Elmwood (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) Elmwood to Charles T. Harvey, who supervised the construction of the first Soo Locks while living in the house. Sault Ste. Marie merchant and businessman Peter Barbeau purchased the building in 1874 when the government sold it. Around the 1880s, substantial Queen Anne-style alterations were done to the building, diminishing the "classical elegance" of the original design. Around 1900, the building, along with a swath of the surrounding shoreline, was sold to the Michigan Lake Superior Power Company. It was used as an office building, then lay vacant for decades wnile owned by Union Carbide. It was used in the
Sault Ste. Marie Canal War of 1812. In 1870, the United States refused the steamer Chicora, carrying Colonel Garnet Wolseley permission to pass through the locks at Sault Ste Marie. The Wolseley Expedition incident led to the construction of a Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal, which was completed in 1895. This event is now known as the Chicora Incident. The construction of the canal and lock was completed in 1895. At that time it was the largest lock and first electrically operated lock in the world. The canal is about long and originally the lock portion was long and wide. On June 9, 1909,