Maple Canal
Maple Canal | |
|---|---|
City | |
.jpg) Maple Canal skyline | |
| Nickname: Hapson's City | |
| Country |  Zamastan |
| Province | Zian |
| Founded | 1673 |
| Population | |
| • Total | 128,989 |
Maple Canal is a city in the Zamastanian province of Zian. It is the 16th-most populous city in the province with 128,000 people. It is in southwestern Zian, along the Maple River, adjacent to the Zian Mountains and 10 miles from the Jade provincial border. It is roughly 60 miles southwest of Tofino and Arinals, and is sometimes considered to be in the Tofino-Arinals Metropolitan Area. The city is notable in Zamastanian culture as the birthplace of the country's first President, Tomias Hapson, and is given the nickname "Hapson's City".
Founded in the mid 17th century by the Skith empire, the city of Maple Canal, as the name suggests, was the serving point of a canal which allowed small barges transiting up the Maple River from Horseshoe Bay access to forestry and ore industries in the city's outskirts. The city was a central point of Skith's slave markets in its Zamah St'an colony, and as such was a target of abolitionist movements in the leadup to the War of Independence. After independence, the Treaty of Maple Canal was signed in 1811 formally signing over Skith's colonial holdings in mainland Euronia. The city was also an early political center for Zamastan, as it was where founding fathers debated and framed much of the constitution. The late 19th and early 20th century saw major industrialisation of the city, though the namesake canal became obsolete with the arrival of roads and railways. Maple Canal became an important rail and shipping center because of its location between mining and farming areas and the Olympic Ocean.
Like most industrial cities, Maple Canal suffered a prolonged decline in the mid-20th century as a result of suburbanization and divestment. Since the 1990s, downtown Maple Canal has experienced a period of revitalization. Developments in the downtown include the University of Zian Maple Canal; the M Line (formerly Maple Link), the first modern electric light rail service in the province; the province's highest density of art and history museums outside of the Tofino metropolitan area; and a restored urban waterfront. In recent years, Maple Canal has become a growing technology hub for both established companies and startups.