The Court House, a Shaw Festival theatre and Parks Canada headquarters of Niagara National Historic Sites, built in 1847.St. Mark's Church, built in 1809, founded in 1791
Niagara-on-the-Lake is important in the history of Canada: it served as the first capital of the province of Upper Canada, the predecessor of Ontario. It was called Newark from 1792 to 1797. During the War of 1812, the town, the two former villages of St. David's and Queenston, and Fort George were the sites of numerous battles following the American invasion of Upper Canada, and the town was razed. Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to the oldest Catholic church, the second-oldest Anglican church in Ontario, and the oldest surviving golf course in North America.
Today, Niagara-on-the-Lake draws tourists with its colonial-style buildings, the Shaw Festival, Fort George, wineries, an outlet mall on the highway, and its proximity to Niagara Falls.[4] The Niagara Region has the second-highest percentage of seniors in Ontario.[5]
History
Before the British settlers came, the point where Fort Mississauga is situated was inhabited by at least three Native American tribes: the Neutral (15th century); Seneca (late 17th century); and Mississauga (18th century).[citation needed]
The settlement was founded in 1781 as Butlersburg in honour of Colonel John Butler, the commander of Butler's Rangers. It was later renamed West Niagara to distinguish it from Fort Niagara.[6] It was a British military base and haven for pro-British loyalists fleeing the United States during the volatile aftermath of the American Revolution.[7] Renamed Newark by Lieutenant-GovernorJohn Graves Simcoe in 1792, it was the first capital of Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario). The Upper Canada legislature first met at Navy Hall on September 17, 1792, and met there four more times until June 1796.[7][8] In 1797, Simcoe moved the capital to York because Newark was very close to the border with the U.S. Newark was renamed Niagara in 1798.[6]
McFarland House, c.1800Niagara lodge 2, built in 1816McDougal-Harrison, built in 1820
Fort George was built just south of the settlement in 1796-1799. During the War of 1812, Niagara was taken in the Battle of Fort George by American forces in May 1813 after a two-day bombardment by cannon from Fort Niagara and the American fleet, followed by a fierce battle. After capturing Fort George, the Americans built their own fortifications there. The British retook the fort in December 1813 but abandoned it in 1815. The tiny portion of the fort that still remains has been fully restored.[9]Fort Mississauga was built starting in 1813 but was not completed until after the war in 1816. During the war, the settlement of Niagara was razed and burnt to the ground by American soldiers as they withdrew to Fort Niagara. (Afterwards, on December 19, 1813, the British captured Fort Niagara.)[10] The citizens rebuilt Niagara after the war, with the residential quarter around Queen Street and toward King Street, where the new court house was rebuilt out of range of Fort Niagara's cannons.[7]
The Smith's Canadian Gazetteer of 1846 describes "Niagara (formerly called Newark)" as follows:
It has been a place of considerable trade. On the east side of the town is a large military reserve. About half a mile up the river are the ruins of Fort George, where the remains of General Brock were originally interred; they were removed. A new town-hall and court-house are intended to be erected by the town. There is a fire brigade with two engines and a hook and ladder company. Churches and chapels total five. Two newspapers are published weekly ... Steamboats run daily, as long as the weather will allow of it, from Toronto ... The Niagara Harbour and Dock Company were incorporated in the year 1830 ... the vessels turned out by the Company [include] the steamboat "London," which commenced running in the spring of 1845, the fastest boat on the upper lakes ... The Company usually employ about 150 hands; and, when particularly busy, have employed as many as 350. There is also on the premises a marine railway, large enough for hauling up vessels of the first class. Post Office, post every day. Professions and Trades.—Three physicians and surgeons, nine lawyers, twelve stores, taverns, two chemists and druggists, three booksellers and stationers, two saddlers, four wagon makers, two watchmakers, two tallow-chandlers, marble works, two printers, two cabinet makers, one hatter, four bakers, two livery stables, two tinsmiths, three blacksmiths, six tailors, seven shoemakers, one tobacconist, one bank agency, ... large quantities of apples, peaches, and cider are shipped annually.[11]
In 1859, the town built its first public school, Niagara Public School.[12] The town's present name of Niagara-on-the-Lake was adopted around 1880 as a postal address to distinguish the town from Niagara Falls. The name was officially adopted in 1970 when the Town of Niagara and the Township of Niagara merged.[7]
Historic sites
Most of the former military sites, such as Fort George, Navy Hall, and Butler's Barracks, have been restored. Fort George's restoration was done as a "Make Work Project," guided by plans from the Royal Engineers during the Great Depression of the 1930s, an early example of historic preservation. Fort George National Historic Site is a focal point in a collection of War of 1812 sites, which, collectively, are managed by Parks Canada under the name Niagara National Historic Sites. That administrative name includes several national historic sites: Fort Mississauga, Mississauga Point Lighthouse (1804, the first on the Great Lakes), Navy Hall, Butler's Barracks, and Queenston Heights.
