Descended from a long line of French-Canadian shipbuilders, Cantin was born on a nearby farm which his grandfather acquired about 1850. An energetic entrepreneur, inventor and cattle trader, Cantin began work here, in 1897, on a city named St. Joseph from which he hoped to construct a canal linking Lake Huron and Erie. Undaunted by his inability to raise sufficient funds for this project, he initiated and, between 1900 and 1930, tirelessly promoted the concept of a Great Lakes seaway system which 'would take passengers and freight from all ocean ports on the globe direct to all the principal ports of the Great Lakes'.

Location

At the junction of Highway 21 and County Road 84, St. Joseph

Themes

• People
• Transportation systems and communications