Workers on the Rideau - Kingston, Ontario
Posted by: 
mTn_biKer65
N 44° 17.517 W 076° 26.550
18T E 384917 N 4905311
Workers on the Rideau plaque is located at the Kingston Mills Lockstation just North of Kingston, Ontario
Waymark Code: WMGRED
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 04/04/2013
Views: 12
The plaque is located at the base of the railway bridge.
Plaque text:
"Between 1826 and 1832 thousands of French Canadians and recently arrived immigrants, notably Irish, Scottish and British, were recruited to work on the Rideau Canal. Working with only simple tools, they toiled 14 to 16 hours a day, six days a week, excavating, quarrying and clearing the land to construct the locks and the dams. Many died from dangerous working conditions, malaria and other diseases at sites such as Kingston Mills and in the shantytowns where their families lived. Workers protested their predicament upon occasion but the deployment of soldiers along the canal served to inhibit such unrest. The canal was a project of the British Army but it could never have succeeded without the efforts of the civilian workers and their families.
(This plaque is dedicated to their memory - Kingston and District Labour Council, Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1993.)"
Group that erected the marker: Kingston and District Labour Council & Ontario Heritage Foundation
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Kingston Mills Road
Kingston, Ontario Canada
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