Fort MississaugaCenotaph and clock tower
Niagara-on-the-Lake features historical plaques.[13] Critical battles in defence of Upper Canada took place here, and at nearby at Queenston and St. David's, both now part of Niagara-on-the-Lake. In one of these, Laura Secord gained her fame (She is known for having walked 32 km out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack).[clarification needed] The town was both as a stop on the Underground Railroad for those travelling further into Upper Canada and as a refuge in its own right.
The Gate House, built after 1849, was the site of the former Wilson's Hotel and the inaugural meeting of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1797. John "Irish John Wilson (1744-~1798) was a sergeant with the Butler's Rangers and Loyalist from New Jersey.[32][33] The stone foundation of the Gate House is the remains of the hotel after 1849 fire. His son John Wilson Jr. built the nearby Wilson-Guy House.[32]
Other historic sites include the Old Court House Theatre, built in 1847; Queen's Royal Park, the site of the former Queen's Royal Hotel;[34]St. Mark's Church, the oldest Anglican Church in Ontario after the Mohawk Chapel; St. Vincent de Paul, the oldest Catholic Church in Ontario; the McFarland House, the oldest building in town; the Niagara Public School, built in 1859; and the Niagara Golf Club, the oldest golf course in North America still in use.
It is the only municipality in Canada whose elected leader is designated as lord mayor, a title most common in the United Kingdom.[3] Popular legend suggests Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn bestowed the title on the mayor of Niagara during a visit to the town in the early 19th century, in recognition of the town's history as the first capital of Upper Canada;[3] however, there is no record of a mayor using it until Jerry Mussen in the early 1920s, and even afterward the title was used only irregularly until the Regional Municipality of Niagara Act of 1969 legislated that "The mayor of the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake shall be known as the Lord Mayor."[3] The town's current lord mayor is Gary Zalepa, as of the 2022 municipal election.[35] Previous lord mayors have included Betty Disero, Patrick Darte, Dave Eke, Gary Burroughs, Art Viola, Mike Dietsch, Stan Ignatczyk, Jim Marino, Wilbert Dick, Jake Froese and Fred Goring.[3]
Climate
Niagara-on-the-Lake experiences a humid continental climate (KöppenDfb bordering on Dfa) using the 0°C (32°F) isotherm but also borders an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) using the −3°C (27°F) isotherm, having four seasons, with warm summers, cold winters, and cool to mild autumns and springs. Snowfall is moderate, averaging around 3 feet (92cm) per year, one of the lowest yearly snowfall totals received in all of Ontario. A long shoreline along Lake Ontario results in more moderate temperatures than neighbouring cities, as well as seasonal lag.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake had a population of 19,088 living in 7,857 of its 8,578 total private dwellings, a change of 9% from its 2016 population of 17,511. With a land area of 131.35km2 (50.71sqmi), it had a population density of 145.3/km2 (376.4/sqmi) in 2021.[37]
Communities
Queenston, c.1805, by Army surgeon Edward WalshBrock's Monument at Queenston Heights, Ontario
In addition to the primary town site of Niagara-on-the-Lake (the Old Town), the town also includes the settlements of Colemans, Homer, McNab, Mississauga Beach, Queenston, St. Davids, and Virgil.[38] In June 2024, the museum for the town received funding from Library and Archives Canada to document oral histories about the Mennonite community in Virgil.[39]
Glendale is located near the junction of the Queen Elizabeth Way QEW, Highway 405, and Highway 55, and adjacent to the Welland Canal. It is home to the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus of Niagara College and a large outdoor shopping mall.
