In 1784 the British Crown granted to the Six Nations Indians, in perpetuity, all the land along the Grand River six miles deep on each side of the river from its source to Lake Erie. The Indians, led by Joseph Brant, had the land surveyed in 1791 and divided into Indian Reserve lands as well as large tracts which they intended to sell to land developers. One such developer was the Honourable William Dickson who, in 1816, came into sole possession of 90,000 acres of land along the Grand River which later made up North and South Dumfries Townships. It was Mr. Dickson's intention to divide the...

In 1784 the British Crown granted to the Six Nations Indians, in perpetuity, all the land along the Grand River six miles deep on each side of the river from its source to Lake Erie. The Indians, led by Joseph Brant, had the land surveyed in 1791 and divided into Indian Reserve lands as well as large tracts which they intended to sell to land developers. One such developer was the Honourable William Dickson who, in 1816, came into sole possession of 90,000 acres of land along the Grand River which later made up North and South Dumfries Townships. Mr. Dickson's intention was to divide the land...

John Erb, the founder of Preston, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a Mennonite of Swiss ancestry. He came to Upper Canada in 1805, acquired 7,500 acres of land from the German Land Company and settled on the site of Preston where the Grand and Speed Rivers meet. He built a sawmill and a gristmill and the community grew around them. The town was originally known as "Cambridge Mills" and was later renamed after Preston, England. Preston's location on the Great Road into the interior of the province made it a natural stop for travellers and with its eight hotels and taverns attracted...

Blair Village The Bowman and Bechtel families are credited with starting the development of the village of Blair. Joseph Bowman built the first dam in the village, located on Bowman Creek, and erected the area's first sawmill, the first industrial enterprise in the village. Henry Bechtel built the Durham Flour Mill in the early 1830s. Blair Village became part of Preston in 1969 and became part of Cambridge in 1973. Hespeler This area was originally part of the land granted to the Six Nations Indians by the British Crown in 1784. The Indians led by Joseph Brant sold part of their block of...

Kitchener is located in Southwestern Ontario in the Grand River Valley. The settlement's first name, Sand Hills, is an accurate description of the higher points of the Waterloo Moraine which snakes its way through the region and holds a significant quantity of artesian wells from which the city derives most of its drinking water. In 1784, the land that Kitchener was built upon was an area of 240,000 hectares of land given to the Six Nations by the British as a gift for their allegiance during the American Revolution. The Six Nations sold 38,000 hectares of this land to Loyalist Colonel...

Simcoe is a town in Southwestern Ontario located near Lake Erie at the junction of Highways 3 and 24, south of Brantford. From Hamilton take Highway 6 to Simcoe. Simcoe was founded in 1795 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe. He gave a grant to Aaron Culver, one of the earliest settlers, with the condition that he was to build mills. In 1801 he built a saw mill and a few years later added a grist mill. The combined operation known as Union Mill was instrumental in the development of Simcoe. By 1812 a hamlet had grown up around the mills. The mills were burnt and the adjacent houses...

John Corbit acquired land in the area in 1829 and is one of the earliest settlers. Spring Brook (also called Mill Creek), a tributary of the Credit River, provided water for power for several mills located downstream. Seneca Ketchum and George Grigg arrived soon after. By 1844 when Orange Lawrence and his wife Sarah arrived from Connecticut, a well-established community called Grigg's Mill existed beside Mill Creek. Orange Lawrence helped to develop the community, laying out the southeast part of town; he opened a general store and a tavern, built a second mill, founded the first school, and...

Settlement of Melancthon Township began in the late 1840s at the time of the construction of the Toronto-Sydenham Road. By the 1860s settlers had moved into the Shelburne area and in 1865 William Jelly, one of the community's earliest inhabitants, opened the British Canadian Hotel commonly known as Jelly's Tavern. Within a year, the settlement included a post office named Shelburne, after the Earl of Shelburne of Ireland. In 1872, William and his brother John surveyed a village plot in anticipation of the arrival of the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway. Rapid economic growth followed....

Caledon The County of Peel was created in 1805 following the purchase by the British Crown of the southern part of the Mississauga Tract on the shore of Lake Ontario. Surveyed in 1818-1819, the townships of Albion, Caledon and Chinguacousy were opened for settlement in 1820. Early settlements in the townships developed around water-powered mill sites on the Credit and Humber rivers, and at various crossroads. The arrival of the Toronto Grey & Bruce, Hamilton & Northwestern and Credit Valley railways in the 1870s spurred further settlements at various junctions. Development was also influenced...