For many years, before changes to the landscape were made by the construction of the Desjardins Canal, the opening of the Snake Road and the building of the Grand Trunk Railway, the site of the Valley Inn was an important crossroads for aboriginal peoples and explorers as they passed between the Head-of-the-Lake and the Grand River to the west. The arrival of early settlers on their way to Dundas, Flamborough and Waterloo County all added to the importance of this crossing at the original entrance into Cootes Paradise.
Situated at the extreme western end of Burlington Bay, the crossing point was almost surrounded and protected by high land. The narrow opening provided a controlled exit for the waters of the Grindstone Creek and Cootes Paradise as they emptied into the bay and it also served as a safe haven for the considerable early traffic of scows used in transporting people as well as goods to and from Dundas, especially in times of inclement weather.
During the 1850s, James Kent Griffin, son of Waterdown entrepreneur, Ebenezer Culver Griffin, formed a number of road companies to service the rapidly developing trade around the Head-of-the-Lake. These included the Hamilton-Nelson Stone Road Company which ran between Hamilton and Toronto and the Hamilton, Waterdown and Carlisle Road Company – both using the crossing point at the Valley Inn as they exited the city.
Although the more refined plank roads were popular with the road companies, by the 1850s gravelled surfaces began to make their appearance as traffic grew in volume. But no matter the road surface, these roads were far from free, as travellers were forced to pay a fee or toll if they wished to use them. The theory was simple – charge those who use or benefited from the location of the road and use the revenue collected for maintenance and to repay construction costs and loans. Toll-gates or booths were erected every four or five miles and manned by a watchful sentry. There was no standard charge, the toll varying from booth to booth at the operator’s discretion.
Griffin’s road to Waterdown, which climbed the steep face of the Niagara Escarpment by following an old aboriginal trail, was one of the first gravelled roads in the area, using stone taken from the Griffin family’s Waterdown quarries. Renowned for the many bends and turns along its route, which are said to have numbered at least one hundred, the road became known as Snake Road – because of the steepness of the gradient, Griffin was forced to introduce a number of changes along the five mile stretch of road that allowed traffic and wagon teams in particular to navigate the difficult turns.
Unlike many of the early roads, this construction project was financed entirely with private money, so Griffin instituted the tolls to pay for his investment and necessary upkeep. With the opening of the Snake Road, a toll house or booth was built on the east side of the old entrance into Cootes Paradise, together with a hotel on the west side to serve travellers. The hotel, the Valley Inn Hotel, quickly became a landmark and reached its peak during the late 1800s, as the Snake Road became the preferred route for Flamborough farmers on their way to Hamilton market to sell their produce.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 2006, 2024.
