Sarnia travel guide — Sarnia tourism and travel information

Sarnia travel guide

about Sarnia

Sarnia is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada (population 70,876 in 2001). Sarnia is the county seat of Lambton County. It is the largest city on Lake Huron, located where the three upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River. The city's natural harbour first attracted the French explorer La Salle, who named the site "The Rapids". The Sarnia port is still an important center for lake freighters and "salties" carrying cargos of grain, ore, and petroleum products. The growth of the city received a major boost when North America's first oil discovery was made at nearby Petrolia in the 1850s.

In 1938, the Blue Water Bridge was built to join Sarnia with Port Huron, Michigan; in 1997, the bridge was twinned. Linking Ontario Highway 402 with the US I-94, the bridge is one of the most important gateways on the north/south truck routes. This bridge to America had been preceded by the construction of the St. Clair tunnel in 1891 - the first rail tunnel ever to pass under a river. The tunnel was an engineering marvel in its day, achieved through the development of original techniques for excavating in a compressed air environment.

When World War II threatened tropical sources of natural latex for rubber, Sarnia was selected as the site to spearhead development of synthetic petroleum-based rubbers for war materials. Large pipelines bring Alberta oil to Sarnia, where oil refining and petrochemical production have become mainstays of the city's economy. Large salt beds found under the city became a source of chlorine and another significant ingredient in the success of the "Chemical Valley."

While industry expanded south along the St. Clair, Sarnia's population tended to move out eastward along the Lake Huron shoreline. The sandy freshwater beaches are a popular tourist attraction, while the sheltered harbor houses marinas for recreational sailing. Since 1925, the 250-mile Mackinac race from Sarnia/Port Huron to Mackinac Island, at the north end of the lake, has been the highlight of the sailing season, drawing more than 3000 sailors each year.

In 2002, Michael Moore filmed segments of his documentary Bowling for Columbine in Sarnia to prove how much safer Canada is than the US, even though there's just as many guns. He interviewed residents outside the local Taco Bell, at the Lambton 8 cinema complex and at a gun show in nearby Point Edward.

Famous people from Sarnia include:

PGA TOUR golfer Mike Weir, winner of the 2003 Masters, actually comes from Bright's Grove, on the outskirts of the city, but Sarnians tend to claim him as their own.

The Sarnia Golf & Curling Country Club is currently managed by Don Summerton.

Sarnia is the self proclaimed kissing capital of the world.

According to the 2001 Statistics Canada Census:

Near cities to Sarnia

• Port Huron travel guide 4.1 km
• Chatham travel guide 65 km
• Sterling Heights travel guide 68 km
• Warren travel guide 76 km
• Detroit travel guide 89 km
• Windsor travel guide 90 km
• London travel guide 94 km
• Dearborn travel guide 97 km
• Livonia travel guide 100 km
• Flint travel guide 110 km

Near webcams to Sarnia

• Huron Lake webcam 64 km
• Detroit - Southfield webcam 90 km
• Howell - Downtown webcam 130 km
• Cleveland webcam 170 km
• Toledo - Zoo webcam 170 km
• Cleveland webcam 170 km
• Toronto - Skycam webcam 250 km
• Toronto webcam 250 km
• Toronto - Football Field webcam 250 km
• Niagara Falls webcam 270 km

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Sarnia travel services

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Sarnia travel books

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