CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Places & Architecture

La Salle Causeway

bridge in Canada

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ6465089 ↗
Source-derived summary

The La Salle Causeway, also called the LaSalle Causeway, is a causeway located in Kingston, Ontario. It allows Highway 2 to cross the Cataraqui River (the southern entrance of the Rideau Canal). The causeway separates Kingston's inner and outer harbours. Construction of the causeway was completed on April 15, 1917. The causeway transports approximately 23,000 vehicles daily.

Three bridges are incorporated into the causeway, the centre one being a Strauss trunnion bascule lift bridge, which was designed by Joseph Strauss, who designed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The La Salle Causeway was named after René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. who oversaw the construction of Fort Frontenac in 1673 at what is now the western end of the causeway.

History

The first attempt at transportation across the river was a cable-operated scow type of ferry that began operating in 1786. Two rowboats were often available for use as well.

Editorial summary

“La Salle Causeway” enters the record as bridge in Canada. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Salle, Causeway and bridge can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1917, 1673, 1786—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Salle, Causeway and bridge.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“La Salle Causeway” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Salle, Causeway and bridge provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6465089. Authority coordinates are 44.235, -76.475. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1917, 1673 and 1786.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “La Salle Causeway”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow La Salle Causeway primary sources, La Salle Causeway archive and Salle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “La Salle Causeway”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “La Salle Causeway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.