On this site stood the Anglican chapel, St. Catharines (1795 - 1836), the first public building in the community. The name St. Catharines became associated with the community and the church. By 1797 a log school house was situated just east of this . . . — — Map (db m76085) HM
The Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church was the first Black church in St. Catharines. Originally known as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the name was changed to reflect their loyalty to the British Empire. In 1793, the . . . — — Map (db m75867) HM
Bollards, used to secure ropes from a ship, are found all along the canal. Most were plain and serviceable. This bollard, made from polished carved limestone and placed on a base, was a prototype for possible use along the present canal. Though . . . — — Map (db m76086) HM
Bollards and Fairleads are used to control the lines (rope and cables) used to tie up a ship.
Bollards are steel or concrete posts, on land and on a ship, used to secure a vessel. Vessels travelling through the Welland Canal are tied up in each . . . — — Map (db m76088) HM
In 1960, the Lincoln Historical Society (now the St. Catharines Historical Society) recovered this cannon barrel from the banks of Twelve Mile Creek, formerly the route of the First and Second Welland Canals. It had been buried in the area under the . . . — — Map (db m76089) HM
Built on the site of the previous City Hall, this building was officially opened in August 1937 and was a hallmark of what was hailed as the dawn of a new era. The previous building, known as Benson House, was a former home that had been used as a . . . — — Map (db m76295) HM
The modern Welland Canal is actually the fourth version to be built since 1829. Unlike the later government-operated canals, the First Welland Canal was built by a private company.
The outline on the ground represents a typical lock from the . . . — — Map (db m76090) HM
A legendary conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman became known as the "Moses" of her people. Tubman was born into slavery on a Maryland plantation and suffered brutal treatment from numerous owners before escaping in 1849. Over the . . . — — Map (db m75868) HM
After the passing of the USA 1850 Fugitive Slave Law she said, "I wouldn't trust
Uncle Sam with my people no longer: I brought them all clear off to Canada." — — Map (db m75869) HM
Born on a Maryland plantation, Harriet Tubman escaped slavery to become one of the great heroes of the 19th century. The most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, she courageously led many of the people she rescued from American slavery . . . — — Map (db m75870) HM
Grape hoes would be drawn by horse through a vineyard, either by pulling the earth away from the grapes or mounding it up to them in order to remove the weed growth. Modern grape hoes perform the same function today.
Niagara Grapes and . . . — — Map (db m76109) HM
[base]
In honoured memory of the men of the Township of Grantham who gave their lives in the Great War.
1914 1918 Canada
[apex]
Their name liveth for evermore.
[left]
Vimy Ridge
Passchendaele
Amiens
Arras
Drocourt
Dury . . . — — Map (db m76098) WM
'The men were very good unto us and we were not hurt. They were a wall unto us both by night and day'
1914·World War I·1918
1939·World War II·1945
1950·Korea·1953
United Nations Peacekeepers
Canadian Merchant Navy
[right] . . . — — Map (db m76294) WM
The maritime professionals who sail the ships on the Great Lakes are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their fraternal organization, the I. M. S. A. whose purpose is stated in the Association's constitution, "The purpose of this association's . . . — — Map (db m122039) HM
Born in St, Catharines, Fred Fisher abandoned his studies at McGill University when World War I broke out and served with the 13th Battalion, First Division, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Fisher was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exceptional . . . — — Map (db m76094) HM WM
A timber lock with inside dimensions of 33.7m (108 ft.) by 6.6m (22 ft.) was constructed on this site between 1824 and 1827. The lock walls consisted of earth filled cribs 5.2m (16 ft) thick and 7.6m (25 ft) deep. This was the 24th lock of 39 that . . . — — Map (db m75871) HM
A prominent Canadian shipbuilder, Shickluna was born in Malta, where he worked before emigrating to North America. By 1835 he was engaged in ship construction at Youngstown, NY. Three years later, attracted by the traffic stimulated by the Welland . . . — — Map (db m76272) HM
[Upper plaque:]
This boulder was on the half-way mark, between Niagara-on-the-Lake and Queenston
[Lower plaque:]
This memorial is erected in proud memory of pioneer ancestors and to commemorate the one hundred and . . . — — Map (db m76095) HM WM
Erected to the memory of Private Alexander Watson, 90th Winnipeg Batt. Rifles, Canadian volunteers, and his companions in arms, who fell in battle during the rebellion in the N.W.T., A.D. 1885. "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." Lt.-Col. A.T.H. . . . — — Map (db m76338) WM
