Laura Secord Legacy Trail is a 32-kilometer (20 mile) trail as a monument to Laura Secord's journey and legacy. It includes the Laura Secord Commemorative Walk that was established in 2013. Secord embarked on a journey in June 1813 during the War of 1812 from the Secord Homestead in Queenston, Niagara-on-the-Lake [1] to deliver a message on 22 June 1813 to Lt. James FitzGibbon at the DeCew House in Thorold, Ontario. [1] [2]
During the War of 1812, Laura Secord's husband was wounded, yet she left him and their six children to travel to Thorold to spread the word of an impending attack by Americans. [3] She took the journey on 22 June 1813 through the "war-ravaged countryside" to notify Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon of approaching troops from the United States. [4] As a result, British troops and the Kahnawake Mohawk were able to resist the invasion and defeat the Americans during the Battle of Beaver Dams (24 June 1813). [4] [5]
The trail, located along the CanadaWide Great Trail, [3] can be hiked in five stages along modern sidewalks, footpaths, bridges, and ancient forested trails of Indigenous peoples. [1] [6] A 20–metre pedestrian bridge was built at Twelve Mile Creek and completed by June 22, 2013, the 200-year anniversary of Secord's journey. [4]
Interpretive signs are placed along the trail, [6] which is divided into five stages: [1] [3]
Caroline McCormick, the three times great granddaughter of Secord, initiated and has been involved in the trail and walk, as well as the Friends of Laura Secord group. [3] [4] She began her efforts in 2010 when she realized that there were no plans to honor Secord in the upcoming bicentennial commemorations of the War of 1812. [4] The trail was reconstructed based upon input from Alun Hughes, a cartographer and historian at Brock University. Students from the geospatial information systems (GIS) program at Niagara College helped map the trails based upon information of Secord's journey supplied by Hughes. [4] A walk is held every June. [4]
The trail overlaps with the Bruce Trail in the eastern part of the trail. [7]
Murals along the Welland Canal Trail in Thorold recognize the contributions of Canadians, like Laura Secord. It was created in 2005 by artist Shawn Reimer and volunteers from the community and it is the largest string of murals in the country, totally over 1800 square metres. [8] The mural of Secord depicts her crossing the Twenty Mile Creek, meeting with Native Americans, and informing FitzGibbon of the news. [8] The Welland Trail, a 45 kilometre trail from St Catharines to Port Colborne on Lake Erie, parallels the Welland Canal. [9]
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of 96.13 square kilometres (37.12 sq mi), 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Catharinites. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails.
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750.
Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks.
Laura Secord was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked 20 miles (32 km) out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack. Her contribution to the war was little known during her lifetime, but since her death she has been frequently honoured in Canada. Though Laura Secord had no relation to it, most Canadians associate her with the Laura Secord Chocolates company, named after her on the centennial of her walk.
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The peninsula is located in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, and has a population of roughly 1,000,000 residents. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
King's Highway 58, commonly referred to as Highway 58, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route is divided into two segments with a combined length of 15.5 km (9.6 mi). The southern segment travels from Niagara Regional Road 3, formerly Highway 3, in Port Colborne, to the Highway 58A junction in the southern end of Welland, a distance of 7.2 km (4.5 mi). The northern segment begins at Highway 20 near Allanburg and travels north and west to a large junction with Highway 406 at the St. Catharines – Thorold boundary, a distance of 8.3 km (5.2 mi). An 18.1 km (11.2 mi) gap separates the two segments within Welland and Pelham. The entire route is located within the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the eponymous Queenston Heights on the Niagara Escarpment led to the establishment of the Queenston Quarry in the area. Across the river and the Canada–US border is the village of Lewiston, New York. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge links the two communities. This village is at the point where the Niagara River began eroding the Niagara Escarpment. During the ensuing 12,000 years the Falls cut an 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long gorge in the Escarpment southward to its present-day position.
Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Battle of Beaver Dams took place on 24 June 1813, during the War of 1812. A column of troops from the United States Army marched from Fort George and attempted to surprise a British outpost at Beaver Dams, billeting themselves overnight in the village of Queenston, Ontario. Laura Secord, a resident of Queenston, had earlier learned of the American plans from several Americans billeted at her house and had struck out on a long and difficult trek to warn the British at Decou's stone house near present-day Brock University. When the Americans resumed their march, they were ambushed by Kahnawake and other native warriors and eventually surrendered to a small British detachment led by Lieutenant James FitzGibbon. About 600 U.S. troops, including their wounded commander, were taken prisoner.
Niagara Centre is a federal electoral district in the Niagara Region of Ontario that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1988 and since 1997.
Lake Gibson is a lake near Thorold in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario, Canada. The lake is not natural, but rather was created as a reservoir for hydroelectric power generation at the Ontario Power Generation Decew Falls 1 and Decew Falls 2 generating stations. The lake was created by flooding the shallow valley of Beaverdams Creek. Lake Moodie is located to the northwest of Lake Gibson and is a smaller segment of the overall Lake Gibson system. Almost all of the water supply to these lakes comes from Lake Erie via the Welland Canal. The lakes form part of the Twelve Mile Creek watershed.
The Niagara Parks Commission, commonly shortened to Niagara Parks, is an agency of the Government of Ontario which maintains the Ontario shoreline of the Niagara River.
William Hamilton Merritt was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settled in Upper Canada. Merritt fought in the War of 1812, was captured by the invading American forces, and held as a prisoner of war. After the war, he returned to the Niagara region and began a career in business. He was one of the founders of the Welland Canal. He was a supporter of the Abolitionist cause to end slavery in the U.S., and of the settlement of escaped slaves in St. Catharines.
Effingham is a hamlet on 12 Mile Creek, in the northern part of the Town of Pelham in Ontario, Canada. Located on the Niagara Escarpment, it has few roads which wind through the Escarpment's forests.
The Welland Canal has gone through many incarnations in its history. Today, five distinct canal-construction efforts are recognized. The retronym First Welland Canal is applied to the original canal, constructed from 1824 to 1829 and 1831 to 1833.
Twelve Mile Creek is a waterway located on the Niagara Peninsula in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. Its headwaters are located in the town of Pelham, encompassing some of the most unspoiled and natural areas of Niagara area. The creek's lower reaches flow through urban areas of Thorold and St. Catharines and has been heavily altered by human activity for almost two centuries. The creek was first known as "Ashquasing" by the Mississaugas Indigenous people, the name meaning "that which lies at the end" in the Anishinaabe language.
John DeCew (1766–1855), was a United Empire Loyalist, an early settler in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada, a commissioned militia officer in the War of 1812, and a founding member of the Welland Canal Company.
DeCew House was built c.1808 in Thorold Township, Upper Canada. The two-story house had limestone walls 66 centimetres (26 in) thick.
Morningstar Mill is a 2.98-acre (1.21 ha) heritage site located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The site includes the Morningstar Mill, a sawmill, the home of the Morningstar family, a barn used for blacksmith demonstrations, and the Decew Falls gorge along the Niagara Escarpment.
She remains an iconic figure who, perhaps more than anyone, represents the quiet determination and exceptional resolve of ordinary citizens to preserve and protect the values central to Canadian society that we enjoy today
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