Good video thanks! I've lived in Newmarket since 1962 and when I was a kid here Rogers Reservoir was still full of water with not much marsh - we would bike out to it along Main St. Back then it really was in the middle of nowhere. South of the Tannery on the south side of Davis Drive by the Holland River there was a string of coal sheds we'd sometimes play in, "race to the top of the coal pile", between the old Davis Drive train station and the Co-op (now a climbing gym). Mom wasn't too pleased with that, lol. There was also a relic water tower there that had been used to replenish steam locomotives.

Thanks Kurt for making this video to share the hidden Ontario canal history 🌟 There was a lot more canal building going on in Ontario 100-200 years ago than many people realize ....and maybe older than that too, as there's lots of hidden history in Ontario ✨️

Thanks for the trip, I've been super intrigued about this for years. I've taken my kids for trips on parts of this in a paddleboat, not easy to get in and out and around many spots, it should be opened up for paddling sports.

I absolutely love this video. I never new that was the history of the water way.👍🍻

Great production, very informative.

For a few years I have been cycling the bike path all the way to St. Johns Side Road and noticed the construction but knew nothing if the history. Now I know and will take notice when I bike there is a few weeks time. Great video. Thanks

So interesting. I wonder how many people pass by these old locks everyday and don’t know why they are there.

Nice Video ! I used to live right near the " Radial Arch " on Ontario St.

I enjoyed the video! A great print resource is A Work Unfinished by James T Angus. He wrote a number of books on the Trent-Severn.

Well thank you for this informative video. I used to fly out of the Holland Landing airport and wondered about the history of this canal. I'm not so sure about the Toronto Carrying Place as I suspect there was a reasonable portage between the West Holland River and the Humber watershed. Perhaps it was subsumed by Yonge Street.

I remember that from the late 50's and early 60's and those areas were full of water. It is funny how the history lesson changes with time. More of the real reasons for the failure is now covered up and told differently. The water flow was stronger back in the early part of the century as less was removed for other things like today. Somewhere I have images of the height of the water and wrote articles on the Ghost Canal system. It is still interesting to see the old locks. All the canal systems in Canada have been failures for stupid reasons yet are admired by foreign visitors from around the world.

I lived in Newmarket 1981 to 1989. I wish those trails had been there back then. You could see the locks beside the Tannery, but everything north of that was scrubland.

Nice work ! Who knew !! Did a lot of bike riding there. Beautiful area.

Looks like I have a new place to drag my kayak! Awesome video!

Thanks for the History

Lock #2 was the only one I visited. Soo Cool.

Very interesting bit of history. That bike trail looks like one I would like to try.

Beautiful and informative video. Thanks. I hope now to go and see it with my own eyes.

I really miss living in Holland Landing... now I'm in Oakville, I have gone to all these spots many times... Thank you for sharing. Downtown Newmarket is a lot of fun in Summer.

interesting I never heard of this

Thanks. Often wondered about these mystery locks in the middle of noplace. I come from Niagara and it is a canal haven of historys.

Thanks, that was very cool! BestRoy

Nice bike trail! Exploring is a great pastime!

Thanks pal i had no idea..

Great job Kurt, very interesting Cheers Carl W

Historically interesting. Thank you Kurt. Was that Carl Weisser of Honeywell fame, four items below? One of my former bosses. Looks like you are getting a fan club from Honeywell. Keep up the the interesting details and good work. Bob King

I wonder if the Roger’s Reservoir had anything to do with the old Elias Rogers family who had a big Lake Simcoe Estate? Also related (cousins) to the Rogers Communications family.

They wanted to start a canal to create a form of 'competition' to the rising cost of rail transport in the area. The local government would have better spent their money to create a government-owned railroad that would transport their goods from Newmarket to Lake Simcoe, such a railway would have only cost 1/10 as much.

Cool i never knew that about new market

A lot of people from Newmarket used to hangout and drink there

I always wonder what this low level water way is for, thanks for this relax and informative video! @12:11 , can you kayak to lake simcoe from here?

That was my great great a few more great grand father who started that new market he the guy standing in frontt table with fers on it

Was this a continuation of the Holland river?

then they ripped up most of the railway tracks.

This system in Newmarket failed because of total ignorance. All that was needed was a system of steam operated pumps. These pumps would have filled reservoirs used to take water up hill. Anybody that thinks this won't work should turn their attention to the 2700 miles of canals built in Great Britain. They took water 600 feet above sea level up into the Penines using steam pumps and reservoirs to fill and operate locks to take Narrowboats pulled by horses to transport goods. This was done starting in the 1700's. One tunnel that was built is three and a half miles long through solid rock. In this country (Ontario) old Mullock was laughed out of Parliament because he was told water can't run uphill. Little did they know. Modern Narrowboats powered by diesel or solar still use the canals in Great Britain which can be found on You Tube.

When I was a kid in Newmarket in the late 60's early 70's their were no walkways & trails. The one building at the start of the vid with the river running underneath it used to be a grocery store & I remember climbing on the round bridge