The original structure at 68 and 70 Navy Street, built circa 1850, featured stacked plank interior and exterior wall construction, a very unique building method in Ontario. This is the first known example of stacked plank building in Oakville. . . . — — Map (db m281781) HM
The Bowbeer House is a unique example of a one storey brick farmhouse, reconstructed from the original c. 1850s house. The original house was built over a swale which resulted in significant structural issues. In 2012, the house was dismantled and . . . — — Map (db m282035) HM
For nearly a century, commercial fishing was a way of life for the village of Bronte. In 1850, the mouth of Twelve Mile Creek resembled an Atlantic Coast outport. Fishing shanties lined the creek, nets hung on reels drying in the sun, and fish boats . . . — — Map (db m247113) HM
Unlike neighbouring Oakville, where by the late 1820s William Chisholm had financed a harbour privately, development of port facilities in Bronte was delayed until the founding of the Bronte Harbour Company.
Led by Samuel Bealey Harrison, a . . . — — Map (db m247149) HM
That area that is presently Bronte was first settled by Europeans beginning in 1807, after the land was purchased from the Mississauga tribe and Trafalgar Township was surveyed.
By 1856, Bronte was a busy Lake Ontario port, exporting wheat, . . . — — Map (db m247125) HM
Bronte Pioneer Cemetery is as much the victim of time and weather as the souls buried within it.
In 1830, Philip Sovereign deeded the east corner of his farm for a cemetery after several people had already been buried there. He specified that . . . — — Map (db m247162) HM
As an official Port of Entry into Canada, Oakville saw the arrival of many African Americans; free and those escaping slavery. As one of the major destinations along the Underground Railroad, it was the first glimpse of freedom for many. The . . . — — Map (db m281764) HM
The oldest commercial buildings date mostly from the 1846-57 period, when Oakville grew from a village of 500 to a newly-incorporated town of 2,000.
Development of Old Oakville's commercial district started at Sixteen Mile Creek and grew east . . . — — Map (db m238571) HM
Oakvilles churches, schools and taverns knit the community together and created a social support network.
Taverns and inns were usually the first public buildings in Upper Canadian towns. They doubled as town halls, churches and courthouses. . . . — — Map (db m238672) HM
The founder of Oakville was born in Nova Scotia of
Loyalist parents who moved to Burlington Bay in 1793.
William served with distinction in the militia during the
War of 1812. He settled in Nelson Township in 1816 and
became a successful . . . — — Map (db m237075) HM
William Chisholm’s first priorities for Oakville’s economic development were developing the harbour, building a grist and sawmill, and setting up a shipyard.
This activity, along with the declaration of the harbour as a Port of Entry for . . . — — Map (db m238303) HM
Water transport moved the region's timber and grain, and also its people. The two hour steamboat trip from York to Oakville was much faster than the six-hour stagecoach trip, and far more comfortable.
In 1828, William Chisholm established the . . . — — Map (db m257133) HM
Europeans first arrived in what is now southern
Ontario during the second decade of the 17th century. At the time, the area was populated by three major groups of Iroquoian-speaking people: Huron, Petun and Neutral.
By 1650 these aboriginal . . . — — Map (db m241925) HM
Oakville Heritage Trails
Old Oakville Loop
Early Leaders
In addition to the founder William Chisholm, strong
leadership from other citizens was important in developing
Oakville into a town by 1857. One such person was Merrick . . . — — Map (db m237951) HM
Following his purchase of 960 acres of land around the mouth of Sixteen Mile Creek in 1827, William Chisholm invested heavily in Oakville. He established a shipyard, dredged the mouth of the river and built two piers out into the lake to create a . . . — — Map (db m257131) HM
In the Late Woodland period (AD 500-1000) people of the Princess Point Complex introduced corn into southern Ontario. Evidence of their culture has been found at Cootes Paradise in Hamilton and along the Credit River.
The Princess Point . . . — — Map (db m242013) HM
Verner was born at Sheridan, Halton County, and educated at
Guelph. In 1856 he went to England to study art. Returning
to Toronto he established his first studio in 1862. Like his
older contemporary, Paul Kane, Verner travelled through the
West, . . . — — Map (db m305353) HM
During the 1850s, a dramatic increase in international wheat prices made Bronte prosperous as a grain handling port. By the end of the decade, over 300,000 bushels were being exported annually from the harbour.
The boom ended when the Grand . . . — — Map (db m247150) HM
This region’s first farmers. mainly of British descent, established themselves on lots of 200
acres after the Mississauga purchase of 1805. As they cleared their land, their first products for sale were timber and potash (from the burning of trees . . . — — Map (db m242254) HM
This Tudor-style residence was built by Colonel
W. G. MacKendrick in 1922. After his death in 1960, the estate was purchased by Mr. James Arthur Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer,
artist, philanthropist and long-time Oakville resident. Of . . . — — Map (db m305405) HM
As Oakville’s population and
prosperity increased, stately homes were built near George's Square. These houses represent different architectural styles and designs from various periods in the town's development.
