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Niagara Library, The
On June 8, 1800, the Niagara Library, the first circulating library in Upper Canada, was established "to diffuse knowledge" among area subscribers. Financed by this group, library services were begun in 1801 with some 80 works for circulation, many on religion and history. Under the management of Andrew Heron, a merchant, the collection was steadily enlarged, and in 1805 the books of the Niagara Agricultural Society were added. The library operated successfully until the occupation... -
Niagara Escarpment, The
Queenston Heights is part of the Niagara Escarpment, a height of land which extends 725 kilometres across Ontario from Niagara Falls to Manitoulin Island. Over 430 million years ago, a shallow tropical sea covered most of central North America. Sediments and coral reef on the seabed were compressed into dolomite, a hard type of limestone which was more resistant to erosion then the bedrock of the adjacent lands after the water retreated. The cliffs of... -
Niagara Parks Commission, The
In 1885, the Province of Ontario established The Niagara Parks Commission as part of an international effort to preserve the natural scenery around Niagara Falls. Originally, the Commission included Colonel Casimir Gzowski, Chairman, John W. Langmuir and J. Grant Macdonald, and was responsible for making the park self-financing while keeping admission free to the public. The Commissioners acquired parkland along the river to create Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park, which opened on May 24, 1888... -
Niagara Agricultural Society, The
The first organization devoted to the improvement of agriculture in Ontario was founded at Niagara. Its original name, the Agricultural Society of Upper Canada, reflected Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe's hope that it would become a province-wide organization. Its members, mostly merchants, politicians, clergymen and gentlemen farmers, met regularly for dinner and discussion. They imported new varieties of fruit trees to the Niagara peninsula in 1794 and sponsored the province's first agricultural fair in Queenston in... -
Town of Niagara, The
Known at various times as Butlersburg, West Niagara and Newark, its first permanent settlers, including Butler's Rangers and other Loyalists, arrived about 1780. The first five sessions of Upper Canada's legislature met here under Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe between September 17, 1792 and June 3, 1796. The town was captured by American forces May 27, 1813, which burnt it during their withdrawal December 13, 1813. It was the administrative and judicial centre of the Niagara District and Lincoln County until 1866. -
Niagara Harbour and Dock Company
Formed by local businessmen in 1831, the Niagara Harbour and Dock Company created a shipping basin here on the Niagara River by hiring hundreds of labourers to excavate a riverside marsh. By the late 1830s, the company employed close to 400 workers and was operating one of the busiest ports and shipyards in Upper Canada. The local economy boomed as the business prospered, then lapsed into recession after financial problems crippled the company in the... -
Capture of Fort Niagara 1813, The
In the early morning of December 19, 1813, a force under Colonel John Murray, consisting of detachments of the 100th and 41st Regiments, Royal Scots, Royal Artillery and Canadian Militia, embarked in bateaux at the foot of this ravine. Crossing silently to a point above Youngstown, N.Y., they attacked Fort Niagara, killing or capturing its American garrison. -
Niagara Baptist Church Burial Ground, The
The Niagara Baptist Church congregation was established in 1829. A meeting house was erected at this site in 1831 through the efforts of John Oakley, a white former British soldier turned teacher and minister. Initially, the church congregation mainly consisted of colonists, with a small number of Black members. The Black population of the Town of Niagara grew to about 100 due to the influx of freedom seekers after Britain passed the 1833 Slavery Abolition... -
Fort Chippawa 1791
The fortifications that stood on this site were built in 1791 to protect the southern terminus of the Niagara portage road and serve as a forwarding depot for government supplies. Known also as Fort Welland, the main structure consisted of a log blockhouse surrounded by a stockade. During the War of 1812, several bloody engagements were fought in this vicinity, including the bitterly contested Battle of Chippawa, July 5, 1814, and possession of the fort... -
William and Susannah Steward House
William, an African American teamster, and Susannah Steward (also spelled Stewart) lived in Niagara from 1834 to 1847. The Steward home was part of Niagara's "coloured village", a vibrant community of former Canadian slaves, black Loyalists and African American refugees. Later, the Stewards divided their lot for sale to Robert Baxter, a local black resident. In 1837, William Steward was one of 17 local blacks who signed a petition asking Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Bond... -
Church of St. John the Evangelist, The
One of the province's oldest Anglican churches, St. John's was begun in 1825, during the pastorate of the Reverend William Leeming, and consecrated three years later. It was erected under the auspices of Lieutenant-Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland, who had a summer residence nearby, with additional financial support and gifts of land and furnishings donated by Robert Henry Dee, a retired officer of the Commissariat Department, John Beverley Robinson, Attorney-General of Upper Canada, and other civic... -
Canada Constellation 1799-1800, The
On July 20, 1799, the first edition of the "Canada Constellation", Upper Canada's earliest independent newspaper, was published at Niagara by Gideon and Silvester Tiffany, two brothers who had come from the United States. Gideon had at first held the post of King's Printer of Upper Canada and, with Silvester, edited the government-sponsored "Upper Canada Gazette". Suspected of American sympathies, the Tiffany's lost their government support in 1797 and were succeeded by Titus Geer Simons... -
Sir Casimir S. Gzowski 1813-1898