Virgil, just southwest of the Old Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, is the area most visited by tourists. The community has a large Mennonite community, who settled in the area from Russia in the early to mid-20th century. Virgil has a large sports park, serving as the centre of Niagara-on-the-Lake's bustling hockey, softball, lacrosse and soccer leagues, two arenas, three baseball diamonds and a skate park. Once a year, on the Victoria Day weekend in May, the community holds its "Virgil Stampede." The festival includes rides, attractions and its annual soccer start-up tournament. Virgil's educational institutions are St. Michael's Elementary School and Crossroads Public School, which opened in September 2011, amalgamating the now-closed Virgil and Colonel John Butler Public Schools. The town's only secondary school, Niagara District, was closed by the District School Board of Niagara in 2010.
The Old Town also had an elementary school on King Street: Parliament Oak Public School. It was on the site of the signing of the Act Against Slavery of 1793, by the first legislative session of the parliament of Upper Canada.[40] The school was closed on June 25, 2015.[41]
St. Davids Public School serves Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 students in the southern part of the municipality.
St. Michael Catholic Elementary School serves Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 students in the southern part of the municipality.
Crossroads Elementary School serves Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 students in the northern part of the municipality.
High school students now take a bus to Laura Secord in St. Catharines or to A.N. Myer in Niagara Falls.
Economy
Tourism
Niagara-on-the-Lake beach, 2021
The town is home to the Shaw Festival, Canada's second largest producing theatre and a repertory company featuring the works of George Bernard Shaw, his contemporaries, or plays about his era (1856–1950), running from April to December. The festival operates four theatres in the centre of town: the Festival, The Jackie Maxwell Studio, The Royal George, and the Court House Theatre. The Festival produces over 750 performances annually, featuring its lauded repertory ensemble and employs over 520 artists, artisans and artsworkers locally.
Along the Niagara Parkway is RiverBrink Art Museum in Queenston. It is home to a collection of over 1,400 artworks and artifacts by Canadian and international artists assembled by Samuel E. Weir. Completed in 1970, the building features Georgian-style architecture, including a mansard roof and gabled windows. It served as Weir's country residence and was converted into an art museum following his death in 1981.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to many shops, restaurants, wineries, and a growing number of breweries. Historic Old Town is a popular shopping and dining destination. In 2014, Niagara-on-the-Lake also opened an open-air outlet mall, the Outlet Collection at Niagara, which is Canada's largest open-air outlet mall.
Niagara-on-the-Lake has a long history of recreational boating. There are 2 boat clubs located there. Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club is located at 10 Melville Street, Niagara-On-The-Lake. [46] Smuggler's Cove Boat Club is located at 16001 Niagara River Parkway, Niagara-On-The-Lake. [47]
The current team was first registered as Toronto Predators from 2013 to 2020 and relocated after the cancelled 2020-2021 season to NOTL to playoff in the Meridian Credit Union arena located in Virgil.
The team replaced the Niagara-on-the-Lake Nationals, which joined as a Junior A team in 2018-2019 sponsored by the local bar Bricks and Barley.[48] The Nationals left the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League[49] but announced that the team would fold after their first season due to poor attendance, but returned to play the following season.
The Predators play at the 500 seat Meridian Credit Union Arena across from Centennial Sports Park. Built in 2003-2005 the rink has seating and attached to the smaller Centennial Arena built in 1967.[50]
Niagara-on-the-Lake also has a Men's soccer team, the Lakers, which plays in the Peninsula Soccer League (PSL). The team was formed in the 2019 season and sponsored by a local bar, Sand Trap.
Niagara-on-the-Lake also has a rich history in the sport of lacrosse.
