By Derek Smith
Port Huron’s Mayor E C. Carleton was the first to suggest the building of a canal to cleans the Black River, the year was 1881.
The Port Huron Times had in the years following, advocated for the enforcement of the laws to prevent the dumping of sulfite-fiber waste into the river, with little or no success. The paper would eventually also adopt the cause for a “canal project”, against much opposition over a period of years, and slowly and surely win public favor for such an enterprise.
“To be or not to be”, that was the question asked by Port Huron’s city government and its citizenry, with regards to the building of a canal which would join the Black River to Lake Huron. The month was September and the year 1889.
The city was attempting to alleviate the stench coming from the contaminated waters of the Black River. For years its waters had been a dumping ground for all sorts of industries located along that river. Foundries, meat packing companies, chemical companies, sawmills and others all played a part in contributing toxic waste to the chemical recipe, contained within the Black River’s banks. Coupled with septic discharges from residences, that fed directly into the watercourse, the river had become a toxic, smelly sponge.
The city could not promote itself as a tourist destination, when the odor coming from the river, was sufficient to turn even the most complacent of noses in another direction.
On September 22nd, 1889 Port Huron Common Council and about 150 residents met to discuss possible solutions to clean up the river. There was a lot of talk about how the river pollutants were destroying fish populations, vegetation, damaging the bottoms of boats, and even discoloring paint on houses, not to mention the horrible smells emitted in the vicinity of the river.
The Port Huron Sulfite Company was one of the major contributors to the problem. It was dumping sulfite fiber and other chemicals which had a major impact on the Black River water quality.
The first solution presented was to build a sewer down Lincoln Avenue to the St Clair River to flush the Black River into its neighboring watercourse.
Another idea was to build a dam along the Black River which would have a gate that could be opened once a week to flush the river. What the logic behind this idea I do not know, since you have the same pollutants, you are just storing them longer.
The third proposal was a canal connecting the Black River to Lake Huron. The waters of Lake Huron could be used to flush the contaminants in the Black River out to the St Clair River, which flows Into Lake St Clair, which flows into Lake Erie, which flows into Lake Ontario, which flows into the St Lawrence River, problem displaced! There was little or no discussion about source mitigation.
C F Harrington said “I want to see a remedy but at the same time protect the fiber works. It is a fact that manufacturing industries must locate on the Black River and more or less refuse must be thrown into the river. We want manufacturers but we must provide for cleaning out the river. I am in favor of a canal.”
Henry Cooley stated “he had the misfortune to serve on the sewer commission for four years. The territory west of Tenth Street cannot be sewered into the St Clair River. We want pure drinking water and to prevent Fort Gratiot sewering into the river above the waterworks. Turn all the north side sewers into the Black River. We want manufacturing enterprises and they must locate on the Black River and in the western part of the city. I want to see the canal and believe it can be built”
John G O’Neill added, “ if engineers say there is a prospect of a current in the Black River by building the canal and the city can stand the expense then I am in favor of it.” It was finally resolved “to hire a competent engineering firm to report on the feasibility of a tunnel or canal from Lake Huron into the Black River, with sufficient capacity to keep the Black River pure and to have an estimate of the cost of the same made and to submit the question of building the same to a vote of the people.”
The meeting then adjourned.
There was much debate concerning the canal over the many months to follow, debate which would lead up to an actual vote by the citizens of Port Huron.
Would there be sufficient current to move the waters of the Black River out onto the St Clair River?
How long might it take to purge the waters of the Black River?
Would the opening at the Lake Huron end of the canal fill with silt and sand and impede the flow of the canal? Would the current deposit sand and silt into the Black River?
It was thought that since the Black River was at least 16 inches lower than Lake Huron there would be no silt build. The distance between the Black River and Lake Huron being one mile and one eighth, the fall between the two was at least one foot per mile which would provide sufficient current to carry any silt or sand along with it. If anything, it was reasoned that the watercourses could become deeper over time, due to the eroding effects of the current. Some taxpayers argued that if the different sources of the pollutants would cease dumping their waste into the river there would be no need for a cleansing canal. This makes perfect sense to me but not to the city council of 1896. At that time who were concerned about losing employment, especially the many jobs in the Port Huron Sulfite Company, Port Huron’s main contributor to the toxic environment of the Black River.
