Waterdown is a town in Canada which since 2001 has been a community of Hamilton, Ontario.
On January 1, 2001 the new city of Hamilton was formed from the amalgamation of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth and its six municipalities: Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook, and Stoney Creek. Before amalgamation, the "old" City of Hamilton had 331,121 Hamiltonians divided into 100 neighbourhoods. The new amalgamated city has 490,268 people in over 200 neighbourhoods.[1]
Waterdown was created from that part of East Flamborough Township on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, just east of the junction of King's Highways Nos. 5 and 6. That intersection is known as Clappison's Corners, but continuous residential and commercial buildings between the two communities make it difficult to see any difference.
Community institutions include:
In 1974, it was amalgamated with East Flamborough, West Flamborough and Beverly townships to form the Town of Flamborough in the newly minted Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth. In 2001, Hamilton-Wentworth and all its former municipal federation members were abolished and replaced by an amalgamated City of Hamilton.
Waterdown is expanding greatly, with the recent addition of a YMCA, several commercial establishments and the arrival of young scholar Shaun Wallach. Because of the approval of new homes in Waterdown – at least 6,500 more houses in the near future – there are ongoing discussions regarding the planned $50 million 'Waterdown By-Pass', which would allow for easier access across the city. Waterdown population growth was approximately 28.9% over the years 1996 and 2001.
Waterdown District High School (WDHS) has faced an enrollment crisis and has recently voted to expand its facilities.
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Perched atop the escarpment, the area that became Waterdown has been inhabited for centuries. Professor John Triggs of Wilfrid Laurier University found evidence of Algonquin-speaking Aboriginals from as far back as 7,500 BCE.[2] One of the earliest known groups to inhabit the area was the Neutral First Nation (a name coined by Samuel Champlain because they did not take sides in the conflicts between the Huron and Iroquois Confederacy). By the early 1600s, the a powerful chief named Souharissen united the Neutral First Nations for a short 37 years.[3] Diseases introduced by French explorers and missionaries devastated Souharissen's realm, allowing it to be consumed by the violent Huron-Iroquois War of 1650. The area was virtually empty by 1653.
Since it was now empty the Anishinabe People moved in to thinly settle the region.
1669 saw French explorer Robert de la Salle follow Spencer Creek (from Lake Ontario) up toward present-day Westover and the native settlement of Tinawatawa. It was here that la Salle met up with another French explorer, M. Louis Joilet. Some historians think this meeting happened along the shores of Lake Medad (northeast of present-day Waterdown, beside Hidden Lake Golf Club).[4]
After the fall of New France the region changed dramatically. The Anishinabe forged an alliance with the British Crown that was reaffirmed by King George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763. Politically, the region became part of the Province of Quebec that was created by the British.
The area remained largely unaffected until the American Revolution unleashed a flood of Loyalists fleeing the American republic. Access was largely restricted to water, so the first settlements were along the coast of Lake Ontario. To facilitate the English-speaking settlers, the Province of Quebec was broken into Upper and Lower Canada with Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe as the first representative of the Crown for Upper Canada. It was John Graves Simcoe that was walking along the beach strip of Hamilton that looked up at the escarpment and named its northern arm around Burlington Bay "Flamborough" because it reminded him of Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, England.
The Flamborough area was ceded to the Crown by treaty with the Anishinabeg on May 22nd, 1784. The frontline of the new township was laid out by John Collins in 1790 with further surveys conducted through to 1797. Originally meant to be the Township of Flamborough, it was broken into the separate entities of East Flamborough and West Flamborough in 1798. Today Waterdown is the largest settlement in the former township of East Flamborough.[5]
One of the first land grants in the area was to Lt. Alexander MacDonell of Butler's Rangers. MacDonell never visited the area, but ended up selling 800 acres to Alexander Brown of the North West Fur Company in 1802. Brown built a log cabin and sawmill at the top of the Great Falls in present-day Smokey Hollow in 1805, making him the first European settler in the region. Alexander Brown married Merren Grierson and was a key figure in the community until his death in 1852. Eventually moving down Grindstone Creek to the site of present-day LaSalle Park, Brown built a wharf (called "Brown's Wharf" or "Port Flamboro") to export the many things being created by the mills that quickly sprung up in the Waterdow-area.[6] It was Alexander Brown that built the first school of the village (on the site of the present-day American House) in 1815, employing Mary Hopkins as its first teacher.
Reprinted from Heritage Papers no. 54 & 55 of The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society:
In 1978 the former East Flamborough Township Hall on Mill Street North underwent extensive renovations. During this work to the interior, an elevator was installed to enable wheelchairs and senior citizens to visit the second floor. Ever since the installation the elevator has taken unexplained trips on its own. In the beginning, the library staff thought there was something wrong, so the elevator company who had been responsible for the installation was requested to examine the machinery. But both the manufacturers and the inspectors reported that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the wiring or mechanics of the elevator . . .
The two white marble tombstones [mounted next to the elevator] commemorate Alexander Brown and his wife Merren Grierson. The actual wording on the monument to Merren Grierson reveals an error that may explain why these stones are not in the Union Cemetery of Waterdown. The spelling of her Christian name is given as Merion rather than Merren.
