Pioneer Tower West in Kitchener in Waterloo Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Waterloo Pioneers
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Pionniers de Waterloo
Photographed by Tim Boyd, October 19, 2024
1. Waterloo Pioneers Pionniers de Waterloo Marker
Waterloo Pioneers
In the year 1800 a small number of Mennonite families arrived from Pennsylvania to settle Block 2, former Six Nations land along the Grand River. Others, mainly Mennonites, followed during the next three years until problems regarding ownership of the land curtailed the migration. Representatives were sent back to Pennsylvania to raise the money necessary to secure clear title to the land, with the result that a joint stock company was formed and 60,000 acres purchased. Pennsylvania ‘Dutch’ settlers quickly took up this land, creating the first sizeable inland settlement in Upper Canada.
En 1800, une poignée de familles mennonites de la Pennsylvanie vint s'établir sur le lot n° 2, ancien territoire des Six Nations, qui longeait la Grande Rivière. D'autres colons, pour la plupart mennonites, vinrent les retrouver au cours des trois années suivantes jusqu'à l'apparition de problèmes relatifs aux droits de propriété. Certains retournèrent lever des fonds en Pennsylvanie; l'argent permit aux colons de fonder une société par actions et d'acheter 60000 acres de terrain. Des colons de langue allemande, venants de Pennsylvanie, s'en portèrent bientôt acquéreurs et créèrent la première importante colonie intérieure du Haut-Canada.
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada.
Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada
Erected by Historic
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Historic Sites and Monuments Board series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1800.
Location. 43° 24.02′ N, 80° 24.96′ W. Marker is in Kitchener, Ontario, in Waterloo Region. It is in Pioneer Tower West. It is on Lookout Lane 0.3 kilometers south of Deer Ridge Drive, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 300 Lookout Lane, Kitchener ON N2P 2X8, 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 2 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Pioneer Tower West
Photographed by Tim Boyd, October 19, 2024
2. Waterloo Pioneers/ Pionniers de Waterloo Marker
Also see . . . Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum. Region of Waterloo Museums website entry:
Waterloo Township was originally an area of land known as Block Two of the Grand River land grant donated by the British to the Six Nations First Peoples during the late eighteenth century for their loyalty to the Crown in the American Revolutionary wars. When Block Two was incorporated in the District of Gore in 1816, it became Waterloo Township, named in honour of the battle that ended the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The township was the first of Waterloo County's five townships to be settled.(Submitted on October 26, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)
Photographed by Tim Boyd, October 19, 2024
3. Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower
4. Map of Upper Canada, 1818, showing the blocks of Six Nations Land
Block no. 2 became Waterloo Township
Credits. This page was last revised on July 5, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 26, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 170 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 26, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
