Soo Locks

After leaving the Father Marquette National Memorial we drove north towards Canada on I-75.  Originally we planned to cross into Canada again at Sault Ste. Marie, but it was getting late and we weren't sure how long the crossing would take (plus we'd have to pay another toll).  So instead we just decided to investigate the Soo Locks, something we'd already planned on doing.  We found a parking place not too far away that was free that day (perhaps because the tourist season was over).  Then it was a quick walk down and across the street to enter the grounds of the locks.

The award winning Soo Locks, one of the finest tourist attractions in the United States, can be seen up close at the observation platforms located just outside of the world class Soo Locks Visitor Center.

The [Army] Corps [of Engineers] is proud of its facilities and welcomes visitors from all over the world to this American treasure.  The grounds surrounding the locks contain many buildings and structures such as the spectacular fountain located in the park adjacent to the lock complex.  The park, open to the public most of the year, is host to many activities, including weddings, and arts and craft festivals held throughout the year.--from Soo Locks brochure produced by U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, Detroit District

First we entered the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.  It was a small red brick building and we didn't quite know what it was when we walked up to the building.  I learned later that it was a former weather station built in 1899 by the Department of Agriculture.

In 2009, the Shipwreck Museum opened its second operational site, at the historic 1899 U.S. Weather Bureau Building, located in Soo Locks Park, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. This facility features exhibits about the history of the area and the U.S. Weather Service, as well as information about Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast. The Weather Bureau is open year-round from 10 am to 5 pm weekdays, additionally on weekends during the summer months.
--from Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Program Areas section

 The U.S. Weather Bureau was created in 1870 in an effort to mitigate the toll of shipwrecks.

Following the construction of the first lock here at Sault Ste. Marie in 1855, shipping traffic on Lake Superior increased dramatically, as did the number of shipwrecks.  Violent storms continued to exact a heavy toll, claiming dozens of vessels--often with loss of life. 

Whitefish Point artifacts

In 1989, Congress appropriated $2,994 for the construction of a Weather Bureau building strategically located next to the Locks.  In 1899, meteorologist Alexander Burns directed messenger Walter Hartwig to begin daily delivery of weather forecasts and storm warnings to all ships entering the locks.  Armed with forecasts, ship Captains could then decide whether to proceed or go to anchor and wait for better weather.--from exhibit signage

Another interpretative location for the shipwreck museum is the Whitefish Point lighthouse that was originally authorized by President Lincoln in 1860. Lighthouses along with the Weather Service were another piece of the puzzle that made up the effort to keep ships safe on the Great Lakes.  But another piece had yet to be fitted together with the others.  In the late 1800s the U.S. Life-Saving Service was created.  You'll learn more about this service later in a series of posts from Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

In the early evening hours of November 10, 1975, the 729-foot American registered lake freighter Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared in one of the worst storms to hit Lake Superior in over two decades.  In cold dark silence, at a depth of 535', the twisted wreckage of the Fitzgerald and crew of twenty nine remain undisturbed for eternity.  the tragic loss of the Fitzgerald remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of modern day maritime transport.  What caused the Fitzgerald to take on water and sink is still hotly debated today.--from exhibit signage, S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

After browsing the gift shop for a short while we left the building via the back door.  It wasn't until we were outside that we realized it had been in the process of closing down.  I'm glad we made it in when we did or we wouldn't have seen any of the inside of the building.  After only a short walk we approached the edge of the lock area.  There is a large glass structure right by the edge of the lock, built on multiple levels for ease of viewing.  It was raining this day, so the glass walls were nice to protect us from the rain as we looked at the lock.

The name Sault Ste. Marie is a combination of the French word, "Sault," meaning rapids or falls, and the name of "Sainte Marie," the patron saint of the first Jesuit missionaries who visited the area.  Over the years, passing sailors have anglicized this to "Soo" a popular nickname which has given the region world-wide recognition.
--from Visitor Center exhibit signage

The observation platform at the very top had an open area, but there was still a roof overhead.

A tour boat was in the lock when we walked up and that was the only boat we saw in the lock.

 This view is towards the east.

 I believe this is an administrative building between two of the locks.

These are the western gates after the water started to drain towards the east.

This view is towards the west.  The yellow tour boat can be seen in the distance.

