Right beside the “Founding of Cornwall” plaque
Commemoration
The Cornwall Canal was one of the eight canals that connected western Canada with the ocean by way of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Constructed in 1834-1842 to overcome the rapids of the Long Sault, it was enlarged several times between 1876-1904 and superseded by the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959.
Background
Canals were the predecessors of railways as a transportation revolution. They created transit corridors and greatly reduced the time to move goods and people. This support a growing economy and continued emigration to Ontario.
Bear in mind that, in a time before electrical facilities, the speed of transport was the speed of communication. Thus if the time it took to move a person or a letter were cut in half, the time to send word to people would also be cut in half.