Sault Sainte Marie, city, Canada

Sault Sainte Marie so͞o sānt mərēˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 81,476), S Ont., Canada, on the St. Marys River opposite Sault Ste Marie, Mich. A bridge connects the two cities. Sault Ste Marie is an important port and manufacturing center. Iron and steel, lumber, pulp and paper products, and chemicals are made there; information technology and telematics are also economically important. The city is a tourist center and the gateway to hunting and fishing resorts in nearby lake and forest regions. A fur-trading post was built on the site in 1783, and a canal and lock to bypass the St. Marys rapids was constructed by 1898. Americans destroyed the post and lock during the War of 1812; a new lock was opened in 1895. There are two forest research stations.

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