Hamilton History, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario is the eight biggest city of Canada, where a quarter of its population is foreigners. It was the explorer Robert Cavelier De La Salle who had discovered Hamilton Harbor in 1669. The people who then lived in villages near the harbor had named the city Macassa Bay, meaning ‘beautiful water’.

It was in the year 1816 that the city was formally founded and named after George Hamilton, one of the pioneers of the city. The accessibility of the city to natural resources and trade markets has earned the city nicknames like Steeltown, Hammertown and Lunch Bucket City.

The intriguing love story of Hamilton

Hamilton is basically a city with a historical story of a mix of romance, separation and reunion. While just escaping execution, the United Empire Loyalist and the first pioneer of the city, Robert Land had fled from Pennsylvania to settle at the head of the lake.

He was convinced that his wife and children were dead. However, his wife Phebe had actually managed to run away to Nova Scotia with her children. She was safe, and was also under the impression that her husband was dead.

It was when she had traveled to the Niagara to require farmland that was given to loyalists that she had heard of someone called Land living in what is today’s Hamilton. Hearing this, she had hired a boat and traveled to the city to find out who this man was. This was when this separated pair was once again re-united.

The creation of Hamilton city

History says that this reunion was a happy one where the family was then awarded a thousand acres of land, which became today’s Hamilton. They then went on to create a community as the home to their many descendants.

The couple was buried in the Land Vault of the old Hamilton Cemetery with other famous people of Hamilton like the Canadian soldier, William Cook who died at the Battle of Little Big Horn with General Custer, and the secret half sister of Queen Victoria, Isabella Whyte.

The varied architecture in Hamilton

You can get a taste of Hamilton history at Dundurn Castle, Griffin House and Whitehern. The architecture of Hamilton is also rich and varied. You find the Gothic Revival style in the Pigott Building, the former Bank of Montreal that was built in neo-classical style, the Sun Life Building which has terracotta details and the cozy Victorian Hamilton Club.

All these varying forms of architecture found in Hamilton demonstrate the amount of commitment of the pioneers of Hamilton had put into creating something special in this beautiful city of Hamilton.

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