Note: some minor changes have been made to the article to eliminate the poor grammar and repetition. A full copy of the article can be read at the Archives.
From The Hamilton Spectator, Monday July 15, 1946
“Observing picturesque Grindstone Creek, dividing the village of Waterdown neatly into two parts and rushing headlong on its way from its source in the swamps behind Millgrove to its resting-place in Hamilton bay, one is safe in surmising that in the early days it would attract the attention of men of vision who were looking for millsites. The water has been used to run five or six mills, situated all the way from above the village to below the falls. The significance of the name Grindstone Creek comes from the fact that big grinding stones were used in the grist mills. The name of Waterdown seems an Anglicized form of an early Indian name meaning water running down hill.
Waterdown is beautifully situated on high land that overlooks the Dundas marsh and Hamilton bay. The view from its hills is entrancing. One of the advantages of its situation is that it is on historic Dundas Street, now the King’s Highway No. 5. There are those whose memory goes back to the time when it was just a stone road, and before that, an Indian trail.* But as early as Governor Simcoe’s time it gained importance as a connecting link between York and the western settlements.
This large and prosperous village, with a present population of about 900 people, has an extremely modern outlook. It is a place of fine homes, many of them occupied by retired farmers. It has its own water system, supplied from an artesian well. All the leading churches are represented and have active congregations. It has a Memorial Community Hall to commemorate those who fell in the First Great War. Its educational facilities are the best, with adequate public school accommodation and a high school. The beautiful views and favourable situation has also led to the establishment of Notre Dame Academy, where grade and high school courses are given.
When the Canadian Pacific Railway built its line to Guelph, it used the valley of Grindstone Creek in passing through Waterdown. At this time the dam was blown out and the course of the creek changed. Some old industries passed away and the mills that survived were below the village near the scenic Waterdown falls.
The original crown charter for the 400 acres of land on which Waterdown stands was taken out in 1793 by Alexander McDonell. On March 19, 1805, Alexander Brown registered the deed for the 400 acres and built a small log house above the falls. The first house built on the site was constructed by a man named Cook. And in 1823 came Ebenezer C. Griffin, who built a log house by the side of a rivulet, where now has developed the modern Griffin street. Mr. Griffin built the first carding mill in Waterdown, the first of its kind in this part of Canada, with all appliances for carding, dyeing and cloth dressing. It was burned down in 1850.
The residents of Waterdown can justly pride themselves on the part their community has played in public affairs from the early days onward. They point out that the first temperance society in this part of Canada was formed in Waterdown in 1832 and the first total abstinence pledge signed there in 1833. In 1855 when they had a population of 175, there were six stores and 12 taverns, five blacksmith shops, one woollen mill, a tannery, three saw-mills, and a carpet-weaving shop.
In 1815 the first school for many miles around was built on the corner now occupied by the American Hotel. Another school was built in 1827 on the site of what is now Sealey Park. The first teacher was Miss Mary Hopkins, and a plaque to her memory hangs in the public school.
Another matter of pride is the fact that the freestone used in the building the University of Toronto was taken from a Waterdown quarry and shipped by boat from Brown’s wharf to Toronto. Indeed, they seriously considered the building of a large educational institution right at Waterdown, about the year 1853. Where later the McClung residence was called University Hill, because the Methodists almost decided to build their college there.”
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1999, 2023.
Editor’s Note:*It is curious that this newspaper article describes Dundas Street as an old native trail, as their trails followed the natural terrain rather than coursing a straight line. In a previous article published by former archivist Sylvia Wray, Governor Simcoe based The Governor’s Road, later Dundas Street, on old fur trading routes found on French maps that belonged to his father who had served in the American Revolutionary War. Perhaps these old French and native fur trading routes are what was really meant.
