The Brockville Tunnel 1860
Construction of Canada's first railway tunnel, which runs from this point for 527 metres in a northerly direction, began in September 1854. Designed to give the Brockville and Ottawa Railway access to the riverfront, it was opened on December 31, 1860. This railway, incorporated in 1853, ran from Brockville to Sand Point, near Arnprior with a branch line from Smith's Falls to Perth. Its first train left Brockville's Grand Trunk station on January 25, 1859, almost two years before finances permitted completion of the tunnel. The Brockville and Ottawa amalgamated in 1878 with the Canada Central Railway, which was absorbed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Ontario Plaques. Full page here.