On September 27th 1894, Harrison H Butler, the county drain commissioner published there was no need for a canal.
The commission had just let a contract for $60,000.00 for the dredging of the south branch of Mill Creek.
It was thought that Mill Creek would drain the swampland in several townships including Lapeer, Mussy, Lynn and Brockway counties. It would also harvest waters from Drought Lake(sounds a little ironic), Lynn Lake and Twin Lake. The creek would empty into section eight of the Black River in Brockway. This dredging would let large quantities of water from eleven lakes in all and provide the Black River with a year-round inexhaustible source of water. A dam built near Wadhams would be used to hold the captured water. It would then be released every 24 hours to flush the many pollutants from the river out into the St Clair. Butler said that any Common Council member who doubts such an enterprise can satisfy himself by making an investigation into the proposed project. He went on to say that “for once Port Huron will receive a blessing which will not cost the town a cent.”
This writer has found no news on the success of such a venture.
In April of 1899 the citizens of Port Huron went to the polls to decide whether the proposed canal between Lake Huron and the Black River would be a benefit the city. The total dollars for the project was set at no more than $100,000, all of which would be financed through a bond issued by the city.
The vote for the issuing of bonds carried in favor by a margin of 278 votes. Upon completion of the election of the bonds, city council, upon nomination by Mayor Stevens, would appoint 5 canal commissioners to negotiate the bonds and to place the moneys from those bonds in the canal construction fund, to investigate and pass the merits of the proposed canal and to proceed with the work.
Those commissioners were Fred L Wells, Henry McMorran, Charles Wellman, Sidney Jenks, and Dr C E Spencer.
On Jan 16 1900 the electors went to the polls to vote “yes” or “no” for the authorizing of $ 75,000.00 to build the canal and cleanse the Black River.
The “yes” votes carried 511 to 379 no votes. The selection of the canal route and the primary contractor would now begin.
On November 15th, 1900 various canal routes were presented.
Proposed canal route #2, the most northerly approach on the above map, was laid out by former City Engineer Rogers. It proceeds from a point north of Gratiot Beach and enters the Black River “through the mill race of the old Harrington mill”. Daniel Harrington had one of the first lumber mills in the area. The Harrington Mill was located near the junction of North River
Road and Pine Grove Avenue. This route was not the preferred route because of its length, the makeup of the soil and its right-angle approach to the Black River.
The south cemetery (labeled canal route #3) joins Lake Huron just north of Huronia Beach, travels in a south-westerly direction crossing Mt Hope and Lakeside Cemetery, land owned by D. B. Harrington and other private properties entering the Black River just south of Holland Ave. The north cemetery route leaves the canal route # 3 and follows along the dotted line on the map.
It enters the Black River at a point just north of Holland Ave.
The canal commissioners eventually chose the north cemetery route as the city was already in the procession of at least half the land needed for the project, it required the least amount of excavation as it traveled through lower sections of terrain and it would require only four bridges to cross three streets and the Pierre Marquette Railroad.
Four hundred thousand cubic yards of dirt would have to be excavated.
The canal was to be 25 feet wide at the bottom with an average water depth of 6 feet making the stream of water at its banks about 37 feet wide. The banks would be sloped at an angle of 60 degrees. The depth of the excavation itself would vary from 28 to 29 feet. All spoils from the excavation must be removed from the railroad right of way and highways. Excavated soils can be deposited on the canal’s bank but a clear berm of 20 feet on each side must be maintained.
The canal would run a distance of approximately 6700 feet.
Canal Contactors
On January 15th, 1902, at a meeting of the common council the board gave its consent to raise $100,000 by the issue of bonds for the construction of the canal from Lake Huron to the Black River. The canal commission recommended that the Cayuga Contracting Company be awarded the contract for the building of the canal and all necessary infrastructure at a cost of $81,443.00.
The company would construct 3 highway bridges crossing the canal, one at Pine Grove, one at Tenth and one at Gratiot. The Gratiot bridge was to be capable of carrying streetcars weighing 40 tons and traveling at 15 mph. A single-track railroad bridge for the Pierre Marquette RR.
was also to be built where the canal crosses the railroad line. It was to meet the specifications provided by the Pierre Marquette engineering staff.
The Hydraulic Dredge in the Canal
The contract also provided for an intake protection pier into Lake Huron and a gate at or near the intake of the canal. In the 1930’s the original gate would eventually be replaced by the Tainter gate.
The Tainter gate is a radial arm floodgate used to control the flow of water. It is named after a Wisconsin engineer, Jeremiah Burnham Tainter, who invented the mechanism in 1886. As an employee with a Wisconsin lumber company, he constructed the gate for use on the company’s dam that forms Lake Menomin in Dunn County Wisconsin.
The Tainter gate at the Lake Huron inlet to the canal, is designed to close if high winds coming off the lake, are sustained for a long period of time. A wind indicator near the shore sends a wireless single to a controller that closes the gate should this wind condition prevail. This mechanism helps to keep sand and other types of debris out of the canal and the Black River. It also helps prevent backflow from the Black River into Lake Huron during high water levels and westerly winds.
The protection pier would run 200 feet out into the lake on the north side of the canal to stop the buildup of sand which would block the intake waters. It would be a made of sturdy hardwood pilings.
A concrete pier would later take the place of this wooden structure.
A heavy wire fence was to be installed around the construction site, built on each side of the canal from Gratiot Ave to Lake Huron and the same fence connected to the Gratiot Ave bridge approaches and the sidewalks of Huronia Beach.
In a “nut shell”, if the contractor did not follow the specifications for the construction as laid down by the city and the construction engineers or failed to go on with or abandon the work then its contract would be forfeited.
Should the contractor not complete any of the items called for in the contract at the agreed-upon date they would pay $10.00 per day for the first month and $15.00 per day for subsequent months until the work is completed.
On August 19th 1903, the canal commission started proceedings to enforce the above legislation.
It was their decision that the city council begin to take steps to forfeit any contracts they had with Cuyahoga Contracting Co.
They questioned the ability of the company to complete the work as laid out in the contract. Cuyahoga was not meeting the specified timelines that were called for in the contract, they were failing to achieve the work standards of the contract and they were not paying their vendors.
After many meetings and several intense deliberations, the city did eventually terminate the contract with Cuyahoga Construction Company of Cleveland, Ohio and the search for another contractor would begin. This activity would turn out to be a long and difficult process. On November 21, 1905, the canal commission instructed the mayor and city clerk to enter into a contract with another company, Graves and Stevens of Indianapolis.
The contract allowed for $72,150.00 to complete the canal within a time frame of 20 months. On February 16, 1906, Graves and Stevens, for many different reasons had not yet signed the contract for the above-mentioned construction. It was the growing opinion of prominent city officials that Graves and Stevens would never sign the contract to complete the canal.
These officials were correct, and the canal project would sit idle until a capable third contractor could be found, one that had the resources and manpower to finally complete what had been started back in the early months of 1902.
On August 18, 1906, the canal commission recommended to the common council that the city enters into an agreement with Garland Company of Toledo, to complete the canal in accordance with the specifications outlined in the previous contracts with one caveat. The work was to be completed within 15 months. The compensation for the completion of the work would be $84,500.00.
On November 3, 1906, with the canal contract signed and the surety bonds in place, the Garland Company was ready to begin work.
They had instructed the tug “Hand” to tow a large hydraulic dredge owned by the Rabbit Company up the Black River to the outlet of the canal and start dredging on Monday, November 5th.
I think everyone one is familiar with Murphy’s Law and the canal project was no exception. Work was delayed by weather, material shortages, labor and costing issues, equipment failures, etc, etc.
A completion period that was supposed to be 15 months stretched into years.
Garland met with the city on June 26th, 1908 and stated he would have the work completed by the fall of that year. He had recently experienced construction delays due to increasing cost issues with the sub-contractor Rabbit Bros.
In December of 1908 twenty-two men were in place, working to overhaul the big hydraulic dredge, which would continue its work through the winter months. These men were camped opposite the dredge working in the canal. They were housed in two small huts that are equipped with bunk beds and small wood stoves. The Bayside Inn was the name of the camp. The men are fed three meals per day by two camp cooks. There is no liquor dispensary for obvious reasons.
One local merchant lent some humor and levity to the situation with the following Times Herald ad of September 25th, 1909. At the same time, he created a unique marketing and sales opportunity for his business
This writer cannot tell you if the mannequin came to life, but the ad did spur some humorous conversation during some tightly contested billiard games.