19th Century Heritage Homes . . . — — Map (db m238721) HM
History
The Battle of the Atlantic (September 1939 - May 1945)
The Second World War began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain, France, and Canada were quick to declare war, but the enemy was strong and well equipped. By the fall of . . . — — Map (db m237096) HM
After the ice melted away from southern Ontario, Paleo-Indians moved into the
region. Southern Ontario was a treeless tundra then, like today's Arctic.
The Paleo-Indians travelled widely, hunting caribou with spear points made of chert, a type . . . — — Map (db m241978) HM
Water power from the Sixteen enabled the first industries to be established in Oakville.
The first sawmill on the Sixteen was built near Upper Middle Road around 1810. William Chisholm built the first gristmill near the Speers Road bridge in 1833. . . . — — Map (db m242238) HM
Trafalgar Township settlers lived in isolation during the early years. Travel was difficult, and there was no newspaper or postal service. But transportation and communication links were not long in coming.
The first stage-coach service began . . . — — Map (db m242234) HM
This 1½ storey brick house is a simple vernacular example of the Classic Revival style. The gabled front façade, the low pitch roof with deep returned eaves, symmetrical window placement, off-centre door and wide cornice are typical features of this . . . — — Map (db m282030) HM
In Oakville, as in most of the area villages, the first public building to be erected was the tavern. Necessary way-stations in a land of arduous travel, taverns also provided meeting places for the new settlers to conduct business and enjoy . . . — — Map (db m241808) HM
Lakeside Park Bandstand
- Original structure circa 1908 -
The Lakeside Park Bandstand was originally located
in Trafalgar Park (then known as Oakville Fair
Grounds). The Bandstand was moved to Lakeside
Park in the early 1950's. It . . . — — Map (db m237087) HM
Oakville’s early businessmen realized their success depended on the prosperity and attractiveness of the larger community. Many of them made civic affairs their business. Parks, sidewalks, road improvements, street lighting, public health and safety . . . — — Map (db m241701) HM
Tannery Park
Life "Over the Creek"
West Harbors history as a working class neighborhood began in the 1830s with William Chisholm's need to raise money for his ill-fated Oakville Hydraulic Company, which was to construct a dam on the . . . — — Map (db m237434) HM
An Act to incorporate the Town of Oakville was assented to on May 27th, 1857. The first council members were:
Mayor G.K. Chisholm Farmer & Landowner
Ward 1 R.K. Chisholm Customs Agent & Postmaster
W.E. Hagaman General Merchant
Ward . . . — — Map (db m238339) HM
Dedicated to the soldiers of
The Lorne Scots
(Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment)
In honour of their 150th anniversary
1866-2016
And for their continuing service
to our community and country
Defence of Canada, 1812-1815 . . . — — Map (db m238723) HM WM
History
The pioneer log cabin was built in the early 1800s and is commonly referred to as the Lyon's log cabin.
English immigrants George and Mary Lyon moved into the cabin about 1879. They raised nine children in the home.
The cabin was . . . — — Map (db m256821) HM
Many of the Ojibwa who moved into southern Ontario during this period came to be known as the Mississauga. These First Nations people were primarily hunter-gatherers who travelled in small bands. In winter they hunted in the interior and during the . . . — — Map (db m257192) HM
Established 1823
1823 Church meeting at Munn's family homestead
1844 Site of original Munn's Methodist Church
1898 Present Munn's church built — — Map (db m282032) HM
The area that is present day Oakville was first settled by Europeans in 1806, after the land was purchased from the Mississauga tribe and Trafalgar Township was surveyed.
Twenty-one years later, in 1827, William Chisholm bought 960 acres at . . . — — Map (db m238670) HM
The manufacture of baskets, Oakville's longest lived industry, grew out of the area's flourishing fruit industry.
Pioneer strawberry grower John Cross manufactured the first wooden berry baskets of his own design in the 1860s. John A. . . . — — Map (db m242253) HM
To the glorious memory
of those who paid
the supreme sacrifice
from this district
in the Great War 1914-1918
Their name liveth for ever more
Capt Ernest Francis Applebe ·
Pte Raymond Boocock ·
Pte Alex Burnett ·
Pte John H Burton · . . . — — Map (db m273314) WM
By the 1870 Oakville was becoming a year-round resort town. In summer the hotels were filled to capacity, and hundreds more people arrived on day excursions via lake steamer. Tourists could rent canoes, rowboats and sailboats. The town's waterfront . . . — — Map (db m256960) HM
Industry prospered in Oakville during the 1840s to 1860s, with the establishment of foundries, tanneries and carriage works.
