Goderich Ontario in Colour Photos

Goderich is located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. The town was laid out in 1828. The unique layout of Goderich's core encompasses eight primary streets radiating from an octagon bounded by eight business blocks. This civic square, with a park at its center, is popularly known as "The Square". Four streets intersecting at right angles - Victoria, Nelson, Waterloo and Elgin - form the outer edges of the core with the octagon in the center. The Square reflects a vision of a town center of classical design and elegance. From the 1840s to the 1890s, the growth of Goderich centered around the development of the Market Square. For nearly 100 years the original Huron County Courthouse, an Italianate brick building of imposing scale and elegance, stood in the centre of The Square. The current courthouse replaced the original which was destroyed by fire in 1954. This fast growing town was the centre of a prosperous agricultural region. The Sifto Salt Mines are located under Lake Huron. On May 17, 1866 while drilling for oil near Goderich, Ontario, Samuel Platt and Peter MacEwan instead struck salt at 965 feet. Within a year, the pioneer well at Goderich was able to declare a profit of 31%. Such success naturally led to competition and numerous blocks soon sprung up as the salt bonanza spread. By 1872, twelve Goderich companies were producing 2,000 barrels of salt per day. The manufacture of salt quickly extended inland as good quality brine was also discovered at Clinton and Seaforth. The large quantities of wood required in the brine evaporation process quickly depleted forests in the immediate vicinity of Goderich. As fuel became more expensive, the competitive advantage shifted towards the inland salt makers. Located along the Grand Trunk Railway, Clinton and Seaforth easily captured the domestic market to the East. Goderich was left to the export trade, shipping salt to American markets in Milwaukee and Chicago. After putting down salt wells in Dublin, Brusssels and Seaforth, Peter MacEwan returned to Goderich where he established the International Salt Company. During the "boom" years of the 1870s, the majority of salt production resulted from the evaporation of brine. In 1956 the Sifto Salt Company began exploratory work. A shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,760 feet and salt production began near the end of 1959. Initially intended to extract 500,000 tons per year, the mine was expanded and by 1983 had a capacity of 3,600,000 tons. Seventy percent of the salt is shipped by vessel to Canadian and U. S. markets along the Great Lakes system.