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| Settlers
| Changes
| Tourism
| Underground Railroad
| Manufacturing |
St. Catharines - History
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Settlers
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During and after the American Revolution, Loyalists who did not want
to remain subjects of the British Crown, crossed the Niagara River.
Many settles along the 12 mile creek. By 1796 a church and a tavern
were built and a man by the name of Paul Shipman enlarged this tavern
which soon became an important inn and meeting place. Eventually this
little settlement had become Shipman's Corners. Grist mills and
sawmills were established while this settlement continued to grow.
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Changes
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The war of 1812 changes teh face of Niagara drastically yet left
Shipman's Corners largely unaffected. This led to an increase in mills
and population. Among the new settlers was a man by the name of
William Hamilton Merritt, an entrepreneur, who opened several mills and
a wharf along the 12 mile creek. In 1824 Merritt created the Welland
Canal Company and in 1829 the first Welland Canal was built creating
the first navigable link between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario around the
Niagara River. Because of this new link, St. Catharines, as it is
named today, prospered with many new industry mainly shipbuilding.
This tradition is still carried on at the Dry Doks in Port Weller at
the mouth of the present (fourth) Welland Canal.
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Tourism
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When the first Welland Canal was being built, salt spring were
discovered on the banks of the creek. This caused the reputation of
the village as a health resort to grow. By 1865 there were large
luxury hotels catering to wealthy clients from Canada and the United
States. Visitors to the village could amuse themselves by attending
performances at Opera Houses and attend band concerts in Montebello
Park. In 1887 the streetcars were electrified, the first in North
America.
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The Underground Railroad
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Among the most famous visitors to St. Catharines in the 1800's was
Harriet Tubman, who conducted escaped slaves from the South to St.
Catharines via The Underground Railroad. In 1855 there were about 500
Blacks, including refugees and freed slaves among a population of
around 7000 people. The British Methodist Episcopal Church built 150
years ago still has an active congregation.
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Manufacturing Tradition
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Power was abundant in early St. Catharines, first through 12 mile creek
with its many raceways, later through many small hydro-electric
companies. The many small mills in the early history of the
settlement became manufacturing plants. The first car to be produced
in numbers in Canada, the Oldsmobile, was built in the city in 1905.
Ransom E. Olds, the founder of the REO Company which later became
General Motors, bought a hardware store in 1929 and then car
manufacturing became the leading industry in the city and continues to
be the leading manufacturing company. Another improtant industry in
the area was the manufacturing of pulp and paper along the banks of the
Canal.
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Any questions? Please E-mail
bknightw@becon.org
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