Waterloo in Waterloo Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

The First Lutheran Seminary in Canada

Photographed by Tim Boyd, March 31, 2024

1. The First Lutheran Seminary in Canada Marker

Inscription. On this site stands the first Lutheran seminary in Canada. This plaque commemorates the gift of five acres of land by the Board of Trade on behalf of the citizens of Waterloo on October 30, 1911, to the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada. The Seminary formed Waterloo College in 1924 and operated it as an affiliate college of the University of Western Ontario from 1925 to 1959. In 1959 the Seminary became Waterloo Lutheran University, which operated Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and Waterloo University College. With the provincialization of Waterloo Lutheran University in 1973, University charters were granted to Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical date for this entry is October 30, 1911.

Location. 43° 28.337′ N, 80° 31.754′ W. Marker is in Waterloo, Ontario, in Waterloo Region. It is on Albert Street 0.1 kilometers north of Bricker Avenue, on the right when traveling north. The marker is best accessed from the parking lot entered from Bricker Avenue, just east of Albert Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Waterloo ON N2L 3C5, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Huron-Perth-Waterloo-Wellington Area

and in Southwestern Ontario.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Wilfrid Laurier University / Université Wilfrid Laurier (within shouting distance

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of this marker); The One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of Waterloo as a Village (approx. half a kilometer away); Abraham Erb (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Log Schoolhouse (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); The University of Waterloo (approx. 0.9 kilometers away); Dominion Life Assurance Company (approx. one kilometer away); Kuntz/ Carling/ Labatt Breweries (approx. 1.4 kilometers away); Mutual Life Head Office / Siège Social de la Mutuelle du Canada, Compagnie d'Assurance Sur la Vie (approx. 1.9 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Waterloo.

Also see . . . Wilfred Laurier University - Laurier Facilities Historical Overview.

Laurier’s beginning can be traced back to the opening of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, founded in Waterloo in 1911. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Canada was eager to establish Canada’s first seminary school for training Lutheran ministers. Though originally intended to be in Toronto, the Waterloo Board of Trade offered to purchase and donate seven acres of land on the outskirts of Waterloo. After
Photographed by Tim Boyd, March 31, 2024

2. The First Lutheran Seminary in Canada Marker
the Synod agreed, the estate of a local industrialist was purchased at the corner of Albert and Bricker Streets, with the Board of Trade purchasing and donating an adjacent property.

(Submitted on April 1, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)

Martin Luther University College (formerly Waterloo Lutheran Seminary) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Boyd, March 31, 2024

3. Martin Luther University College (formerly Waterloo Lutheran Seminary)

1911

4. Waterloo Lutheran Seminary’s first building and student body, 1911.

Source: Wilfred Laurier University (public domain image)

Credits. This page was last revised on April 10, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 1, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 132 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 1, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.