Awards and recognition
The Town of Niagara was the site of the 8th World Scout Jamboree in 1955. Over 11,000 Scouts from 71 countries attended the Jamboree. It was the first to be held outside Europe and had the theme "Jamboree of New Horizons." Niagara-on-the-Lake was named the Prettiest Town in Canada in 1996 by Communities in Bloom, a nationwide beautification programme.[51] The town is now a popular tourist destination, located at the northern terminus of the Niagara Parkway, a scenic drive and biking/walking path.
The Battle of Lundy's Lane, also known as the Battle of Niagara or contemporarily as the Battle of Bridgewater, was fought on 25 July 1814, during the War of 1812, between an invading American army and a British and Canadian army near present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and one of the deadliest battles fought in Canada, with approximately 1,720 casualties including 258 killed.
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.
Old Fort Erie, also known as Fort Erie, or the Fort Erie National Historic Site of Canada, was the first British fort to be constructed as part of a network developed after the Seven Years' War was concluded by the Treaty of Paris (1763), at which time France ceded its territories east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. The installation is located on the southern edge of what is now the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario, directly across the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York, United States.
The Queenston Heights is a geographical feature of the Niagara Escarpment immediately above the village of Queenston, Ontario, Canada. Its geography is a promontory formed where the escarpment is divided by the Niagara River. The promontory forms a cliff face of approximately 100 m.
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.
Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the Jeffersonian American Republic Army for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1812. The site of the fort has been a National Historic Site of Canada since 1921, and features a reconstruction of Fort George.
The Battle of Fort George was fought during the War of 1812, in which the Americans defeated a British force and captured Fort George in Upper Canada. The troops of the United States Army and vessels of the United States Navy cooperated in a very successful amphibious assault, although most of the opposing British force escaped encirclement.
Navy Hall is a wooden structure encased within a stone structure that was the site of Upper Canada's (Ontario's) first provincial parliament, from 1792 to 1796. It is a unit of Fort George National Historic Site located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, then known as Newark, Upper Canada. It sits on Ricardo Street near the shore of the Niagara River, near Fort George, and across the river from Fort Niagara.
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.
The Niagara Parkway, formerly known as Niagara Boulevard and historically as the Niagara Road, is a scenic road in the province of Ontario that travels on the Canadian side of the Niagara River from the town of Fort Erie to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The portion north of Table Rock in the city of Niagara Falls is designated as an Ontario Scenic Highway. Niagara Boulevard originally referred only to the section from Fort Erie to Chippawa.
King's Highway 55, commonly referred to as Highway 55 and historically as the Niagara Stone Road and Black Swamp Road, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, which connected the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) with Niagara-on-the-Lake, following Niagara Stone Road. The route divided a swath of wineries at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment, passing at an oblique angle to the concession road grid.
Niagara District Secondary School (NDSS) was a public secondary school located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Butler's Barracks was the home of Loyalist military officer John Butler (1728–1796), in what was then Newark, Upper Canada; present day Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Butler is most famous for leading an irregular military unit known as Butler's Rangers on the northern frontier during the American Revolutionary War.
Fort Mississauga National Historic Site is a fort on the shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort today consists of a box–shaped brick tower and historic star–shaped earthworks. The all–brick fort was built from 1814–1816 during the War of 1812, to replace nearby Fort George. It was built on a foundation of brick and stone salvaged from rubble left after retreating United States forces burned the nearby town of Newark in December, 1813. It would help in the defence of Upper Canada the following year, as part of a regional network that included Fort George, Navy Hall, and Butler's Barracks. However, the fort would not be completed until after the war.
Willowbank is a mansion in Queenston, Ontario, Canada.
The Erie and Ontario Railway was a railroad in Canada built between 1831 and 1841 to connect the towns of Queenston and Chippawa, Ontario. It was initially built as a horse-drawn railroad with wooden rails, and a gauge of 5 ft 6 in. Established in 1831, the company constructed the first railroad in Ontario.
The Brown Homestead is a designated heritage property located on 1317 Pelham Road, St. Catharines, Ontario. The dwelling is an example of Loyalist Georgian architecture. It is the oldest residence remaining in the city, as it was first constructed in 1796. The Brown Homestead was expanded through an addition completed in 1802. At the time of construction, Pelham Road was a stagecouch route.
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