St. Clair Township
A string of small riverside and lakeside villages just south of Sarnia, strung along the St. Clair River and the shore of Lake Huron. Eight kilometres of township-owned waterfront, a trail linking every village, and some of the county's oldest river history.
What makes it unique
Underground, the township sits on vast porous rock caverns naturally suited to storing hydrocarbons — one reason so much petrochemical industry, including Shell's Corunna refinery, ended up here. Above ground, it's the opposite feeling entirely: the township owns 8 km of St. Clair River waterfront, with 11 parks and a trail, built up over nearly two decades, that links every village from Sombra to Mooretown.
A little history
St. Clair Township was formed in 2001 by amalgamating the Township of Moore and the Township of Sombra, along with the villages within them. Corunna, the largest of those villages and now home to the township office, has an unusual origin story: it was surveyed in 1823 as a proposed capital for a united Upper and Lower Canada, complete with wide streets laid out to echo the Union Jack. The plan was scrapped for sitting too close to the U.S. border, but the wide streets remain.
The river shaped the township's history in other ways too. During U.S. Prohibition, the St. Clair River became a smuggling route, with as many as thirteen beer scows lined up at once off Port Lambton waiting to run liquor across to Michigan.
Villages of St. Clair Township
Eight communities, mostly strung along the river.
Next door: Dawn-Euphemia
East of the township lies Dawn-Euphemia, quiet cash-crop country of scenic back roads and small hamlets — Florence, Shetland, Rutherford, Bentpath — bisected by the meandering Sydenham River. The Shetland Conservation Area, picnic grounds since 1936, offers 14 riverside acres for paddling, picnics and quiet family camping, and hosts a leg of the annual Sydenham River Canoe & Kayak Race each spring.
Claim to fame
Maude Menten, the pioneering biochemist behind the Michaelis–Menten equation — still taught in biochemistry classes worldwide to describe how enzymes work — was born in Port Lambton in 1879, one of the first women in Canada to earn a medical doctorate.
Courtright has its own oddball legend: Stewart James, a magician who invented more than a thousand card tricks from his home there, widely regarded as one of the most original minds in magic history.
Six Things You Don't Want to Miss
St. Clair River Trail
A paved waterfront trail linking the villages along the river, past parks, picnic spots and boat launches — a good stretch for watching freighters pass.
Bright's Grove Beach
A sandy Lake Huron beach on the township's northern edge, a favourite sunset spot for Sarnia-area families.
Moore Museum
Twelve heritage buildings — a schoolhouse, log cabin, Victorian cottage and railroad station among them — preserving the story of the former Moore Township.
Sombra Museum
A furnished 1881 Victorian home, kitchen to parlour, with stories of Sombra, Port Lambton, Wilkesport and the other villages of the former Sombra Township.
Brander Park
A riverside park with a boat launch, right where the St. Clair River widens toward Lake St. Clair — a quiet spot to watch the water traffic.
St. Clair National Wildlife Area
A protected wetland along Lake St. Clair's shore, one of the best birdwatching spots in the region — tens of thousands of migrating waterfowl pass through every spring and fall.
Parks in St. Clair Township
Eleven parks and passive parks line the waterfront trail. A few to start with: