For centuries, the rapids at Cascades, Cedars, and Coteau impeded travel along a twenty-three-kilometre-long stretch of the St. Lawrence River between Lake St. Louis and Lake St. Francis, just upstream from Montreal. Between 1779 and 1782, the Royal Engineers built three short canals to bypass the Cascades. The first canal encountered as one left Lake St. Louis and headed upstream was “La Faucille,” a 125-metre-long canal, equipped with one lock. Next was “Trou du Moulin,” which was thirty-seven metres long and had no locks, and finally “Split Rock,” which had one lock. A fourth canal was completed near the mouth of the Delisle River in 1782 to bypass the Coteau rapids, while boats were forced to navigate the Cedars rapids. After roughly a decade of use, “La Faucille” and “Trou du Moulin” canals were abandoned in favour of the longer “Cascades” canal built across Cascades Point.

Melocheville Rear Range Lighthouse that entered service in 1915 Photograph courtesy Library and Archives Canada

Shortly after the unification of Lower and Upper Canada in 1841, the Board of Public Works decided to build the twenty-four-kilometre-long Beauharnois Canal along the south shore of the river to bypass the three sets of rapids. This canal was finished in 1845 and served for over fifty years until a canal with a greater depth was needed. As this could most easily be accomplished by a canal along the north shore of the river, work on Soulanges Canal, which is twenty-three kilometres long, has a depth of 4.3 metres, and runs between Pointe-des-Cascades on Lake St. Louis and Coteau-Landing on Lake St. Francis, began in 1892 and was completed in 1899 at a cost of $4,251,158.

In 1845, a light was placed on the pier at the head of the channel leading to Beauharnois Canal from lake St. Francis. At some point, a set of range lights replaced the single light at the entrance to the canal. Joseph Meloche was keeper of these range lights from at least 1851 until his death in 1885. The following description of these lights appeared in the Annual Report of the Department of Marine for 1877:

They are both white fixed catoptric lights. The main one contains two No. 1 burner, with 14-inch reflectors; size of glass 14 x 16 inches. The tower is of wood on stone foundation, and is 27 feet high. Lighthouse requires painting and a new floor for lamp room. The range light is of the same description as the main light, and contains three No. 1 lamps, with 16-inch reflectors; it also requires some repairs which were ordered to be done. These lights are well and cleanly kept.

Even after Soulanges Canal was completed in 1899, the range lights at Beauharnois remained in operation as they marked the channel leading through Lake St. Louis. In 1915, the Lake Carriers’ Association reported the establishment of new range lights, to be known as Melocheville Range, that replaced Beauharnois Range:

New range lights were established on May 8, 1915, at Melocheville, on the site of the old Beauharnois Range Lights. The lights are catoptric fixed white, showing a light of 30,000 candlepower each, visible 11 miles in the line of range. Illuminant is petroleum vapor, burned under an incandescent mantel.

The front range light is located at Melocheville, on the south side of lower entrance to Beauharnois Canal, on the site of the old front range lighthouse. The structure is an enclosed wooden, white tower, square in plan, with sloping sides, surmounted by an octagonal lantern, 35 feet in height.

Rear Range light is 1,478 feet 232° 20’ from the front range light, back of the site of the old rear range lighthouse and in the same alignment, on land 47 feet above the level of the river. The structure is a red, skeleton steel tower, square in plan, with sloping sides, surmounted by an enclosed watchroom and an octagonal lantern, 36 feet in height.

The current Beauharnois Canal was constructed some distance south of Old Beauharnois Canal between 1929 and 1932 as part of a hydroelectric development that included the construction of a dam and powerhouse to use the twenty-four-metre drop between Lake St. Francis and Lake St. Louis. In the 1950s, two locks were added to Beauharnois Canal that were inaugurated in 1959 as part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway project.

Melocheville Range remains active today, guiding vessels through Lake St. Louis and to the entrance of Beauharnois Canal.

Keepers: Joseph Meloche (at least 1851 – 1885), Xavier Grignon (1885 – at least 1901), Alphonse Deault (1903 – 1912), Joseph Julien (1912 – 1915), E. Julien (1915 – 1925) O. Massey (1926 – 1931), G. Miron (1931 – at least 1937).

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine, various years.

The modern range lights can be see today at Melocheville.

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