|
Aultsville is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of Ontario's Lost Villages, which were permanently flooded by the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The town was founded as Charlesville in 1787 by United Empire Loyalists and reached its peak in 1880, when it had 400 residents. It was the second largest town flooded by the new Seaway, with a 1958 population of 312. Before its flooding, the abandoned buildings were burned to study the effects of fire on houses. Families and businesses in Aultsville were moved to the new town of Ingleside before the seaway construction commenced. Some old sidewalks, lanes, and yards can still be seen today. The historic train station, built in 1856 by the Grand Trunk Railway, was moved to Upper Canada Village where it remains today. Aultsville was named after Samuel Ault, a local businessman who represented Stormont County in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada and the Canadian House of Commons. ==The St. Lawrence Seaway Project and its Effects on Aultsville Ontario== Before studying the actual relocation of Aultsville and its populace, it is important to understand the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway Project first. Roughly sixty years was spent negotiating and planning the actual expansion of the St. Lawrence Seaway between the years of 1895 up until 1954; the later date being the final ratification from Canada and affected provinces as well as the United States and its affected States. The primary intention for the newly expanded waterway and flooding of 20,000 acres, was to transport tonnage in the millions of raw materials including but not limited to iron ore, grain, coal, wood pulp and petroleum.〔Camu, P. "The St. Lawrence Seaway." The Town Planning Review. 28. no. 2 (1957): 89-110.〕 The first major delay took place during the First World War in 1914 until 1918. The study of Boundary Waters for Navigation and Power was put aside as resources were mainly directed towards the allied war effort. It was not until 1939 when the Second World War started that the full benefits were realized of a larger seaway. Increased hydro needs as well as a recognition of the importance to national security put pressure on legislatures to get the project underway; however, a second major delay of the project happened in October 1942 (a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) when President Roosevelt declared that the St. Lawrence project was to be halted immediately due to a shortage of men and metal. After World War Two many negotiations and minor delays took place until the final proposals and developments in 1954. Furthermore, not until the Canadian government started the initial phases of planning and construction, that the United States finally participated in the joint expansion of this international project. It is noted that the Commission in Ontario made decisions for the location of new highways towns and parks without first approaching the local residents of Aultsville, Farrans Point, Dickenson's Landing and Wales. There was little noted repercussion since the relocation of nearly 6,500 people were placed six miles west of Cornwall, Ontario with new and upgraded infrastructures such as modern sewer systems and roadways. In all, 600 homes were evacuated in both Canada and the United States along with many hundreds of farms (200 in Canada alone).〔Tim McNeese, The St. Lawrence River, (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005), 97.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Aultsville, Ontario」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|