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• Lieutenant Charles Davidson Dunbar, D.C.M. 1870-1939
  An internationally renowned piper, Dunbar was born in Halkirk, Scotland. In 1886 he joined the British army, embarking upon a distinguished career as a military piper. During the Boer War, Dunbar was wounded while piping troops into battle. For his gallantry he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. In 1911 he emigrated to Hamilton where he soon joined the 91st (later the Argyll and Sutherland) Highlanders. As pipe-major of the 19th Battalion, he saw action...

• Hamilton Central Public School
  This school, built to accommodate 1,000 students, was the largest graded school in Upper Canada, and became the only public school in Hamilton at the time of its opening in 1853. Among the earliest examples of an institution inspired by the reforms of Egerton Ryerson, the province's chief superintendent of education (1844-76), it incorporated his scheme of an integrated, rational and graduated public education system based upon a central school and primary feeders. The building's...

• George Hamilton 1787-1836
  Born at Queenston, George Hamilton was the son of a prosperous merchant, the Hon. Robert Hamilton. He followed his father's career as a merchant in the Niagara District until the War of 1812, in which he served as a Captain of Light Dragoons. In 1815 Hamilton acquired land here at the Head of the Lake, laid out a village plot and sold lots. When the settlement was chosen as the administrative centre of the Gore...

• McMaster University 1887
  The Honourable William McMaster (1811-1887), a prominent banker and member of the first Senate of Canada, bequeathed funds which enabled Baptists of Ontario and Quebec to found this university. Incorporated in 1887, it was the culmination of educational work sponsored for half a century by Canadian Baptists. Originally established in Toronto, the university was moved in 1930 to this site. Citizens of Hamilton made a gift of land and financed the science building, Hamilton Hall...

• Thomas Baker McQuesten 1882-1948
  Over a 30-year career, Hamilton lawyer and politician Thomas Baker McQuesten presided over a remarkable array of public works and beautification projects. Starting in his hometown of Hamilton, McQuesten led multiple park development projects — including Gage Park, the Sunken Garden at McMaster University (which he helped bring to Hamilton) and Royal Botanical Gardens, which he saw as his legacy. Appointed provincial Minister of Public Works and Highways in 1934, in less than a decade...

• Nine-Hour Movement, The
  In the mid-nineteenth century, industrial workers laboured ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week. Inspired by British and American examples, Hamilton unionists launched a crusade for a shorter workday in January of 1872. The workingman, they argued, needed more time for family, leisure, education and civic life. Soon the Nine-Hour Movement had branches across central Canada. In Hamilton on May 15, thousands of union and non-union workers walked off the job. Cheered...

• Upper Canada's First Paper Mill 1826
  The province's first paper mill operations began in 1826. Situated about 150 yards downstream from here, it was owned by James Crooks (1778-1860), one of Upper Canada's most successful entrepreneurs. On four hundred acres of land purchased here in 1811, Crooks had, by 1822, erected a number of other mills, creating Crooks' Hollow, one of the province's largest concentrations of industry. Construction of the paper mill was encouraged by an expanding domestic market and the...

• Horatio George Summers 1865-1941
  Comedian, actor and theatrical manager, George Summers established the Mountain Park Theatre here in 1902. It was one of the earliest theatres of its kind in Ontario. For twelve successful seasons, "Geo. H. Summers Theatrical Enterprises" performed in Hamilton in the summer and toured during the winter. Most of the repertoire was popular melodrama, much of it written by Summers himself. On stage, he was particularly renowned for his portrayal of Rip Van Winkle. After...

• Whitehern
  This stately mansion is a finely crafted and well-preserved example of Hamilton's early stone architecture. Built no later than 1850 for city clerk and attorney Richard Duggan, it was purchased in 1852 by Calvin McQuesten, M.D. (1801-85), a prosperous manufacturer and philanthropist. Following his death, McQuesten's descendants occupied Whitehern until 1968 when it was bequeathed to the City of Hamilton for use as a public museum. The home's interior displays family possessions dating from three...

• First Women's Institute 1897, The
  The world's first Women's Institute was organized at Squire's Hall, Stoney Creek, in 1897. Erland Lee, a founder of the Farmer's Institute, assisted by his wife, arranged the meeting. About 100 women from the Saltfleet Township district attended and were persuaded by Mrs. Adelaide Hoodless to form an organization of their own to improve their skills in the arts of homemaking and child care. Here, in the Lee home, Mr. Lee subsequently helped to draft...

• Acting Sergeant John Rennie, G.C. 1919-1943
  Jock" Rennie was awarded the George Cross posthumously in May 1944 for an instinctive, selfless act of heroism. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he came to Ontario with his family as a child and grew up in Kitchener. Rennie enlisted in The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) at Hamilton in July 1940, and went overseas with them to England in the summer of 1943. On October 29, 1943, he was supervising a grenade-throwing...

• Battle of Stoney Creek 1813, The
  On June 5, 1813, an invading United States army of about 3,000 men, commanded by Brigadier- General Chandler, camped in this vicinity. That evening some 700 British regulars of the 8th and 49th Regiments, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Harvey, left their encampment on Burlington Heights to attack the enemy. The assault was launched early the following morning under cover of darkness. In the fierce and confused fighting which followed, heavy losses were suffered...

• Founding of Dundas, The
  In 1793, Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe authorized a townplot in this vicinity at the then eastern terminus of Dundas Street. It original name, "Coote's Paradise", was derived from that of the adjoining marsh, a haunt of waterfowl, and the favorite hunting ground of a Captain Thomas Coote. West of the townplot mills were built, which became the nucleus of a community known by 1801 as "Dundas Mills". The community's location at the head of navigation on Lake...