In 1851 machinists John Doty and Ashley Hibberd built a foundry to manufacture sawmill equipment and steam engines. . . . — — Map (db m242252) HM
The first people to enter North America probably migrated across the Bering Land Bridge during the Ice Age, when sea levels were much lower than today. Hunting woolly mammoths and other big game, they eventually spread throughout North America, . . . — — Map (db m262601) HM
On this site in 1827 Oakville's meeting hall was built,
which also was used as a church on Sundays and a
school on weekdays. Oakville's first library was
established here when William Tassie, the town's first
schoolmaster, opened a reading room. . . . — — Map (db m237948) HM
Beginning in 1870s, sailing for pleasure and competition expanded greatly on Lake Ontario. Oakville became a destination for Royal Canadian Yacht Club races from Toronto. On summer weekends, fifty or more yachts were often tied up in the harbour. . . . — — Map (db m256952) HM
Built 1875
Removed from the East Pier and preserved in this location 1960 through the interest of the citizens of
the Town of Oakville — — Map (db m281767) HM
The early settlers of Oakville, while full of optimism lacked formal training- there were few master builders or architects at the time. In fact, the shipbuilders who came to work for Chisholm in the shipyard also built many of the first houses . . . — — Map (db m238338) HM
Period Homes
For the greater part of the nineteenth century, the centre hall Georgian plan remained popular. In the early homes, this basic form was embellished with door and window surrounds and cornice treatments. The degree of decorative . . . — — Map (db m238341) HM
During the 1830s, Oakville entered a prosperous era. Shipments of wheat and lumber made the harbour a busy focus of commercial activity. Steamships and stagecoaches carried passengers, mail and freight to and from Hamilton and York.
William . . . — — Map (db m238668) HM
In 1819, Bartholomew O'Connor and Charles O'Hara travelled 40 miles to Dundas to persuade Father O'Reilly to come to say mass for them in O'Hara's log cabin. Over the next 20 years, pioneer families in Trafalgar and what was to become Oakville . . . — — Map (db m302466) HM
On the east side of this block (Block 35, Lots B, C, E and F) once stood St. Mary's School.
St. Andrew's has played an important role in the history of Catholic education in Ontario from the primary to post-secondary levels. The first . . . — — Map (db m302463) HM
Sovereign House (circa 1825)
Officially opened September 23, 1995
by Her Worship Mayor Ann Mulvale
The Sovereign House was the residence of Charles Sovereign; a founding father of Bronte Village. From 1911-1914, the home became the . . . — — Map (db m243012) HM
From the 1830s until after World War I, the Lake Ontario waterfront was busy with men mining the shallow waters for shale. Pried from the lake bottom, the blocks of shale were gathered on barges and then loaded onto stonehooking schooners for . . . — — Map (db m247158) HM
Oakville Heritage Trails
Tannery Park
Few enterprises influenced the lives of ordinary Oakville
residents like the Marlatt & Armstrong Leather Co. did at the turn of the 20th Century. If you didn't work for the tannery, you smelled its . . . — — Map (db m237297) HM
Oakville Heritage Trails
Tannery Park
The Temperance Movement
Oakville was a hotbed of temperance activity in the 1800s. In 1889, West Harbour found itself at the centre of it as the site of what was to that point the largest temperance . . . — — Map (db m237726) HM
Once, everyone from farmers to dowagers met and mingled on "Main Street." People knew all the merchants by their first names. Today, the friendliness remains, as well as much of the small-town charm, as Downtown Oakville develops its own blend of . . . — — Map (db m242154) HM
Donated by the "Sunshine Circle” in 1912 and located at
the north east corner of Dunn Street and Colborne
Street (Lakeshore Road). Moved in 1915 to reservoir park
due to street reconstruction. After several years in storage, the fountain was . . . — — Map (db m262743) HM
Under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, European settlement could not proceed without a formal treaty with the aboriginal proprietors of the land. In 1806 the Mississauga signed the treaty surrendering all the lands from Etobicoke River to Burlington . . . — — Map (db m241812) HM
The Underground Railroad secretly transported fugitive slaves from the
southern United States across the border to freedom in Canada. From 1820 to 1865 thousands of black slaves escaped into Canada.
Although Oakville was a small terminus . . . — — Map (db m238720) HM
The first town survey was completed in 1833, enclosing an area bounded on the west by Brock Street, on the north by Rebecca and Randall Streets, and on the east by Allan Street.
Road allowances were laid out in the standard grid pattern . . . — — Map (db m238336) HM
Oakville Heritage Trails
Tannery Park
Oakville founder William Chisholm's 1827 grant of land included about 300 acres of land west of Sixteen Mile Creek. By buying a parcel owned by James and Susannah Brock, he was able to extend the . . . — — Map (db m237941) HM
William Chisholm, Okville’s founder, was born to United Empire Loyalist parents in Shelburne, Nova
Scotia in 1788. After moving to Burlington, Upper Canada, Chisholm fought in the war of 1812, entered politics and tried his hand at farming. He also . . . — — Map (db m257132) HM
Between 1960 and 2000 yacht building flourished in Bronte and Oakville. In the 1970s as many as twenty major yachts a year were launched at Bronte Harbour.
Yacht manufacturers C&C, Ontario Yachts, Grampian and Bruckmann worked together with . . . — — Map (db m247157) HM
For fifty years, wind-driven fleets carried freight from Oakville. Schooner after schooner left the harbour filled with squared pine timbers, oak staves and wheat, returning with immigrants and merchandise.
A forest of masts extended from the . . . — — Map (db m257129) HM
