First Welland Canal was let into the Feeder and Welland Canals in November 1829. As with other locations in the peninsula, shantytowns sprung up along the Feeder Canal. These later developed into places like Dunnville, Wainfleet and Welland, among others. The Welland Canal was officially opened on November 30, 1829, exactly five years after the first turning of the sod. Two schooners, "Annie and Jane" from York, Upper Canada and "R.H. Broughton" from Youngstown, New York, left Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario and arrived in Buffalo on the eastern end of Lake Erie two days later. "Annie and Jane" returned to Lake Ontario
Welland Canal hinges of Lock No. 24 of the Third Welland Canal (just to the east of Lock No. 7 of today's canal ()), doing minor damage. This time, the saboteurs were caught in nearby Thorold. John Walsh, John Nolan and the ringleader "Dynamite" Luke Dillon (a member of Clan-na-Gael) were tried at the Welland Courthouse and found guilty, receiving life sentences at Kingston Penitentiary. The "star witness" at the trial was a 16-year-old Thorold girl named Euphemia Constable, who caught a good look at the bombers before being knocked unconscious by the blast. While waiting to testify, the girl received death