We are fortunate to live near the St.Lawrence river, where on July 1, 1958 a portion of the river was flooded during the St.Lawrence Seaway Project. During the 3-4 days that it took for the river to swell into the river/lake we see today it covered and submerged 10 small communities and over 200 farms. One of those communities was the town of Wales.
Our family is closely tied to the small town of Wales, it is here were our ancestors settled after coming over from Scotland and where our grandfather grew up.
This year the water level is very low, low enough that the normally submerged ghost town of Wales is visible. My sisters and I decided to take advantage of the low water and kayak over to the old town to see what is left.
When the four of us try to get together it takes some planning, we all have young families and life gets busy. The only time that worked for all of us this weekend was this morning at 6 am :). So we packed up the kayaks in the dark and headed out to the river, the sun was coming up by the time we got there and we were able to watch the sunrise on the water.
Here are some of the pictures we took on the island, it was a wonderful experience even with the wind and cold.
Heading out on the choppy water with this view.
Old paved walkways on the island.
Sidewalks along the old roads.
Outlines of old foundations.
Some of the things we found, an old water-spout.
The top of a glass vase.
The door of an old stove.
A horseshoe, we found a few of these.
It was an exciting morning, and we enjoyed being able to walk where our ancestors had.
How do you get to this spot? Is it accessible from the Long Sault Parkway without a kayak? I live in the local area and would love to go fir a walk this Thanksgiving Weekend to check this out.
Hi Crystal,
Wales is located off highway 2, near the St.Lawrence Cemetery (between Ingleside and Long Sault). We launched from the bridge at Hoople Creek. To get to the island you will need a boat of some kind. If you want to walk you can check out Aultsville, which is located by the Bird Sanctuary. If you go to the Bird Sanctuary and walk down the old road you will be able to walk along the water. Hope that helps 🙂
Great stuff. I wish you nothing but the best on your adventure. Thanks so much for swinging by my site. Keep going with the updates. This is a great site.