The town got its name in 1669 when French Jesuit missionaries came across the site. "Sault Ste. Marie" is French for "St. Mary's Rapids". Sault Ste. Marie was incorporated as a town in 1887 and a city in 1912.
The city made a name for itself in steel-making, and Algoma Steel[?] is still the largest employer. Forestry is also a major local industry.
Famous natives of Sault Ste. Marie include hockey great Phil Esposito[?] and astronaut Roberta Bondar.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump