The Ojibwe called it Baawitigong -place of rapids.
The French called it Sault Sainte Marie -St. Mary’s rapids

After the War of 1812, the Canada-US border was drawn along the middle of the river, so it now borders what was once its other half, Soo Michigan.

Francis Clergue, from Philadelphia, was responsible for most of the town’s early success: a hydroelectric dam, St. Mary’s Paper, Algoma Steel, and Algoma Central Railway. Iron ore was mined from his Helen Mine, where he established a whole town for the workers, though coal for the plant had to be imported from the US. Within 10 years, his industrial empire collapsed.

St. Mary’s Paper underwent a similar fate to most pulp mills: changing hands a number of times, being owned by Abitibi at some point, and ultimately closing down.

After the closing of the mine, Helen Mine became a ghost town. Algoma steel was forced to import iron ore from the US.

They produced rails until railroad expansion ceased, artillery until the war ended, suffered the usual booms and busts of industry, sadly tied to the machinery of war and later to the whims of policy in international trade.

In the early 2000s after its 2nd bankruptcy of the decade, CEO Denis Turcotte was credited for its newfound success. Contracts with the United States Armed Forces, who were busy outfitting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, were never given any of the credit nor received the same praise as Turcotte, though they had likely played a much bigger role.

After a decade of ownership under Essar Global, the mill was once again insolvent. Owned now by investors, the question is simply: who will buy next?