• Bobby Kerr 1882-1963
  Born in Ireland, Kerr came to Canada in 1887 with his parents who settled in Hamilton two years later. He earned civic recognition at the 1902 Coronation Games where he won sprint and middle distance races. His exceptionally quick start placed him in the forefront of Canadian sprinters and in 1907 he won some 40 events. His greatest feats, however, were accomplished in 1908 when he wont the 100 and 200 yards at the British...

• Burlington Bay Canal
  The first public work undertaken with the financial backing of the provincial government, Burlington Bay Canal was proposed as one of a series of waterways to provide uninterrupted navigation from Lake Erie to the Atlantic Ocean. It was also championed by area residents as a means of rendering Burlington Bay a usable harbour. In 1823, at the urging of Hamilton merchant James Crooks, the House of Assembly authorized the construction of the canal. Work began...

• Burlington Glass Works 1874, The
  The Burlington Glass Works, formerly situated here, was one of the most important 19th-century glass houses in Canada in terms of the variety and quality of its production. From 1874 to about 1897, skilled artisans produced lamps, tablewares and containers. Glass-production techniques included free-blowing, mould-blowing and pressing in a mould. Pot furnaces produced several different types of glass in a wide range of colours. Glasswares were decorated by cutting, painting, sand-blasting, acid-etching and wheel-engraving. Archaeological...

• Burlington Races 1813, The
  On the morning of September 28, 1813 a powerfully armed United States fleet comprising ten ships under the command of Commodore Isaac Chauncey appeared off York (Toronto). The smaller British fleet of six vessels, commanded by Commodore Sir James L. Yeo, was in the harbour, but on the approach of the enemy set sail to attack. After a sharp engagement, the British squadron was forced to withdraw toward Burlington Bay where it could take refuge...

• Claremont Lodge and Auchmar 1855
  This gate lodge was built for the Hon. Isaac Buchanan (1810-1883) who was born in Glasglow. He emigrated to Toronto in 1830, became a successful wholesale merchant, represented Toronto in the first Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 1841-44, and moved to Hamilton about 1850. He bought property here, named it the Claremont Estate in 1852, and in 1855 built the lodge and the main house, now located at 88 Fennell West. Buchanan subdivided...

• Dundurn Castle 1832
  This mansion was built 1832-35 by Allan Napier MacNab (1798-1862) and named after the family ancestral seat in Scotland. Enlisting at fifteen, MacNab distinguished himself by his bravery in the War of 1812. He subsequently entered politics and was noted for this support of the Family Compact. During the Rebellion of 1837 he was one of the government's most active military supporters and was knighted for his services. Leader of the Tory-Conservatives, MacNab was speaker of the Legislative Assembly on several occasions and Prime Minister of Canada 1854-56.

• Eileen Vollick 1908-1968
  Canada's first licensed woman pilot, Eilleen Vollick was born in Wiarton and cam to Hamilton about 1911. She was fascinated by aviation and in 1927 enrolled in the flying school established near her home on Hamilton Bay by Jack V Elliot, a Hamilton businessman and pioneer in Canadian commercial aviation. The spirited Eilleen Vollick devoted her spare time to flying and soon mastered the school's Curtiss JN-4 training aircraft. On March 13, 1928, she passed...

• Central Presbyterian Church
  Erected to serve a thriving congregation established in 1841, Central Presbyterian Church was built in 1907-08 after an earlier building was destroyed by fire. It is reputedly the only church designed by renowned architect John M. Lyle, the Paris-trained son of the minister and one of Canada's leading exponents of the beaux arts system of design. Georgian in form, the imposing building is symmetrical and well-proportioned. Its most distinctive features - semi-circular stairwells at the...

• Christ's Church Cathedral
  An important ecclesiastical centre for the Niagara Peninsula, Christ's Church was erected in stages, its form altered as the size and prominence of the congregation increased. Begun in 1835 as a parish church, the frame building was expanded in 1852-54 with the addition of a stone chancel and nave extension designed by the renowned Toronto architect William Thomas. The present nave, fashioned by Henry Langley, a specialist in church architecture noted for his masterly high...

• Desjardins Canal, The
  In pioneer days, waterways provided the essential means of transportation. Dundas, located at the head of navigation on Lake Ontario and the eastern terminus of the "Governor's Road," was thus in a favoured position. However, in 1823, the government authorized the construction of a canal for larger vessels through Burlington sand-bar. Since its completion would make the shallow approach through Coote's Paradise marsh inadequate, Pierre Desjardins, an enterprising settler from France, formed a company in...

• Dundas Mills
  By 1799, the Morden family had a sawmill near this site on Spencer Creek north of Dundas Street. They sold this property in 1800 to Edward Peer, who built a grist-mill about 300 yards southeast, close to Dundas Street, and adopted the name "Dundas Mills." Peer sold the property in 1804 to Richard and Samuel Hatt and a partner, but by 1807 Richard had become sole owner. Then, or slightly earlier, Richard Hatt built northwest...

• Dundas Town Hall
  Dundas was incorporated as a town in 1847 by a special Act of the legislature of the Province of Canada. The following year, the town council accepted a tender from a local builder, James Scott, to erect a stone town hall and voted £2,000 to cover the cost. Designed in a version of Roman classic by Francis Hawkins of Dundas, the building was completed by July 1849, and was said to have cost £2,500. Except...

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