Born a slave in Virginia, Burns escaped from servitude in 1854 and fled to Boston, where he was arrested under the Fugitive Slave act of 1850. Abolitionists came to his defence and serious riots ensued. This was the last trial of a fugitive slave in . . . — — Map (db m76249) HM
One of the first Black settlers in this region, Pierpoint was born in Senegal. At the age of about 16 he was imprisoned and shipped to America where he became the slave of a British officer. During the American Revolution he enlisted in the British . . . — — Map (db m75872) HM
One of Ontario's most prominent independent boarding schools, this college, named for a 16th century Christian martyr, was opened in 1889. It was established by Anglican churchman to provide boys with a sound preparatory education and to instill in . . . — — Map (db m76250) HM
Salem Chapel, built in 1855, was an important centre of 19th-century abolitionist and civil rights activity in Canada. Harriet Tubman, the famous Underground Railroad "conductor", lived near here from 1851 to 1858 and is traditionally associated . . . — — Map (db m75873) HM
Shipbuilding has a long association with the Niagara Peninsula, and is especially linked to the Welland Canals. Russell Armington established this important industry with the launching in 1828 of the Welland Canal. St. Catharines quickly became . . . — — Map (db m76279) HM
St. Catharines became an important part of the shipping industry due to te building of the Welland Canals and its location between two Great Lakes. Louis Shickluna, a shipbuilder who emigrated to St. Catharines to Malta, began working as a builder . . . — — Map (db m76284) HM
After a vineyard has been disked, a cultivator is used to break the earth into smaller pieces for a leveller finish. This one, from the Vansickle Road farm of Jim Brown in St. Catharines, was used from about 1900 until 1980 when it was given to the . . . — — Map (db m76281) HM
St. Catharines has been known by a number of names in its history. The city is believed to have been one of the largest Native Settlements in North America. Shortly after the American Revolution, it was settled by Loyalists, the first of these known . . . — — Map (db m77056) HM
[on brick]
Exterior designated 1990. Of Italianate styling constructed in red brick (favoured by Methodist Church) between 1861 and 1863. Modeled after the Grace Methodist Church in Buffalo.
Significant features: round-headed windows, . . . — — Map (db m76307) HM WM
Lock number 6 of the original Welland Canal lies in the adjacent watercourse about 213 metres southwest of here. This first or "wooden" canal, constructed 1824-33 by the Welland Canal Company, ran from Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario to Port Colborne . . . — — Map (db m75874) HM
Before this region was settled, several Indian trails intersected here at a ford in Twelve Mile Creek. They were improved by early settlers and a church was erected at the crossroads by 1798. A tavern soon followed and a settlement, known as St. . . . — — Map (db m76092) HM
A tribute to Canadian engineering design and construction, the Fourth Welland Canal was built to permit passage of ships between Lakes Ontario and Erie, bypassing Niagara Falls. Constructed in the period 1913 - 1932 at a cost of $130 million, it . . . — — Map (db m76084) HM
The Welland Ship Canal is the fourth in a series of successively larger canals that were built to join Lakes Ontario and Erie - the first being completed in 1829. The present Canal was opened in 1932. It forms part of the St. Lawrence Seaway/Great . . . — — Map (db m76328) HM
has been erected by his grandson William Hamilton Merritt of the City of Toronto, son of William Hamilton Merritt Jr. of St. Catharines, as a tribute to the father of Canadian transportation who through initiatory steps in first waterways and . . . — — Map (db m76186) HM
Twenty vertical lift bridges were constructed to cross the Welland Canal at the time of its opening in 1932. Of the eleven original vertical lift bridges, only three remain in use.
This sheave (a grooved wheel that forms part of a pulley) was . . . — — Map (db m76326) HM
The first person to be buried on this land was a sailor known simply as Brooks. that year, 1855, when the land was still known only as Potter's Fields, seven others were also buried, beginning the establishment of St. Catharines' largest and most . . . — — Map (db m76332) HM
This plaque erected to mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Welland Ship Canal to world shipping on August 6, 1932, commemorates the significant role this historic waterway and our inland fleet play in Canadian national life.
This . . . — — Map (db m76344) HM
Born of a Loyalist family in the State of New York, Merritt became a pioneer merchant and industrialist on Upper Canada's Niagara frontier. In 1818 he began to promote construction of the Welland Canal, of which he became the first general manager . . . — — Map (db m76182) HM
A pioneer in the field of transportation, Merritt was born in Bedford, New York and settled at Twelve Mile Creek (St. Catharines) with his Loyalist family in 1796. He served with the provincial cavalry during the War of 1812, then operated . . . — — Map (db m76184) HM