By 1794, Peter Walker, the first settler in this area, had located at the mouth of Patterson's Creek, but a community did not begin to develop here until Dover, situated further upstream, was razed by invading American troops in 1814. Some of the subsequent reconstruction took place nearer to the creek's mouth where a harbour had been in use since the early 1800s and, in 1835, Israel Wood Powell, a merchant, registered a village plan for Port Dover. Improvement to the harbour during the next fifteen years made Port Dover a principal Lake Erie port and shipyards, tanneries and Andrew Thompson's woollen mill contributed substantially to local economic growth. In 1879, Port Dover, with a population of 1,100, became an incorporated village.

Location

At the Harbour Museum, 44 Harbour Street, Port Dover

Themes

• Communities
• Industry and trade
• Transportation systems and communications