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Construction begins on the Canal, dug by hand with only the assistance of horse-drawn carts. 39 locks are crafted of hand-hewn timbers.

The Welland Canal Company is formed and George Keefer of Thorold is appointed its first president. Sod is turned for the canal on November 30 at Allanburg.

Merritt begins raising private funds for a survey of his proposed route.

William Hamilton Merritt, a mill owner in St. Catharines, first proposes a canal from Twelve Mile Creek to the Welland River, which would bypass Niagara Falls.

Construction begins on the Erie Canal, from Albany to Buffalo, which would give New York City direct access to Lake Erie and the promising markets of the Midwest. Because of the Erie Canal, powerful Montréal merchants and their counterparts in Upper Canada (today, Ontario) feared losing out on western trade. The British Navy, which lost […]