Lachine Canal - Saint-Gabriel Lock

The Saint-Gabriel lock separates the bustling industrial history of the Lachine Canal from the quiet waters above. Built of massive, fitted stone blocks, the lock walls bear the deep, vertical scars of iron-clad barges that ground against them for decades. In the eighteen sixties, a desperate fire broke out on a nearby coal barge, threatening the entire canal system. A local lock keeper, ignoring the flames, cranked the heavy iron gates shut to isolate the blaze and save the canal infrastructure.