Sault Sainte Marie will hold a three-day celebration this weekend honoring its 350th anniversary.
Historians say Sault Sainte Marie’s European settlement was established by French settlers in 1668, making it the oldest city in Michigan.
Local historian, Bernie Arbic said the city’s name came from the French name for the rapids.
“‘Sault de Sainte Marie’ literally means ‘the rapids of saint mary.’ Again the Jesuit naming saint mary, being the name of the mission and then became the name of the settlement.”
Arbic said the Soo Locks became vital to the US during World War Two when roughly 90% of the iron ore used in steel mills came from the Lake Superior Watershed. Arbic says more than 8 thousand troops were stationed at the locks, and the army also deployed barrage balloons.
“They basically were huge, like a dirigible, tether to cables some of them were 2000 feet in the air. They kind of formed a protective gauntlet around the locks and the thinking was that if any low flying torpedo bomber tried to fly in to bomb the locks it would rip of the wing of a plane if they ran into one of those tethering cables.”
Officials with city hall said the three-day anniversary celebration will run Friday - Sunday and feature a fish fry, pulled pork competition, and a boat parade.