Oct 02, 2012 - Sale 2287

Sale 2287 - Lot 310

Price Realized: $ 1,320
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(MICHIGAN.) [Bell, William J.; photographer?] Group of 56 canal construction photos from the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. Cyanotype photographs, most about 8 x 10 inches; minimal to moderate wear; most numbered and captioned in the negative. Sault Ste. Marie, MI, 1889-97
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Additional Details

This canal was built to accommodate cargo ships passing from Lake Superior to Lake Huron and eastward, passing between Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Ontario, Canada. Formally known as the St. Mary's Falls Canal, the first lock opened in 1855, and the locks remain in heavy use today.
These photographs depict the construction of what became known as the Poe Lock, the surviving remnants of the 1855 lock, the working and living conditions of canal laborers, related businesses such as stone yards and explosive plants, the nearby Hay Lake Channel project, and one view of downtown Sault Ste. Marie.
These photographs are uncredited. However, a similar collection of prints is held by the Detroit Public Library, where their copy of image 58 is stamped on verso "From the Elite and Bay Studios . . . W.J. Bell, proprietor, Sault Ste. Marie."