central Ontario. Recognized as a world class destination for boaters, it links Georgian Bay on the Upper Great Lakes to Lake Ontario at Trenton.
Waymark Code: WM5H5X
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 01/07/2009
Views: 30
The Trent-Severn Waterway (TSW) is commemorated in Bobcaygeon where the federal plaque was erected in 1938 at the site of the first lock built in 1833. The waterway was originally known as the Trent Canal. The present day TSW is a unique ribbon of water in Ontario's heartland that ties to-gether many nodes of historically, culturally and ecologically significant sites within the greater watersheds of the Severn, Otonabee and Trent rivers. In the order of 140,000 boaters pass through the system's 45 locks annually and there are up to 1.5 million land visitors, mostly from Greater Toronto. Lorraine Brown, in "The Trent Severn Waterway - An Environmental Exploration" is quoted as saying;
"The Trent-Severn has a rich human history. Its value as a transportation route and as a source of plentiful wildlife was recognized by Paleo-Indians, who settled the area almost as soon as the glaciers disappeared from southern Ontario around 12,000 years ago. More or less continuous settlement since then has made the Waterway an area of significant archaeological discoveries, especially around the Bay of Quinte and Rice Lake. Native people are still an important presence along the Waterway. There are Chippewa and Mississauga communities on Rice, Scugog and Buckhorn Lakes, and on Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching.
Champlain visited the Waterway in 1615, but it wasn't until the late 1700s that the first European settlers arrived. They ranged from impoverished Irish fleeing the potato famine to United Empire Loyalists who left the United States after the American Revolution to stay loyal to the British Crown. These early settlers cleared the land for farming, logged the forests, and established mills at many sites along the Waterway....... As the counties along the Waterway filled with settlers in the second half of the 19th century, pressure grew to create a navigable waterway linking Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. By the time the Trent-Severn Waterway was finally completed in 1920, rail and road transportation had already made it obsolete as a route of commerce. But the Trent-Severn's importance as a tourism destination has continued to grow."
Some of the highlights on the waterway are the Big Chute Marine Railway near Port Severn, Mnjikaning Fish Weirs at Orillia, the lift locks at Kirkfield and Peterborough and the burial mounds at Serpent Mounds on Rice Lake. The Waterway is a vital source of sustainable hydroelectricity through numerous generating stations along its banks.
Classification: Administered Site
Province or Territory: Ontario
Location - City name/Town name: Bobcaygeon, Ontario
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: Not listed
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