Dunnville in Haldimand in Haldimand County, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
The Founding of Dunnville
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La Fondation de Dunnville
Photographed by Tim Boyd, August 21, 2024
1. The Founding of Dunnville Marker
The construction of a dam and canal designed to feed water from the Grand River to the new Welland Canal fostered the development of a settlement here during the late 1820s. A town plot, named Dunnville after John Henry Dunn, Receiver General of Upper Canada, was laid out and following the opening of the Feeder Canal to navigation in 1829 the community thrived as a transshipment point and industrial centre. By 1832 it contained three store houses, a grist, fulling and carding mill and three saw mills. After the completion of the Second Welland Canal in 1845, Dunnville gradually lost its position as an active Lake Erie terminus for that waterway, but it continued to prosper and in 1860 assumed the status of a village.
Erected by the Ontario Heritage Foundation
Ministry of Culture and Communications
La construction d’un barrage et d’un canal pour alimenter le canal Welland à partir de la rivière Grand amorça le développement d'un hameau ici, à la fin des années 1820. On délimita un emplacement, nommé Dunnville d'après John Henry Dunn, receveur général
this page online
Érigée par le Fondation da patrimoine Ontarien,
Ministère des Affaires civiques et culturelles
Erected by Ontario Heritage Foundation.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Ontario Heritage Trust, and the The Welland Canals series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1829.
Location. 42° 54.196′ N, 79° 37.478′ W. Marker is in Haldimand, Ontario, in Haldimand County. It is in Dunnville. It is at the intersection of Main Street West and Church Street, on the left when traveling west on Main
Photographed by Tim Boyd, August 21, 2024
2. The Founding of Dunnville / La Fondation de Dunnville Marker
Regionally, this marker is in the Southwest Ontario Area and in Southwestern Ontario. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, on the Great Lakes, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in 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 19 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Royal Canadian Air Force No.6 Service Flying Training School (approx. 4.1 kilometers away); Feeder Canal and Lock (approx. 6.2 kilometers away); Commercial Fishing Industry (approx. 6.2 kilometers away); Grand River Naval Depot (approx. 6.3 kilometers away); Naval Depot Cemetery (approx. 6.3 kilometers away); Grand River Naval Depot 1815 (approx. 6.3 kilometers away); The Underground Railroad (approx. 13.1 kilometers away);
Photographed by Tim Boyd, August 21, 2024
3. The Founding of Dunnville / La Fondation de Dunnville Marker
Also see . . . The Feeder Canal and It’s Communities.
By November 1828 the main canal was almost complete — all that remained was two weeks' work on the Deep Cut that sliced through the ridge between the Welland River and Beaverdams Creek.(Submitted on August 24, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)
Then disaster struck. A deep layer of quicksand caused the banks of the Deep Cut to collapse, and it became apparent that the Welland River could not be used as a source of water as originally planned.
Since the Deep Cut could not be deepened any further water had to be brought in from a higher level. The solution was to make the Grand River the source and to convert the secondary canal into a feeder. The Grand was already at a higher elevation than the Welland, and it was proposed to raise it even further by placing a dam near its mouth. This was already under construction when objections by the commandant of the Naval Depot forced the Canal Company to relocate the dam 5 miles upstream, to the site of present-day Dunnville.
1837
4. Dunnville, showing the New Feeder Canal, 1837
Source: Brock University
Photographed by Tim Boyd, August 11, 2023
5. The Grand River at Dunnville, 2023
Credits. This page was last revised on August 25, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 24, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 539 times since then and 108 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 24, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
