thumb|right|Lost Villages Museum near Long Sault

thumb|right|Entrance to Pioneer Memorial that contains headstones from cemeteries of the Lost Villages

thumb|Mounted tombstones from St. John's Cemetery, Pioneer Memorial

thumb|right|Animation showing the change to the St. Lawrence River as a result of the Moses-Saunders Power Dam

The Lost Villages were ten communities (nine conventional villages and a populated island) in the Canadian province of Ontario, in the former townships of Cornwall and Osnabruck (now South Stormont) near Cornwall, which were permanently submerged by the creation of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1958.

The flooding was expected and planned for as the result of the Moses-Saunders Power Dam construction, which began in August 1954. In the weeks and months leading up to the inundation, families and businesses in the affected communities were moved to the new planned communities of Long Sault and Ingleside.

The town of Iroquois was also flooded, but was relocated north rather than being abandoned. Another community, Morrisburg, was partially submerged as well, but the area to be flooded was moved to higher ground within the same townsite. In all, approximately 6,500 people were displaced by the project, Mille Roches Power House (1901) at Cornwall was demolished prior to inundation in 1955 with the new powerdam and seaway nearing completion.

In some locations, a few remnants of sidewalks and building foundations can still be seen under the water, or even on the shoreline when water levels are sufficiently low. Some high points of land in the flooded area remained above water as islands, and are connected by the Long Sault Parkway.

The Lost Villages

The "Lost Villages" were:

  • Aultsville
  • Dickinson's Landing
  • Farran's Point
  • Maple Grove
  • Mille Roches
  • Moulinette
  • Santa Cruz
  • Sheek's Island
  • Wales
  • Woodlands

References

  • Explore the Lost Villages - A multimedia documentary recreating the Lost Villages, by Tony Atherton, Jessey Bird, and the team at the Ottawa Citizen. Includes interactive maps, short documentaries on each village, and an underwater tour of what is left.
  • The Lost Villages Historical Society