The St. Clair River (Images of America)

The St. Clair River, separating Michigan from Ontario, is one of the world's greatest natural waterways. The 40-mile strait connects Lake Huron with Lake St. Clair, northeast of Detroit, as a key link in the Great Lakes chain of mid-North America. Effectively, the St. Clair drains Lakes Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and their tributaries, pouring billions of gallons of freshwater into the lower Great Lakes over the Niagara Falls and out through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean. Its recorded history dates from the earliest French fur trappers of the 17th century to the ultramodern ocean freighters connecting the world directly with inner America. This photographic record of the St. Clair River relates the common historical experiences of the major communities along the American side of the waterway--from south to north, the St. Clair Flats, Algonac, Marine City, St. Clair, Marysville, and Port Huron.