Local: Thunder Bay History - The Amalgamation
The completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the late 1950s changed shipping on
the Great Lakes dramatically. Ships could now navigate from Port Arthur and Fort William all
the way to the Atlantic Ocean and beyond, bypassing Niagara Falls and the
turbulent waters of the upper St Lawrence. More importantly, modern and
standardized lock systems allowed a standard ship size to navigate the Great
Lakes, increasing trade opportunities amongst cities around the Great Lakes. It
also increased the opportunities for leisure craft, both sail-powered and
motorized, to cruise the Great Lakes.
The 1960s led to the paving of the Trans-Canada Highway, which made the beautiful
north shore of Lake Superior accessible to the masses. It also increasing motorized
traffic through the region, with this community a major rest spot for those
travelling by car across the country.
In 1970, the area's two major communities, Port Arthur and Fort William, decided
to merge. They held a plebiscite to select a new name. The vote was very close with ‘The Lakehead' coming in third (8,477 votes), ‘Lakehead' coming in second (15,302 votes) and as we all now ‘Thunder Bay' (the name settlers gave it centuries before) won the balloting with 15,831 votes. Its interesting that a form of Lakehead actually gained more votes but they still went with Thunder Bay. Later in 1971 the District of Thunder Bay was formed
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