Memorial Park

Memorial Park. The River. , The Credit River begins near Orangeville, 60 kilometres north of Port Credit. As it passes through the City of Mississauga it is sometimes hidden behind shopping centres and housing estates. At Port Credit it flows through a marsh before emptying into Lake Ontario., The landscape along Lake Ontario has changed dramatically since Port Credit was founded. Nineteenth century maps identify some lots close to the lakeshore where the very tall trees were reserved for the British Navy for use as ships masts. Here some of the pines. were reportedly 7-11 feet in diameter and 60-70 feet tall. Early settlers used the river to float logs down from the interior to be cut into lumber. As forests were cleared for farms, the local timber industry declined. Mill dams were built across the river upstream, which prevented the floating of logs and severely curtailed fish spawning in the river. These water-powered mills provided farmers with a way to process their grain. The closest mill to Port Credit was at Springfield (Erindale) near the modern intersection of Dundas Street and Mississauga Road. By 1825 a saw and grist mill had been built at Erindale., Floods were frequent in the nineteenth century, as settlers cut down forest. This caused the rainwater to wash the soil away and not soak into the ground. The storm on September 13, 1878 and Hurricane Hazel in October 1954 produced the most disastrous floods for Port Credit., Until the 1940s, the mouth of the Credit was a large marsh. This wide, flat expanse of water made wonderful skating rinks in the winter. The last of the marsh below the railway was filled in the 1950s to make the park you are now standing in. ,