The Lost Villages Historical Society announces receipt of a very generous gift from Mr. Richard G. Gibbons of Richmond, Virginia, of over one hundred and thirty-five rare and previously unseen photos with documentation.
These pictures were taken by the American Seaway Authority during the construction of the Seaway Project in the mid and late 1950’s.
__________________________________________________________________

Long Sault, Ontario-

The Lost Villages Historical Society is pleased to announce that we have received from Mr. Richard G Gibbons, of Richmond, Virginia, a wonderful and extensive collection of 138 official photographs of the American construction sites, taken by the New York State Power Authority, of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Project. Mr. Gibbons is a retired landscape architect who was employed as a Park Planner and Environmental Program Planner, with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, for nearly 38 years. Mr. Gibbons grew up in the Watertown, New York. area and as a special interest had collected a number of photos related to the American construction of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Project.   While surfing the net he discovered our web site and recently, while going through boxes in his attic, Mr. Gibbons found his old collection and thought we would logically be the group most interested in his collection.  He contacted us and then sent his wonderful collection.

The Richard G. Gibbons Collection will be scanned and processed by the Society, and will hopefully be available for viewing on hard copy when our museum opens in June for the season. It will also be digitized for viewing on our website. The society is very grateful to Mr. Gibbons as his photos will certainly enhance our collection.  We had very few pictures from the American perspective of the Seaway Project. One of the main goals of The Lost Villages Historical Society is to inform the public, and specifically to educate children about the loss of our communities which formerly existed along the St. Lawrence River prior to mid 1958. With the addition of the Richard G. Gibbons Collection, we can certainly provide a more accurate portrayal of what happened on both sides of the St. Lawrence River.