Sault Ste Marie

Twin industrial ports on the Canadian–US border, one in Ontario and one in Michigan; population (1991) 81,500 and (1990) 14,700, respectively. They stand at the falls (French sault) in St Mary's River, which links lakes Superior and Huron. The falls are bypassed by canals. Industries include steel, pulp, and agricultural trade. A French Jesuit mission was established here in 1669.

The John Johnson home (1796), one of the oldest in the state of Michigan, was the home of Henry Schoolcraft, the 1820s Indian agent whose tales inspired Longfellow's ‘Song of Hiawatha’. The Michigan city is the home of Lake Superior State University (1946). The Canadian city is the administrative headquarters of Algoma District, south-central Ontario.