When the current Welland Canal was built in 1913, 137 workers died. One of them, James West, was from North Bay and lies in an unmarked grave.
Now, Bob Sears, president of the Canadian Canal Society, will be at Discovery North Bay Museum on November 8th to present a funeral marker for West to the City of North Bay.
The City of St. Catharines has constructed the Welland Canal Memorial Project, a memorial to honour the 137 fallen workers which will be unveiled Sunday November 12th just north of the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre.
With a budget of $1.2 million, the memorial has been made possible with funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Niagara Region, historical societies, the City of St. Catharines and significant donations from the marine industry, local businesses, and the labour community.
In addition to the construction of the memorial, individual grave markers have been made by Kirkpatrick Monuments of Fonthill for the fallen workers who lie in unmarked graves. James West was one of 137 workers killed while working on building the Welland Ship Canal.
He died in 1915, and like 52 other fallen workers, his grave is unmarked.
The marker will be unveiled at the Discovery North Bay Museum, Wed. November 8th at 2 p.m.