First chairman of the Niagara Parks Commission (1885-93), Gzowski was born in Russia of Polish parents. Forced to emigrate, following participation in the Polish Rising of 1830, he came to Canada in 1841. An exceptionally able engineer, he first served as a government construction superintendent. He later organized a company that built the Grand Trunk Railway from Toronto to Sarnia, 1853-7, and the International Bridge across the Niagara River at Fort Erie in 1873. He... -
Law Society of Upper Canada 1797, The
Following the introduction of English civil law into this province in 1792, legislation was passed in 1797 authorizing the establishment of the "Law Society of Upper Canada". A founding meeting was held in "Wilson's Hotel" in this community on July 17, 1797. It was attended by ten practitioners, including the Attorney General, the Hon. John White, who was appointed Treasurer, the Society's principal officer. One of its major functions was the regulation of admission to... -
Janet Carnochan 1839-1926
For more than 30 years Janet Carnochan, a native of Stamford, Ontario, taught elementary and secondary school at Niagara-on-the-Lake, but she made her greatest contribution to the community as an historian rather than as an educator. A distinguished historical preservationist, Carnochan founded and was first president of the Niagara Historical Society, 1895-1925, and laboured tirelessly to safeguard and promote the rich heritage of Niagara. She wrote and edited numerous historical works including The History of Niagara and successfully campaigned for the construction... -
Louis Hennepin 1626 - c. 1705
Born and educated in Belgium, Hennepin was ordained a Recollet (Franciscan) friar in France. He was an adventurer at heart and undertook priestly duties in several European countries before being sent to New France as a missionary in 1675. In 1679-80, he accompanied Cavelier de La Salle on his exploration of the Mississippi River. Back in France, Hennepin published a lively account of his travels, Description de la Louisiane (1683), which enjoyed widespread popularity in... -
Destruction of the Caroline 1837, The
On the night of December 29-30, 1837, some 60 volunteers acting on the orders of Col. Allan Napier McNab, and commanded by Capt. Andrew Drew, R.N., set out from Chippawa in small boats to capture the American steamer "Caroline". That vessel, which had been supplying William Lyon MacKenzie's rebel forces on Navy Island, was moored at Fort Schlosser, N.Y. There she was boarded by Drew's men, her crew killed or driven ashore, and after an... -
Field House, The
One of the oldest brick houses in Ontario, this handsome Georgian structure was built about 1800. Originally a farm house, it was the home of Gilbert Field (1765-1815), a United Empire Loyalist who was in possession of the land by 1790. During the War of 1812 the house was used by British forces and was subject to a brief bombardment from an American battery. Though damaged, it was one of the few homes in the... -
Burning of St. Davids 1814, The
On July 18th, 1814, during the final American campaign on the Niagara frontier, Major-General Peter B. Porter sent a detachment of militia from the United States encampment at Queenston to attack St. Davids. This force, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac W. Stone, was joined later by a small group of American regulars. Despite opposition from the 1st Lincoln Militia, the enemy captured the village, looted it and burned most of the buildings. Stone was severely censured for this destruction of private property and summarily dismissed from the United States army. -
McFarland House 1800, The
This house was built in 1800 by James McFarland on land purchased about 1795 by his father, John McFarland (1757-1814), who was described as "His Majesty's boat builder". One of the Niagara District's finest residences, it was used during the War of 1812 as a hospital by both British and United States forces. A British battery was emplaced behind the house to command the river. In 1813 John McFarland was taken prisoner by the Americans following their capture of Fort George. When he returned in 1814, much of his property had been destroyed and the house badly damaged. -
Colonial Advocate, The
This influential journal of radical reform was first published on May 18, 1824, at Queenston by William Lyon Mackenzie. A native of Scotland, Mackenzie had immigrated to Upper Canada in 1820 and three years later settled here and opened a general store. Within a year he had established a printing office in his home on this site, but in November 1824, moved to York (Toronto). Because of Mackenzie's frequent attacks on the "Family Compact", supporters... -
First Newspaper 1793, The
The Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle, first newspaper in what is now Ontario, was published in the town of Niagara. Its first issue, edited by Louis Roy appeared April 18, 1793. On this site was published The Gleaner which from 1817 to 1837, under the editorship of Andrew and Samuel Heron, was one of the most prominent newspapers in Upper Canada. -
In this house, built in 1818, William Kirby, F.R.S.C., historian, novelist, poet and editor of the Niagara Mail, lived from 1857 to 1906. His historical romance, The Golden Dog, stimulated interest in Canada’s history and won for him international renown.
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Lieutenant-Colonel John Butler 1725-1796
Born in New London, Connecticut, Butler served in the Mohawk Valley, New York, in 1742. Commissioned in the British Indian Department in 1755, he served in the Seven Years' War. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he was compelled to leave his estates, and was ordered to Fort Niagara. In 1777, he organized the Loyalist corps known as Butler's Rangers. By the end of the war, this unit, with British regulars and Indian allies... -
Memorial Hall 1906
This building, the first in Ontario to be constructed for use solely as an historical museum, was begun in 1906 and completed the following year. Its erection was due largely to the dedicated efforts of Miss Janet Carnochan, founder, and for thirty years curator of the Niagara Historical Society. Previously the Society had used a room in the Town Hall to preserve objects of this early Loyalist region. Donations were received from the federal and...