I did capture some video of the lock resetting itself after the boat passed through heading west.  Here you can see the boat in the distance as the gates close behind it.


The water is merely allowed to find its own level--there are no pumps involved in the locks.

The water level is higher to the west, towards Lake Superior.  When a boat is traveling west the water drains out of the lock until it is at the level of the eastern end.

After the boat enters and the gates close water from the west fills the lock up to that level so the western gate can open and the boat proceeds towards Lake Superior.  The opposite happens in the other direction as boats come in at the higher level and water drains to the east.

After the western gates closed the water started draining towards the west--as I presume the next boat would be coming from that direction.



After realizing that no boats were in sight (we later found out the nearest ones were several hours away) we headed into the nearby visitor center.

Inside there were a number of exhibits about the locks and boats on the lakes.  Did you know that the "first lock on the St. Marys River was a 40-foot long canoe lock built by the Northwest Company in 1798"?

A small diorama on loan from another museum showed the old state locks from 1855 that the state of Michigan operated before the present operation began under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Note that the walls of the lock were actually parallel--they look to converge in the display because of the perspective of the model.

The State Locks: First Locks in the Sault
The "State Locks," as they were called, were owned and operated by the State of Michigan until they were transferred to the federal government in 1881.  They were located on the site of the current Poe Lock.  Construction for the "State Locks" was begun in 1853 and completed in 1855.  The locks were excavated under the supervision of Charles T. Harvey.  The tandem locks each had a nine foot lift, while the size of each lock was 350 feet long and 70 feet wide.  The canal leading to the locks was 5,400 feet long.
--from exhibit signage

Harvey's Hammer
A layer of hard sandstone up to 1000 feet thick lies below the St. Marys River.  This rock has resisted the force of Lake Superior for thousands of years, making the rapids at the head of the river nearly impassable. 

This same stone presented challenges to the men building the first lock on the river's south shore in 1854.  At the end of the navigation season and with the deadline for the lock's completion approaching, they found a rock ledge that on-site equipment could not move. 

Unable to bring in more machinery, Charles T. Harvey, project superintendent and a self-trained engineer, decided to make a gravity steam punch from materials on-site.  A bar of tempered steel was used to make the 1 inch tip which was reinforced with metal rings made from a melted down ship propeller. 

The tip was attached to an oak beam 30 feet long and 14 inches square with tramcar axels attached on the sides.  Full assembled, the whole punch weighed three tons. 

Powered by a steam engine mounted on a barge, the hammer hit a boulder on its first strike and the oak beam shattered.  Crews fished the punch from the bottom of the river, cleared bolders from the ledge, and tried again.  The punch quickly crumbled the ledge leaving pieces no larger than a man's hand. 

Thanks to "Harvey's Hammer," the locks opened on schedule in May 1855.--from exhibit signage

Four of the Great Lakes are in both the United States and Canada (Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).  Only Lake Michigan is entirely within the United States.
The Great Lakes contain one fifth of the world's fresh surface water--that's about six quadrillion gallons of water!
The Great Lakes contain 250 species of fish.
The Great Lakes basin is home to 25 million people in the United States and 8.5 million in Canada.
The connected waterways of the Great Lakes are the largest inland water transportation unit.  They enable shipping to reach the Atlantic Ocean via their outlet, the St. Lawrence River, and to reach the Gulf of Mexico via the Illinois Waterway, from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.
If all the water contained in the Great Lakes was spread evenly across the United States, the entire country would be covered under 9.5 feet (2.9 m) of water.
--from exhibit signage, Fun Facts About the Great Lakes

 I saw this interesting anchor pattern in the bricks as we exited the visitor center.

Propeller from tug Marquette
The Marquette was owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Her home port was Duluth, Minnesota.  The Marquette was built in 1942 by Equitable Equipment Co. at New Orleans, Louisiana   She measured 103 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 11 feet deep.  She was powered by a 960 HP diesel engine.  The Marquette was retired in 1982 and donated to the Lake Michigan Naval and Maritime Historical Society in Chicago, Illinois.--from exhibit signage

Once we exited I looked back and snapped this shot of the main entrance gate (different from the one we had entered further to the west).

You can see near real-time webcam pictures of the locks at the Army Corps of Engineer's website.

Most of the pictures I took at the Soo Locks (more than you see above) are in this album:


~Matt