SAULT SAINTE MARIE

byname The Soo, city, seat (1827) of Chippewa county, northern Michigan, U.S., at the northeastern end of the Upper Peninsula, on the rapids of the St. Marys River (there harnessed for hydropower and connecting Lake Superior with the lower elevation of Lake Huron). A port of entry, it is linked to its Canadian twin city, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., by vehicular and railroad bridges. A hub of the St. Lawrence Seaway, its first set of locks to bypass the river's rapids went into operation in 1855. St. Mary's Falls Canal (including four parallel locks, popularly called Soo Locks) is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and raises or lowers vessels 21 feet (6.5 m) between the two lakes in 6 to 15 minutes. There are sight-seeing tours by train and riverboat. Apart from canal activities, tourism is the economic mainstay, augmented by forest products and dairying. First visited (161522) by tienne Brl, the rapids (sault, or saut) and river were named for the Virgin Mary, patron saint of the early French missionaries. Jacques Marquette founded a mission there in 1668, and the French took possession of the North American interior in a ceremony at the rapids in 1671. The British occupied the area from 1762 until 1783, when it was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris. With the decline of the fur trade, the locks aided migration and development of the area following the discovery of copper and iron deposits in the Lake Superior region. The Federal Building and Lake Superior State University (1946) occupy the former site of historic Fort Brady (built 1822). The home of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, the Indian agent whose writings inspired Longfellow to compose The Song of Hiawatha, is maintained as a memorial museum. Inc. village, 1879; city, 1887. Pop. (1992 est.) 14,912. city, seat of Algoma district, south-central Ontario, Canada, on the north bank of St. Marys River, between Lakes Superior and Huron, opposite Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., U.S. The site was known to French explorers after the explorations of tienne Brl (1622); it was named Sault Ste. Marie (Rapids of Saint Mary) in 1669, when a Jesuit mission was established there by the French. As a part of New France, the area was ceded to the British in 1763, and in 1783 the North West Company founded a trading post there and built a small lock (completed in 179798) to handle canoes and small boats for trading purposes. The lock was destroyed by U.S. troops in the War of 1812 and rebuilt as a historical site late in the 19th century. The growth of Sault Ste. Marie has been closely associated with the rapids and the locks and canal around them. The present Canadian lock was built for military purposes in the late 19th century and later widened to its present size: 18.5 feet (5.6 m) deep, 60 feet wide, and 850 feet long. The canal itself is 1.38 miles (2.22 km) long. Cheap transportation and hydroelectrical power led to the city's development as a centre of heavy industry. Chief manufactures include iron and steel, paper and lumber, tar and chemicals, and beer. In addition, the Soo, as the city is sometimes called, is a hunting, fishing, and iron-ore mining centre. It is linked to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., by international rail and highway bridges and to other Canadian cities by the Trans-Canada Highway and by rail lines. Inc. town, 1887; city, 1912. Pop. (1991) 81,476.