Sault Ste. Marie, the oldest city in the Midwest, grew up around the mission of Fathers Dablon and Marquette, founded in 1668 on the banks of the rapids where Lake Superior’s waters begin their long journey seaward. In 1641 Fathers Jogues and Raymbault of Sainte Marie Mission near Georgian Bay came there and applied the name Sault de Sainte Marie, or “rapids of Saint Mary,” to the waters. Popular usage shortens the name to “the Soo.”