The city’s Mayor, John Bell, was in favor of changing the name of the Black River. He stated in June of 1910 “the river is black now and the name is not so bad, but when clear water begins to come down after the completion of the canal, the name should surely be changed along the lines already suggested. I do not know what those suggestions were, but perhaps your readers can be challenged with names that would prove more suitable.
On September 20th, 1910 John Garland said that the canal would be completed in 60 days. In fact, he was so sure this would happen, he challenged anyone on a bet for a suit of clothes, should this not occur. The local tailors must have been busy as the canal was not completed in 1910 nor 1911.
On May 28th, 1912, the clear waters of Lake Huron finally met with the tainted stream of the Black River. A good current into the Black River was evident and the cleansing of that body of water had finally begun.
The project had taken over 10 years at a cost up to that time of $122,00.00 and was 92% finished at that time.
In July of that year, there was some additional dredging required to create a uniform level in the bottom of the canal which would help improve the flow of the canal.
John C Garland was given credit for the completion of the canal and claimed that his company had lost thousands of dollars bringing the project to a successful conclusion.
The Canal…Still Dredging
The dredging of sand the build-up at the mouth of the canal would begin in 1914. On June 2nd Julius Kaumeier was awarded a contract to build a short pier at the mouth of the canal. He had also submitted a bid of $6000.00 for dredging at the mouth of the canal but that bid had been delayed due to some legal matters with the Garland Company. Another dredging bid was received from Lakeside Dredging Company of Detroit.
The dredging of the canal has now gone on for almost 100 years. It has involved thousands of man-hours, legal lawsuits, court injunctions, hundreds of thousands of dollars, the acquisition of dredging permits, etc, etc.
In the 1930’s, Orlando Poe, famous for his 1896 design of the Poe Lock at the “Soo”, had suggested to the city that the only way to trap the sand, was a break wall out into the lake but there was never enough support to go ahead with that idea.
The cost of dredging the canal from 2009 to 2019 is in the area of $262,000.00. I do not have available, which years the canal was dredged and what the costs for canal dredging have been since 1914. A conservative estimate for dredging operations over the last almost 100 years is sure to well exceed a million dollars.
This year, the dredging costs are at $60,000.00 and could go higher.
There are some residents that argue the original intent and sole purpose of the canal was to provide a clean feed of lake water to cleanse the Black River. Therefore, the use of the canal by small boats and other watercraft should not be allowed.
There are others that believe that the mouth of the canal should no longer be dredged since the Black River is clean and any major sources of pollution are gone.
There are those that complain about the amount of sand being removed from the mouth of the canal during dredging.
Still, others complain about the noise during digging operations and others about where the dredged material is deposited.
There are those who like to boat and prefer the canal as a shorter, safer route to Lake Huron vis a vis the St Clair River.
I do not think that the original builders, engineers, and city officials, who planned and built the canal, foresaw what would be a long and costly maintenance program this waterway would entail, over the almost 100 years to follow.
Certainly, it would have been more prudent back in the late 1800’s, to mitigate the pollution going into the Black River, at source!
Another thought as I finish this article, did the city ever have an actual name for the canal? I have heard the moniker “The Cut” but no official name that might attract some interest in this body of water. One might call it “The Cemetery Route Canal”, “The Huron Canal, or even “The Northern Panama”. Perhaps we could approach our city officials with this idea, having spent so much taxpayer money on this enterprise, it should at least have a proper name. There was also Mayor Bell’s suggestion back in 1910 for a replacement name for the Black River, a name which would be more conducive to its present condition and Port Huron’s tourism industry.
Having written this article, one of my lasting impressions is, “that the canal and its makers have never has been given the accolades they deserve.” The hundreds of hours put in by city officials, engineers, politicians, planners, and others to deliver the idea and coordinate its success. The tens of thousands of hours put in by the workers who lived in rather spartan conditions, some camped on the banks of the canal, toiling long hours in conditions that we would not find ourselves in today. The people of Port Huron who believed in this project and voted their tax dollars to support such.
Indeed, the canal was a large and complicated construction, a build that for all those involved should be proud of, well done Port Huron!
Finally, there are two things one must remember. While traveling in the canal it’s much easier to go with the flow, which is west, and “it’s all water under the bridge now.”
Aerial Photo by my Grandson Blake Silverthorn
