After leaving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, en route to Lake Superior Beach in Pancake Bay, Ontario, we stopped for an hour at Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. There are two locks there. The larger Poe Lock can accommodate ships up to 1,000 feet in length. We were lucky enough to see one that size enter the locks during our visit. It was interesting watching the huge freighter enter the lock with its deck level to the dock and then rise 21 feet above Lake Huron to enter Lake Superior. 

The first locks at Sault Sainte Marie were built for freight canoes in 1798. Americans destroyed it in the War of 1812. For the next 40 years, cargo had to be carried around the rapids. The State Locks opened in 1855. Locks have been in continuous operation at this site since then. Crews at the Soo Locks complete about 7,000 lockages a year. The locks are closed about 10 weeks per year due to freezing.

Everything needed to make steel occurs naturally around the Great Lakes – coal near Lake Erie, limestone around Lake Huron and iron ore on the western shores of Lake Superior. The opening of the State Locks allowed ships to reliably and cheaply bring these raw materials to the growing industrial cities of Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh, driving the growth of the region. It takes about 9 hours for a freighter to pass through the 63-mile long St. Mary’s River, navigating a series of tight turns.