The Shickluna Shipyard was crucial to the early history of Downtown St. Catharines. It operated from 1838 to 1901. [1] A previous shipyard existed in the location before Louis Shickluna started his own. [2] During his lifetime, an estimated 150 ships were built in the shipyard. [3]
The shipyard's namesake is Louis Shickluna, who emigrated from Malta. [4] He was from a family of shipbuilders. [5] He started working in a shipyard when he was 11 at the Royal Navy in Valletta. Shickluna emigrated after the local economy worsened so he could find work. [3] At first, he worked in Youngstown, New York. [6] Shickluna later moved to Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where he helped build the SS Royal William. [7] In 1836, he began leasing land for his own business in St. Catharines from William Hamilton Merritt for $15 annually. He hired more than 300 employees, many of whom were former slaves from the United States. [3] The location was ideal for a shipyard thanks to its proximity to the Welland Canal and the Great Lakes. [5] Shickluna invented the snub-nosed schooner design for use in ships traversing these waters. [6] After Shickluna's death in 1880, his son ran the shipyard until 1891. Then it was leased to the St. Catharines Box and Basket Company until 1901. [1]
The site of the former shipyard is near Burgoyne Bridge and the Twelve Mile Creek. [4] This location has been the subject of archaeology digs. These digs began in 2019 but were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, before resuming in 2022. [8] The archaeology team was led by Kimberly Monk, a history professor at Brock University. She and other researchers recovered 2,000 artifacts from the site. The work was funded through a federal grant and corporate sponsors. [4]
A plaque commemorating Shickluna is present near the Welland Canal. [7] A mural commemorating the shipyard was produced by Matthew Vizbulis. His work was commissioned by the St. Catharines Downtown Association. [9]
St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2017, St. Catharines has an area of 96.13 square kilometres (37.12 sq mi) and 140,370 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Catharinites. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails.
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750.
Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks.
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was erected because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and has followed four different routes since it opened.
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The peninsula is located in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, and has a population of roughly 1,000,000 residents. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the eponymous Queenston Heights on the Niagara Escarpment led to the establishment of the Queenston Quarry in the area. Across the river and the Canada–US border is the village of Lewiston, New York. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge links the two communities. This village is at the point where the Niagara River began eroding the Niagara Escarpment. During the ensuing 12,000 years the Falls cut an 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long gorge in the Escarpment southward to its present-day position.
Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based in St. Catharines, Ontario.
William Hamilton Merritt was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settled in Upper Canada. Merritt fought in the War of 1812, was captured by the invading American forces, and held as a prisoner of war. After the war, he returned to the Niagara region and began a career in business. He was one of the founders of the Welland Canal. He was a supporter of the Abolitionist cause to end slavery in the U.S., and of the settlement of escaped slaves in St. Catharines.
Niagara Falls Transit was a public transit agency that operated the public transport bus services in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada between 1960 and 2022.
The Welland House Hotel was a historic building located on 26-30 Ontario Street in Downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The hotel spa resort was one of many in Upper Canada during the Victorian era. It closed in 1993. As of 2020, the site was in the process of being designated as a heritage site to prevent future demolition. Its last use was as a student residence, and then sat vacant. On July 12, 2021; it was destroyed in an early morning fire.
Downtown St. Catharines is the central business district of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is defined by the city as the area between Highway 406 on the west and south, Geneva Street on the east until it reaches St. Paul Street then Welland Avenue north until it meets Niagara Street.
The Welland Canal has gone through many incarnations in its history. Today, five distinct canal-construction efforts are recognized. The retronym First Welland Canal is applied to the original canal, constructed from 1824 to 1829 and 1831 to 1833.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Catharines is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toronto in St. Catharines, Ontario. It covers the municipalities of Niagara Region and Haldimand County.
Port Weller Dry Docks was a shipbuilder on the Welland Canal at the Lake Ontario entrance. The shipbuilder was founded in 1946 and the site was initially owned by the Government of Canada for storage purchases. The shipyard expanded to include ship repair, and reconstruction work. In 1956, the drydock was sold to the Upper Lakes Shipping Company, which began the construction of vessels at the site. The shipyard twice went insolvent, most recently in 2015. Port Weller Dry Docks was used to build, refit and repair cargo vessels.
St. Catharines Transit (SCT) was a public transit agency which provided bus services to St. Catharines, Ontario, and the neighbouring city of Thorold. The St. Catharines Transit Commission took over operation of transit services within the city from Canadian National Transportation in 1961. In January 2023, St. Catharines Transit was merged with Niagara Falls Transit, Welland Transit, and Fort Erie Transit to form a single regional transit service, Niagara Region Transit.
Welland Transit was a public transportation agency in Welland, Ontario, Canada from 1977 to 2022. Upon its inception in 1973 the bus service was operated by a private company, known as "Metro Niagara Transit," funded by the city of Welland, which assumed full operation of the transit system in 1977. On January 1, 2023, it was merged with St. Catharines Transit and Niagara Falls Transit to form Niagara Region Transit.
Twelve Mile Creek is a waterway located on the Niagara Peninsula in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. Its headwaters are located in the town of Pelham, encompassing some of the most unspoiled and natural areas of Niagara area. The creek's lower reaches flow through urban areas of Thorold and St. Catharines and has been heavily altered by human activity for almost two centuries. The creek was first known as "Ashquasing" by the Mississaugas Indigenous people, the name meaning "that which lies at the end" in the Anishinaabe language.
Laura Secord Legacy Trail is a 32-kilometer trail as a monument to Laura Secord's journey and legacy. It includes the Laura Secord Commemorative Walk that was established in 2013. Secord embarked on a journey in June 1813 during the War of 1812 from the Secord Homestead in Queenston, Niagara-on-the-Lake to deliver a message on 22 June 1813 to Lt. James FitzGibbon at the DeCew House in Thorold, Ontario.