The two library monuments, almost certainly the first stones to be engraved, were "discovered" on Sunday, May 21st, 1978, by Mr. & Mrs. William R. Donkin while out for an evening stroll. The couple noticed the headstones on a Nelson Street property that was being prepared for the construction of four new homes. Originally this property had been the home of John Burkholder, caretaker of Waterdown Union Cemetery. The lettering on in inscriptions was still legible, probably because the stones had been laid face down to form a sidewalk to the outhouse on the Burkholder property. How the stones arrived on the Nelson Street property may never be known, possibly Mr. Burkholder rescued them when they were replaced by the present monument to the Brown family. On the following day the Donkins happened to meet Mrs. Ellene Kennedy on Main Street and told her about their discovery. Fascinated by this news, Mrs. Kennedy went to the Flamborough Review Office and asked John Bosveld, the Editor and Publisher, if his two sons could collect the two old tombstones in their van and take them to the Municipal Offices for safekeeping.
The tombstones stayed at the Municipal Offices for several months. During this time, arrangements were made by the Waterdown Centennial Committee and The Waterdown-East Flamborough Society . . . to have them placed on an interior wall of the Former East Flamborough Township Hall . . .''
People believe it is the ghost of Merren Grierson that haunts the library - brought there by the tombstone that displays her mispelt name - and countless village residents have stories of strange elevator rides and other happenings in the library.
It was the arrival of entrepreneur Ebenezer Culver Griffin in 1823, purchasing over half of Alexander Brown's property, that marked the true beginning of the Village of Waterdown. It was Griffin that had his property surveyed into village lots in 1830.
A local story credits Ebenezer Griffin with giving Waterdown its name. A prohibitionist, Griffin did not approve of the vast quantities of alcohol being consumed during the Victorian Age, including the whiskey used to christened new mills. During the christening of one of Griffin's mills the carpenter called out for its name and someone in the crowd called out "Hey Ebenezer, throw that water down." The carpenter heard the name "Waterdown" and it was given to the mill and soon adopted by the emerging village.[7] It is important to note that Alexander Brown did not share Griffin's displeasure of alcohol.
Waterdown was born out of the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to the plan drawn up by Ebenezer Griffin, settlers and industrialists rooted themselves in village life. Mills grew along the banks of Grindstone Creek (especially in the area known as Smokey Hollow - given this name because of all the smog caused by the many complexes) as individuals like William P. Howland arrived to make their fortune. By 1879 the settlement was severed from the Township of East Flamborough and incorporated as a Village in its own right with quarrier Charles Sealey as its first reeve. Waterdown remained its own municipality until it was absorbed into the Township of Flamborough in 1974.
Months before Waterdown's amalgamation into Hamilton, the residents of the town were heavily contesting Premier Mike Harris' push to include Waterdown into Hamilton. Due to Waterdown's location as a sandwich town, resting between Burlington and Hamilton, residents argued that Hamilton would not extend the services the city residents get out to Waterdown, such as bus routes. Along with this, Burlington had expressed some interest in amalgamating the town into its city – this idea was favoured by the Waterdown residents due to a collection of issues:
However, despite the residents' attempts to sway the Conservative Ontario government otherwise, Waterdown was amalgamated into Hamilton. This prompted the elected MPP at the time, Conservative Toni Skarica, to resign from his position – which shocked many, mostly because he ran (and won) on the platform of keeping the town unamalgamated, and vowed to resign if the Conservatives amalgamated with Hamilton. He gained a brief local celebrity status during that time because of his surprising honesty. As of 2006, Toni is employed as an Assistant Crown Attorney serving Hamilton.[8]
Waterdown, and its associated Great Falls, (also called Grindstone Falls, so named for the creek that feeds it, or Smokey Hollow Falls, so named for the smoke rising from the hollow from the mills, or Barnes' Falls, named after the Barnes family who owned the property until 1978), are located on the local portion of the Bruce Trail System in Ontario. Many national and regionally rare flora species grow in the natural areas of Waterdown.
The Smokey Hollow falls originally powered a sawmill and gristmill when the town was founded, and later a number of other small mills, and as a result of demand on the limited water supply, time shared the water. The last operating mill ceased operation in 1912. Today, only remote foundation ruins of the mills remain, although a lookout over the falls and a signboard detailing the history of the area is in place.[9]
Furthermore, Waterdown also has many wetland trails in the eastern end of town which are well marked and have informational signage.[10]
Tourists may come to Waterdown in October and November to visit the Rotary Haunted House which has been in operation for 16 years (as of 2008). Until 2006 this haunted house was operated by the Rotary Club of Waterdown, and is now operated by the Rotary Club of Hamilton.
Also of interest are several historical buildings which remain from the founding of the town, these include the American House, the library, the Rotary (originally the town hall), and several private residences.
Waterdown is also home to local community institutions such as Pickwick Books, Red Sky Design, Waterdown Cycle and the Waterdown Legion.
Waterdown is also home to a hockey arena, North Wentworth Community Centre & Arena, which is home of the Flamborough Hockey Association.[11][12]
Joseph Sams - a noted public figure, municipal court judge and philanthropist, "Joe Sams" park has been named in his honour.