If you stop by the Lake Ontario shoreline by the mouth of the Eighteen Mile Creek you will see this prominent rectangular structure about fifty metres out in the water. So what is it? I think this feature is one of the more interesting geographical puzzles in our area. With its geometric shape it is obviously not a natural feature. Yet this area has a certain remoteness about it. So let's begin by taking a wider view.
Here we still see the feature but also the coastal bluffs which are typical along the Lake Ontario shoreline. You can also probably get a sense of the fact that there is a significant amount of erosion as the energy of the waves undercuts the bluffs. So we could probably infer that the mystery block was at one point in time actually on the land along the shoreline. Here is an.other view of the coastal bluffs taken in the opposite direction (towards the east).
So here we need to think about the other clues. We are at the mouth of the 18 Mile Creek. Prior to the 1940's there was no Queen Elizabeth Way as a major east-west route. So, quite likely, there would have been a road running along the lakeshore connecting St.Catharines with Hamilton. Such a road would have had to cross the mouth of the 18 Mile Creek and would therefore need a bridge which would mean concrete footings. So here is our likely conclusion.
It's interesting to speculate about the route of this old road. There seem to be no similar blocks in the water by 15, 16 and 20 Mile Creek. So was the road further inland at these other locations or are the footings further out hidden under the water? I guess we'd need to look up some old maps.
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