OVERVIEW Sault Ste. Marie, like other Northern communities, developed later than the rest of Ontario. Urban development began in the mid 1800's, after the Americans constructed canals to bypass the St. Mary's rapids. However the village was still comparatively small in 1870 with a population of only 900 people. As we will see elsewhere, the construction of rail links spurred local development. In 1887 the Canadian Pacific Railway completed the Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie branch line, and, with the construction of the International Railroad Bridge, spanning the St. Mary's River, Sault Ste. Marie was connected to the markets of the large American hinterland. By 1887 Sault Ste. Marie had grown to 1600 people and was classified as a town. It was the arrival of Francis Hector Clergue however, that brought about the industrialization of Sault Ste. Marie and hence the expansion of the population to 7,200 by 1901. During these periods of growth some of the City's largest and most elegant homes were constructed, some of which remain with us today.